Ever been to a potato shindig before? I hadn’t either, but last Saturday we found ourselves armed with forks, shovels and buckets digging up some lovely spuds at Willows Activity Farm in Colney Heath.
Willows Activity Farm organises annual events and their potato shindig runs throughout September. Admission entitles you to head to its potato patch and dig up a bag of spuds to take home! We don’t currently grow any food in our garden so I thought it was a fantastic opportunity for Ethan to experience digging up some potatoes.
Friends have raved about Willows Activity Farm and we’d never been, so we were keen to see what all the fuss was about. Ethan took a friend as well, so he was extra excited!
As it turns out, there is so much to do here! I’m not even going to try and cover everything in this post, so what I’ll do is share our top things to do and hopefully it will help you to plan your own visit.
Our top ten things to do at Willows Activity Farm
‘Tristan the Runaway Tractor’ ride
Everyone loves a tractor ride! The tractor takes quite a few at a time, so we didn’t have to wait long at all. It’s pretty bumpy but good fun. You pass by quite a few animals en route and the kids really enjoyed it.
Peter Rabbit Adventure Playground
Ethan loved the Peter Rabbit Adventure Playground. There is so much to see and do here.
As well as play equipment, there are activities such as musical instruments, counting tree rings and a forest telephone. The kids really loved exploring this area, it was hard to get them to move on!
Country Funfair
The kids loved these. They didn’t have to wait for long for a go (which made a nice change having recently been to Legoland!) and there’s no extra cost either.
Mrs Rabbit’s Kitchen
Lunch. The parents’ favourite part of the day, am I right?! We recommend Miss Rabbit’s Kitchen café which is adjacent to a large soft play area, meaning you can eat while they play. Perfect.
The menu offers a good range of food, from sandwiches and baguettes to hot food such as burgers and fish and chips. There are hot meals for the children too, or small sandwiches.
The soft play is huge with loads to explore, and keeps the kids very well entertained while you enjoy a coffee and a well-deserved rest! There is an area for really little ones too.
JCB Young Drivers Zone
An indoor area with bigger and smaller pedal JCB tractors for the kiddies to ride. There are tracks to follow, humps to go over and even a petrol pump to fill up at. There’s a separate area for those under 90cm as well.
Bouncy Haystacks and Leaping Lilypad Trampolines
Who doesn’t love an inflatable slide and bouncy castles? There are also trampolines which you do need to supervise quite closely as you’re only allowed one child on each.
The kids loved the inflatables and spent ages here. We had to practically drag them away!
Visit the animals
There are lots of lovely farm animals to check out, and some of them even race! I spotted alpacas, sheep, goats, cows, horses, and many more.
Animal feeding area
If your little ones love feeding animals, definitely head to this area. You can buy food for the horses, sheep and goats, and if you’re lucky, one of the staff members might give you some carrots and cabbage for the guinea pigs and rabbits to nibble on. You can hold them too.
Willows Show Stage
These were so popular! The shows run throughout the day featuring all the favourites from Peter Rabbit and include plenty of singing and dancing. The kids were kind of entranced and watched for quite a while.
Gift shop
You have to exit via the gift shop so there is no escape I’m afraid! This is an extremely well-stocked gift shop and you will no doubt be persuaded to part with a bit of money here. I would recommend going in with a budget in mind!
More information
We had a brilliant day here at Willows Activity Farm and Ethan really wants to go back already. You can easily fill a day and still not get round everything.
Willows Activity Farm is open daily 10am-5.30pm, with the last admission at 4.30pm. Ticket prices vary depending on what events are on. Advance tickets bought online are cheaper than buying on the door, so make sure you plan your visit to get best value for money.
If you decide to go, please let us know how you got on in the comments!
Thank you very much to Willows Activity Farm for inviting us, we’ll be back soon.
Natalie xx
Disclaimer: Mums Off Duty received complimentary admission to Willows Activity Farm. All words and opinions are my own.
6 comments
Love the look of the Peter Rabbit Adventure Playground and the Young Driver’s Zone – how much fun must that be!
This looks so much fun for little and bigger children equally! Especially the little llamas!
We once went to a potato festival at a city farm in Berlin, and dug up our own potatoes. The boys had so much fun! I love the look of this place too though, so many fun things to do.
It looks great there! I absolutely love the sound of a potato shindig! It looks like a wonderful place for a day out!
I know my nephew would love it if he can feed the animals, he’s always been obsessed with them.
I love the look of this place, its got a great mix of lots of different things to do and keep the kids happy