family days out

We the curious: Where everyone can play scientist

Some museums are awesome aren’t they? Awe-inspiring exhibits, new discoveries waiting around every corner… and chock full of things that fill you with wonder (about how completely brilliant our world is). We the curious in Bristol is one of those museums. Designed with playfulness in mind, its exhibits invite visitors to interact, experiment and question just about anything and everything. It’s the most interactive museum I’ve set foot in, for sure.

we the sandscapers

Last week I visited for the first time, and I took the Not So Tiny One with me. Friday saw the venue open its doors for a Toddler Takeover event, where the smallest people have free reign to enjoy all it has to offer without getting under anyone’s feet. It was fabulous! There is so much to see there. We made rainbows, giant bubbles, flew parachutes, constructed things, drew our own Aardman animations and held a 6 month old foetus (a pretend one, of course – from their pregnancy life cycle exhibit). 

we the baby makers

We the curious is housed over two floors. The ground floor plays host to their biggest exhibits. This is where we had fun exploring the textures of different fruits and vegetables and getting to grips with knife skills in the demo kitchen; where we learnt about the life stages of the aforementioned human foetus and other cool stuff about the human body; and where we sculpted with sand, played with interactive light installations and explored the kinetic forces at play when we jump, to name but a few. 

we the chefs
we the masters of light

Upstairs, it’s all about light, sound, designing and making and all things sensory. Here we used ginormous bubbles to create our own rainbow effects; donned our hard hats and constructed walls and bridges and spent an unfeasible amount of time playing with the topsy turvy ball run. The ball run was a massive hit with the 18-24 month crowd. I could barely drag the Not So Tiny One away! 

we the bubble wizards
we the animators

As well as all of this, we visited the Planetarium, which **exciting fact alert** is housed within the iconic giant silver ball that sits in Bristol’s Millennium Square. I’m not kidding, we were INSIDE the ball. Amazing. We added a Planetarium show to our visit for an extra £2.50 (for me as the Not So Tiny One was free as an under 2) and it was brilliant. We did the Space Explorers show, which takes you on a whirlwind adventure around space, spotting stars, constellations, planets, galaxies… and more! 

we the space explorers

For under a tenner (on a Toddler Takeover day anyway) I thought it was a great day out and I’ll certainly be taking the Little Big One there too (probably with the hubby as I’d be tied up in knots keeping track of both girls – there are just too many exciting things to explore!)

We the engineers

All the info you need can be found on the we the curious website: https://www.wethecurious.org

Toddler Takeover prices are as follows: Adults £8.20 / £7.20 concessions, children 3+ £6.20, under 3s free / extra Planetarium shows from £2.50. (Bearing in mind that adult tickets usually cost £14.50 and over 3s, £10.45, it’s certainly worth looking out for the Toddler Takeover events). Check the website for upcoming dates.


Calling all mini bookworms: Bath’s children’s literature festival is on!

The Little Big One and I enjoyed a thoroughly literary day on Sunday as we headed to the brilliant Bath children’s literature festival. It’s no secret that both of my daughters are mega bookworms (I was as a child too). But I enjoy reading books with them as much as they enjoy being read to. I’m no stranger to literary festivals, having worked in publishing in my previous life, but introducing the Little Big One to the people behind the pages of her favourite books was great fun – for both of us!

With a ten day long programme of events on offer, and a line-up that includes renowned authors such as Julia Donaldson and Michael Rosen, and familiar characters like Hugless Douglas and Elmer, the Bath children’s literature festival is a fantastic event. Talks are categorised by age and although the Little Big One is 3, we snuck into a talk for age 4+ by children’s picture book writer Jarvis, of Alan’s Big Scary Teeth fame.

Jarvis’s talk was hosted in the beautiful Holburne Museum (worth a visit at any time as they often have child-friendly exhibitions and events on). It was entitled Drawing Fun with Jarvis and it was an entertaining mix of storytelling, drawing tutorials and contests. Being the author of the books, Jarvis told the tales in a hugely captivating way and did a great job of getting the kids to interact and listen by testing his audience with questions based on the stories that, if correctly answered, resulted in prizes! And the drawing element was brilliant. By the end of the show every single child in the room had learnt to draw a worm… and an alligator (with varying degrees of likeness!)

