Welcome to Easter 2021! So, Easter is almost upon us and the end-of-term has arrived. Most of us actually got the opportunity to miss those little darlings for a short period of time, unless you ended up like me and had a grand total of 7 days in school before one of my daughters year groups was closed down due to cases in the year!

So this end-of-term – what are your plans?

We’re absolutely going back to basics and will be enjoying A LOT of time outside, hopefully with friends, if the government continues with their relaxing of the rules, so we can meet outdoors with others….everything crossed.

Our favourite outdoor areas

Irchester Country Park

This has a brilliant park area which is really large, so unless it’s really busy you should be able to distance well from others. There are also some fantastic finds when walking around the forest; dinosaur features and lots of hills to burn off some steam. We’ve made dens and played in the mud before too.

There’s also an activity trail (paid for) that you can book in advance. Check online for their local rules before travelling.

Don’t forget pennies/cards for parking.

Rushden Lakes

Forget the shopping element of Rushden Lakes, we’re talking nature and we love it here.

The walk around the lake is great with lots of wooden statues to find, it only takes 20 mins to walk around so great for little feet. At the left side of the lake, there is a fantastic nature-based play area with loads of areas to explore for the kids.

Of course, you do have the local cafes and coffee shops which I believe are offering takeaway goods which is helpful if you’re fed up with making picnics and fancy a treat. 

Parking is free.

Fermyn Woods

Located in Brigstock, Kettering, this is one of Northamptonshire County Councils’ country parks. Not many people know about it so it’s a bit of a hidden gem. There is a medium-sized playground next to the car park when you arrive, this is fenced in for added security which I found so important when you have children running in different directions!

As you walk around the woods you’ll find other areas to play in starting with a wooden fort and zip line. They’re just creating a new area dubbed the ‘butterfly pit’ which is a beautiful set of wooden butterfly creations, this may not be open yet as they’re aiming for summer.

Don’t forget pennies/card for parking.

Castle Ashby Gardens

We love this place, definitely one of our favourites. You have to purchase tickets ahead of visiting but its well worth the money, we could easily spend a whole day here when it’s warmer. There’s some beautiful gardens, a orangery, menagerie and a lovely walk towards the back end of the gardens, the whole place is incredibly scenic so don’t forget your camera. On arrival you’ll find a fantastic play area for the children, most of it shaped as an obstacal course which our girls loved to ‘race’ around.

You’ll then wander into the gardens with the Orangery to the far left and the Menagerie to the far right. There’s a beautiful fish pond in the Orangery which the girls spent ages watching and then we moved over to the Menagerie where they spent even longer watching the marmosets, birds, pigs, goats, rabbits and a lovely family of meerkats! Towards the bottom of the gardens, there’s a lovely wooded walk and meadow with a river flowing through the middle.

This place is a small slice of heaven!

When we’re not exploring the parks outdoors we’ll be having some fun with crafts and baking.

Baking

Cheesecake Easter eggs!

This sounds like a million calories but easter is for eating right? Basically use half an Easter egg and turn it into a cheesecake, packing the base with biscuit and then cheesecake filling and whatever toppings you fancy.

Nests

We make ours with cornflakes but you can use shredded wheat for a more ’nest’ like feeling to them. We simply melt chocolate, cover our cornflakes in it, pop a small amount in a cupcake case and then top with a few mini eggs – so naughty but very yum and a great way of building up confidence in a kitchen for little ones.

Easter-egg Blondies

We haven’t tried these before but these will be new to try for us this year and I’m drooling already; Easter Egg Blondies 

Crafting

Wreaths

I love the Easter wreaths that seem to be so popular this year, we’re definitely going to be making these first. Have a search online and there are so many cute ideas. I especially like the wreaths of paper eggs – egg-cellent for this time of year ????.

Baskets

We’ll be attempting to make our own Easter baskets from our recyclable waste, I do love the Easter chick and Easter bunny-themed ideas.

There are a wealth of ideas online if you search ‘Easter crafts’, have a look with the kids, and see what takes their fancy.

You may find a few more ideas if you’re stuck inside isolating on our February half-term post; February Blog 

I hope you all have time enjoying the simpler things this Easter, family time and time outdoors and safely seeing loved ones again is going to be a highlight for us.
Take care, stay safe and everything crossed we see you when we re-open on the 15th of April!