Tag Archives: children’s attractions

The Tiger Who Came to Tea at Birmingham Town Hall

Posted on by

If you have a small child, you will know all about ‘The Tiger Who Came to Tea.’ To put it in its simplest terms, it is one of the most beloved and popular children’s books of all time. Written by ‘Mog’ author Judith Kerr, The Tiger Who Came to Tea is a wonderful story of a rather large tiger, who visits a little girl called Sophie and her mother, and stays for tea, literally eating the family out of house and home.

Satellite

The latest production of the stage version of the story is currently midway through a run at Birmingham’s Town Hall, and is totally thrilling its audiences, young and old. For those familiar with the book and its wonderful illustrations, the setting of Sophie’s kitchen is instantly recognisable, as are the cast, with Sophie in her plum dress and patterned tights, and mom resplendent in green. The story is a great one for younger members of the audience, with songs and the use of repetition that is always a great way to engage the under fives. The ‘tick tock’ song is effective in explaining the day away whilst we are waiting for the star of the show to appear.

630x8.fitwithoffset

The star of the show, is, of course, the tiger. From his first appearance, with a paw around an open door, he just enchants the audience. True to the illustration from the book, the instantly recognisable tiger is a real charmer, so polite and friendly in his dealings with Sophie and her mom. His Tiger workout routine, which all the younger members of the audience happily participated in, was a definite highpoint of the show, certainly for my little boy, who was still talking about it later on in the afternoon.

10411200_692335117531259_644573792348907187_n

The show lasted 55 minutes with no interval, this length was just right for the audience, and finished with the line about the tiger never returning, which many of the children joined in with. The Tiger Who came to Tea is a delight from start to finish and delights its audience – whatever their age.

The Tiger Who Came To Tea runs until Wednesday 14th January at Birmingham Town Hall, click here for times and ticket information.

Hatton Country World Enchanted Christmas

Posted on by

Yesterday we took a little trip to Warwickshire to take in the Enchanted Christmas experience at Hatton Country World. Hatton is a place I have never visited, so we were all very excited at checking out Christmas in the beautiful countryside. I have to say, we had the most wonderful time.

10338295_684012481696856_1893268605451479000_n

Hatton is both a child friendly attraction, and a gorgeous shopping village that is full of interesting independent stores. Yesterday, there was also a Christmas market that was stocking everything from jewellery to vintage cake stands. Hatton is set in rolling countryside, and makes the most of this with different activities set out across lots of fields, from mini assault courses to a JCB yard full of mini ride on trucks and complete with petrol pumps. There are also lots of different parks, including a sand pit full of large diggers and trucks that Joe loved, and also plenty of animals scattered around the place, from farm animals, to Alpaca’s and birds of prey. There is so much to see and do.

10806228_684014058363365_4832062445458163355_n

DSCN0594[1]

DSCN0598[1]

DSCN0612[1]

Of course, being Christmas time, the big attraction at Hatton at the moment is the Enchanted Christmas features, which have a beautiful grotto at their centre piece. The grotto is busy and there are queues, so I would recommend heading to the grotto early on in your visit when the queues are much shorter. The grotto itself is very pretty, filled with polar bears, a snow-covered bi-plane that fascinated all the children waiting to see Santa, and a variety of penguins, elves and Christmas trees. It is also snowing in the grotto which is another nice touch.

10408760_684013325030105_6336791279022178520_n

DSCN0627[1]

10417754_684014171696687_3790913470039137279_n

The visit to Santa itself is rather brief, but Santa is friendly and jovial, and addresses all children by their name. What makes this experience different from others is that the children are given a key to Santa’s toy shop and are then allowed to choose their own presents from Santa’s toy shop. The toys are a decent standard – Joe chose a magic kit and was really pleased with it, and all the other children were having a great time perusing the toys, the choice is good and is suitable for all ages.

1004551_684013111696793_1615611362709609257_n

10848008_684013761696728_4861731389353174395_n

DSCN0629[1]

DSCN0649[1]

There are lots of other nods to Christmas all around the park. There are Christmas stories in the very festive ‘Scales and tales area’, whilst the guinea pig world is now a mini winter wonderland (another of Joe’s favourites). The animal feeding area was popular, but I was so overwhelmed to see a baby lamb being born- a totally unreal experience that basically made my day. There were also different shows throughout the day in the theatre including magic and puppet shows, these made a nice respite from the gloriously bright, but oh so cold day.

DSCN0607[1]

DSCN0651[1]

DSCN0663[1]

DSCN0666[1]

We finished our day with a look around the shopping village and market, where we were able to buy some beautiful pieces, from Gisela Graham Christmas decorations, to a vintage cake stand. We also enjoyed tried some local sausages and delicious fudge (and yes, some of the fudge then came home.). A trip for mulled wine at the tea room rounded off a pretty wonderful day for all.

DSCN0661[1]

Can’t believe I didn’t get the disco ball!

DSCN0662[1]

LLoyd Loom chair – love!

To find out more about the Enchanted Christmas at Hatton, click here.

*We were sent free tickets in return for a honest review.