Afterwards Jarvis was kind enough to sign the Little Big One’s own version of an alligator and draw his version alongside – something to treasure for years to come.

That afternoon we made a trip to Mr B’s Emporium – the most magical bookshop I’ve visited. We bought a copy of Jarvis’s book (the Little Big One didn’t win a book at the talk so we obviously had to remedy that) and the girls got lost in a heap of other stories for a good while. We were all in our element… even the hubby found a book and got lost for a moment. If you have bookworms in your family, I’d highly recommend a visit when you’re next in Bath.

At Mr B’s we picked up a special Bath children’s literature festival treasure trail sheet – there are 7 favourite children’s book characters hidden in locations across Bath for book fans to find; a great activity to complement the main festival events.

If you have a bit of time over the next week, do check the festival out (it’s on until Sunday 6th October). There are plenty of events still to come, just visit the website for more details.

Waterside fun at Chew Valley Lake

Back at the end of March, when we had that spate of glorious weather, I took the girls to Chew valley lake. What a fabulous spot! I have to admit, we’d been before – I think it was last summer – and I’d found it a tad disappointing. Being the height of summer, the hedgerows around the lake were covered in leaves, meaning most of the prime picnic spots had very restricted views of the lake. Coming back in the spring though, was a different story. With the plants just beginning to come back into bloom, the lake was clearly visible from most spots and was stunning with the sun glistening on the water. Not only did we enjoy a picnic with a view but we discovered a host of other great things too!

We’d been to Chew Magna for a performance by the Dragonbird theatre (I’ll be reviewing this separately) and had packed a picnic. I was expecting us to lunch and go, crossing my fingers for a successful nap in the car on the way home (the baby not me), but we were having such a lovely time that we decided to make an afternoon of it. We stayed for a good three hours in the end. We parked up in the main visitors car park, where you’ll find the Salt Malt fish and chip restaurant. The lake and its facilities are part of a Bristol water site so there’s a charge for parking, but it’s a very reasonable £2, whether you’e there for an hour or the whole day (up until 6pm; I believe it’s free after that point). The car park is adjacent to the lake, and the grassy banks surrounding it provide the perfect spot for a picnic (as I said, the views are lovely in the spring, but in summer it can get a bit overgrown). The restaurant was pretty busy when we were there but there were less people picnicking so it gave the girls plenty of space to run around. There are toilet facilities right next to the restaurant and there’s also a pretty cool play area.

There are some lovely, short walks beside the lake too, which allow you to view the lake in all its glory. You can walk straight from the main car park along a gravel walkway that lines the lake offering great views (the only downside is that it’s riddled with flies – that could just be the time of year though). This walkway links the main car park with a secondary car park (it’s about a 10 minute walk between the two). From this secondary car park you can take one of two extended walks. The first is the Grebe trail, which is 1.2km long (10-15 minutes) and starts and finishes at a wooded picnic area. The trail follows a surfaced path which is ideal with a pram. The second trail is the Bittern trail; this one is slightly longer at 1.5km but is unsurfaced so you’d probably need a sling rather than a pram to tackle this one.

All in all, this is a great day out and the best bit is, it only cost us the price of parking! If you’re not up for picnicking, the fish and chips at Salt and Malt are darn good (it’s been shortlisted in the Fish and Chips awards as ‘Fish and Chip Restaurant of the Year’) and if you spend more than £7 in the restaurant then you can get £1 back on your parking (nice little tip there!)

Welcome to The parent play list

If, like me and my two girls, you find yourself climbing the walls after a morning inside, then you’ve come to the right place. With two young daughters, I spend my days looking for ways that we can escape the clutches of our tiny house and get out and about. Thankfully, we live in Wells, Somerset; a beautiful city (of town-like proportions) where regular toddler groups, nice cafes and open green spaces are right on our doorstep.

Over the past three years though, we’ve pretty much exhausted every option Wells has to offer for pre-schoolers, so I’m making it my mission to explore further afield and seek out all the great things available for children across Somerset, Wiltshire and beyond.

If you’re on a budget like me, then you’ll find lots of cheap entertainment options here, as well as the occasional Big Day Out idea. I hope that this guide will be useful for other mums, dads, grandparents and anyone else in need of inspiration and ideas.

If you’ve had a great experience recently and would like to share it with others, please do get in touch x