The Summer of Play, sponsored by Starling Bank promises fun-filled activities. We arrived and picked up a map to start our summer adventure. We set out with our map to explore and find the playstations in the gardens and lower fields.
Our first stop was the Discovery Garden, where we tried our hand at den building, made a mess in the mud kitchen, and thoroughly enjoyed the balancing games and musical instruments – these are all in the woods so it was nice and cool and shady even on such a hot day. This is a newly refubished area and is the perfect place for little ones to play. We really enjoyed trying to spot insects in the bug hotel too.
East Riddlesden Hall also has some lovely formal gardens to explore. We found garden games including building blocks and noughts and crosses to play. There are some well-placed deck chairs to grab 5 minutes break from all the running around!
Next, we headed to the lower fields and had a go at the hay bale hurdles – this was a big hit along with the sports day races! There was lots of space to run around and play, plus there are picnic tables in this area. There is also a trail which runs alongside the river and through a lovely willow tunnel.
We headed to the tearoom for some refreshments and tried the lovely new Iced Coffee* (from £3.60) and Ice Cream* range – they really hit the spot in the sweltering heat of Tuesday! It’s a lovely little cafe with an outside play and picnic area – perfect as you can eat and enjoy a moment whilst the kids continue to play. The cafe offered lots of lovely homemade cakes although the menu was somewhat limited.
After our pitstop we headed to the Discovery Room where you can try a different FREE craft each week – this week it had a focus on preserving our natural habitat! The colouring sheets were a big hit. This was great to get out of the midday sun but would also be a great place to hide from the rain if you needed to. There are also board games to play in the tearoom and a mouse trail to explore around the house ensuring play can continue – even in the rain or excessive heat!
We finished our visit with a trip to see the ducks! What kid doesn’t love feeding the ducks? We hadn’t brought anything with us but you can pick up a bag of duck food from the shop for 50p.
Kirsty’s Top Tip – When you arrive be sure to ask about the days program of events. We caught the last 5mins of a great storytelling session, but hadn’t seen any posters with more details. The events change regularly so are not in the map handout!
All in all, we had a great day and don’t forget because East Riddlesden Hall is part of the National Trust Summer Play event you can get a stamp in your national trust passport & entry is FREE for members!
*Mumbler were gifted entry and an ice cream and iced coffee but as always this is our honest review.
