I love days out when you are never quite sure what to expect. When you explore, discover and experience things in different ways and for the first time. Our recent day out at Kingston Lacy near Wimbourne in Dorset ticked all of these boxes. We went in search of bugs and all things buglike, but found so much more.
Our visit started mid- afternoon as one of the children had not been feeling well in the morning. So when we were handed our bug trail leaflets and told that the bug boxes were being made in the kitchen garden my heart sank. I knew we would not reach the kitchen garden in time before the activity was scheduled to end. The children, of course, didn’t care. They were too busy running about and enjoying all the open space.
We decided still to complete the bug trail. This was a good decision as it took us on a route to the kitchen garden we had never followed before. If we hadn’t walked that way we would have never found the hollow tree. Climbing inside a hollow tree is definitely one activity for every child to experience. My son has climbed inside the hollow of many upright trees, but never crawled along most of the length of a fallen tree. If the hollow had been quite a bit larger I think I would have had a go myself. Thank you Kingston Lacy for this great experience. Needless to say we spent a long time here.
We were too late to have a go at making bug boxes. A family kindly let me photograph these so I could see how they were made. It doesn’t look too difficult, once you have the raw materials.
The kitchen garden at Kingston Lacy is run as a community growing space specially designed for local residents and schools to have the opportunity to learn how to grow their own food. It is a delight. We hadn’t visited this part of the estate for about 2 years and it has been transformed. There are chickens and pigs, a large number of allotments and a large area for small children to ride on plastic tractors. I say small children, but my 13 yr old nephew was still keen to have a go. And then there were the scarecrows, all inspiring, beautiful and imaginative. The wooden one is my favourite. Also one of the best bug hotels I have seen in a while.
Our day at Kingston Lacy hadn’t turned out quite as expected, but as on our last visit it was full of fun and outdoor play. As it was late in the day we wandered back through a virtually empty garden. The deckchairs placed on the lawn (What a good idea) were now free and the children were able to sun themselves!
We are linking up this post with Countrykids at Coombemill
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