Outdoor Holiday Activities for Kids near St Albans
I really didn’t think this one through. On Sunday we arrived home after two weeks of camping; playing in the woods, tenting it and building fires. So, when I checked my diary and realised I had booked my daughter in for a Bushcraft Survivor Course with Wild Child Activities first thing on Monday morning, I wasn’t sure how she was going to take it, but she absolutely loved it. It probably helps that she is obsessed with Bear Grylls.
Wild Child Activities is based at Phasels Wood Activity Centre in Kings Langley (near Hemel Hempstead). They do an exciting selection of Holiday Activities for kids 7+ including Archery, Animation, Fencing and Residential Camps for kids 8 and over. I’m all up for getting kids outside. Upon dropping her off, I was rather impressed with the facilities. The Centre is set in 95 acres of rolling meadowlands, woodlands and fields in Hertfordshire. It’s only 20 minutes from St Albans, access is via Kings Langley and the return journey takes you along the A41.
I’ll leave the 7 year old to tell you more about it.
So how was it?
‘It was really good.’
What did you do?
Water Filtration
‘We roasted marshmallows, made dens and then played games. We had to try and clean water by ourselves. We got a trouser leg and one big pot of clean water, they asked us to put mud in it and all stuff icky like leaves, we had a tipi thing and we tied the leg of the trouser to it, we then tied a knot in the bottom of the trouser leg and we poured the dirty water in it and clean water dropped out of the bottom of the leg.’
Games
‘We played a game of Man Hunt which was different to normal. Two teams go off and hide and then they have to try and spot each other without getting spotted first. If you are spotted you lose. It’s a good game. We played 4 rounds.’
Den Building
‘We were given a piece of rope and a sheet, so then we had to try and make a den, we could use all the materials that were all around us in the woods but we were not allowed to pick things off the trees.’
How come there were so many adults?
‘Two teams always stick together, there are three adults. Two of them go into the woods and one stays with each team and the third stays at the base camp getting the fire and everything else ready for when we came back.’
Would you do it again?
‘Yes, because I enjoyed it and I found it interesting. My favourite bit was playing the games, because we got to go into all the parts of the wood except the boundary line.’
How many kids were there?
‘There were 10 children in the group.’
Did you meet some nice kids?
‘Yes, I was the youngest and the oldest person was 10 or 11. I worked well with another little girl, we worked as a team when playing Man Hunt and Den Building.’
Residential Camps for Next Year
We will definitely be looking to book more sessions next year. I’m particularly interested in the Residential Camps but she won’t be 8 years old for a few weeks. The Residential Camps include two full days of outdoor adventures and Bushcraft Activities and an overnight stay in a Bell Tent Village.
We had the opportunity to stay in a Bell Tent during our Camping Trip and fell in love with them.