A few weeks ago we had an exciting day out with the Forestry Commission - Harry, one of his friends, M and I went Gruffalo spotting.
Like so many of our friends' children, Harry is a huge Gruffalo fan, we read both the Gruffalo and the Gruffalo's child pretty much daily, and I can now recite both stories (that's clearly a skill left by a long forgotten Drama degree). Our day out was to test the Grufallo spotter app, taking the lovely Gruffalo trails to a new level with the use of Augmented reality.
On a sunny but bitingly cold February day we donned snowsuits, puddlesuits, welly boots and thermals, ready for adventure to begin. The woods at Wendover are lovely and definitely somewhere you may find a Mouse going for a walk... Off we went, phones in hand (we downloaded the app beforehand), looking for clues that might help us find our Gruffalo. As we wandered through the woods we found markers telling us we were getting closer to each character, then footprint signposts - holding the app up to these brings up a wonderful image of the relevant character that blends into the woodland, and excitingly, which your child can be a part of. That said, Harry struggled a little with the concept and desperately wanting to see the character while he was in the picture so there was a lot of running back and forth! It didn't diminish our day in the slightest, but I suspect older preschoolers would understand that better.
Harry loved Gruffalo spotting - and we're going to be heading back to Wendover in March for a return expedition. I would say that the trail is fairly long for a toddler - Harry walks everywhere these days but even he wanted his buggy by the end. And the sturdier your buggy, the better - whilst it's not an incredibly challenging trail, there is one significant hill and a fair old amount of going through woodland paths. When we were on Brownsea Island a year or so back, we borrowed a fantastic all terrain pushchair which would have been perfect for Wendover.
16 comments:
Looks like a really fun walk, sometimes going out in the cold weather is nice as it can blow the cobwebs away x
We have been Gruffalo hunting before at Wendover but using an app sounds like something that would definitely encourage my tech mad 7 year old back for another visit! Look forward to checking it out :)
What a fab place, my nephew is also obsessed with the Gruffalo so he would love to visit this place x
This sounds like such a fun activity and the app would certainly add so much to those who love Gruffalo hunting.
This is just so sweet and what a great little walk it is. I want to go Gruffalo hunting x
This is so adorable, and a great way to get wrapped up and get some fresh air
The gruffalo is such a firm favourite of my wife's - she is 33..however I might just check this out with her for her 34th birthday! lol x
I love a good walk! Wow the gruffalo though. I wanna go! lol x
Love books and this looks fun for the kids. Gruffallo walk would be great.
What a lovely idea! That seems like a great way to keep kids entertained... maybe I should take my boyfriend, he always gets bored on walks as well!
i must admit, i've not heard of gruffalo. this does sound good and gets children out of the house too
Aw this sounds like such a fun day out in the forestry! I kinda want to go haha! xo
Sound like fun!! I love going for long walks not matter how cold or how hot it is. I just find it relaxing and I can think more clearly on goals and other things I want to do.
This is such a fun activity! I love the app too! Sounds like a blast!
Aw what a lovely day - we did the Stick Man trail last year and my girls declared it 'the best day ever'!
aww looks like you guys had a lovely day out! Kind of want to go out along with my son too!
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