Chelmsford Summer Holidays Activities for the Under 5's

I've had some fantastic feedback from the 101 Things to Do in Chelmsford This Summer with Children but I know that there are lots of you (me included!) with children under the age of 5. With normal classes and toddler groups not running through the school holidays and hordes of school age children invading all the normally quiet parks and soft-play centres it can be difficult to know how to cope with the long 6 weeks of summer and our children aren't even in school yet!

So to help you here is 'Chelmsford Summer Holiday Activities for the Under 5's'! Not all of these activities are exclusievely for the under 5's  and it goes without saying that wherever you go it will be busy. But allow extra time, take a picnic to avoid queues at food outlets (and a rug to avoid frustration at the lack of picnic tables!) and just enjoy the sun. September will be here before you know it...

1. Natural Foundations are running a play cafe on various days over the summer. Natural play including games for all ages to play in the beautiful gardens with water play, mud kitchen, storytelling, along with lots of fun! (See our review of their regular sessions here).

2. Jester's Holiday Club in Bicnarce. Children from ages 3 and above are welcome and I've heard excellent reports. 

3. Inflatable Fun at Hylands House 3rd-6th August. Under 3's will be given discounted entry.

4. Thorndon Country Park with Gruffalo Trail. If it is busy there is plenty of space here to get away from the crowds. 

5. Promenade Park in Maldon. Avoid the pirate ship play area and head to the play area to the left of the sand-pit. This area is just for the under 5's. The sand pit is great but remember to take your own bucket and spade! The splash here is also fantastic and they do limit numbers so it's a great way to cool down on a really hot day. 

6. Frinton Beach. With no amusements and pier this tends to be a quieter beach than nearby Walton and Clacton. 

7. Oaklands Park has it's own dedicated under 5's area so is an excellent choice for a sunny day. 

8. The Essex Libraries Summer Reading Challenge is something that all age groups can take part in. My 20 month old already has her first sticker! 

9. Kids and Koffee is a soft play centre aimed at ages 8 and under.

10. Pickles Playhouse is a little further afield but worth a visit as it for ages 5 and under only. 

11. Lathcoats Farm is great place to while away an hour or two. With animals to visit and a newly built natural play area, your under 5's will be entertained while you enjoy a coffee (and a piece of cake) from the Beeshed Cafe. 

12. Play in the Park Held at various parks in Chelmsford on various dates, some welcome under 5's as well as older children; check the website for full details. Free!

13.  Wild Wednesdays at Danbury Country Park. Free outdoor fun and games for all ages. 

14. Tropical Wings is a great place to visit with the under 5's. Small enough to see it all in one day but big enough to have a wide variety of animals and birds. Also one of the cheaper 'day out' places in Chelmsford. 

15. Chelmsford City Council Activity Courses. Some of these courses are available from ages 1 and up. Art and crafts, gymnastics and swimming are among them and they are run at 4 different centres across Chelmsford. 

Please do leave a comment below if you know of anything else going on that I've missed out. 

Enjoy the summer and I'll be writing a post for the beginning of September with a round up of pre-school classes and groups. If you have something you would like to include do let me know!

Diggerland in Kent

We were invited to along to review Diggerland in Kent and, being obsessed with anything construction related, T was very excited. Diggerland opens at 10am and we arrived shortly after that. (It’s just under an hour’s drive from Chelmsford). The Diggerland website promises to be 'the UK's most unique attraction where children and adults have the chance to ride and drive REAL full size construction machinery, under the guidance of our trained staff - no driving licence required!'

I would definitely recommend arriving earlier in the day as it meant that we were able to go on some of the rides before any queues built up. The park was smaller than I have expected but there was more than enough to keep us occupied for the day. 

All of the rides have a height minimum; some have a minimum of 80cm whilst others have a minimum of 1m and some rides have different minimums for drivers and riders, so adults can go on some of the rides with their children. All the rides and their height requirements are available on the Diggerland website and you are strongly advised to check this before visiting as, although children under 90cm gain free entry, they are restricted on the rides that are available to them. Staff are vigilant in checking heights of children before allowing them to ride too. 

But you really do get to ride on the diggers! I was surprised at the size of some of the diggers that we were allowed to use and to drive. Obviously they have restricted the speeds of the machines but this really didn't detract from the enjoyment of the ride. Being completely honest, I am not that interested in diggers, but even I felt a huge sense of accomplishment as I drove a dumper truck round a track and managed not to bump into anything! They are also much more difficult to drive than you think. The vehicles have a huge number of buttons and levers and even with just one or two levers to control it still took a lot more concentration than I had anticipated. 

There were other vehicles (I really should know the different names after spending a whole day on them - if you know the names of them please let me know and I will amend this post) that didn't move but you could use the levers on these ones to use the front loader (I did learn something!) to knock down skittles or to find buried treasure. We could take L (over 80cms) on these ones and  it turned into a bit of a race between two teams to see who could knock down the skittles fastest! Again it was much harder than it looked. 

We could also all go on the Tractor train ride around the park and L loved this. The train ride was interesting as we got to see the part of the park where the 'Diggerland Experiences' take place. On the day we were visiting there was some JCB racing going on and it was watching this that I realised the speed limit that had been applied to some of the other vehicles. JCB racing did not appear to be for the faint hearted! Other experiences offered by Diggerland include using a giant excavator and JCB's. They also host birthday parties for children. 

Alongside the rides there were is also a small climbing frame, a soft play area with arcade machines. and a restaurant, where we had lunch. The food was of reasonable quality and was good value for money. It is worth noting, however, that there are a number of coin operated toys and rides at Diggerland that are not included in the entry price, the dodgems being one of these. 

Another big positive of the day was that the staff in all areas of Diggerland were very polite, friendly and really looked as though they were enjoying their jobs.

Diggerland is now open for everyday through the summer. It is open rain or shine so if you know that rain is expected make sure you’ve got your wellies and rain macs!