Willows Activity Farm | Santa Spectacular

November 25, 2019

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One of the things that I would love to come across from my blog and social media is our love of creating memories with the children. From school holidays to birthdays, and especially at Christmas – we do LOVE Christmas! Over the years we have tried a few different Christmas experiences, each offering their own merits, however, never quite getting the full festive fun. That was until we made our first visit to the Willows Activity Farm Santa Spectacular.

Having seen some of the posts on social media from last Christmas about the festive fun to be had at Willows Activity Farm it was certainly something that was on my list of things to do this year. Luckily for us, Willows Activity Farm invited us along for the opening weekend of the Santa Spectacular. So let me share with you what we got up to and most importantly what we thought of it…

A man and a woman standing in front of a tree

Willows Activity Farm Santa spectacular

The Santa Spectacular programme is a full day out of festive family fun and the child ticket price includes all the activities and shows plus a visit to Santa and being able to choose a gift from his Toy Shop, making a toy bear in the Create-a-Character workshop and biscuit decorating.

Santa Spectacular Activities

Upon entry to Willows Activity Farm each of the children receives the following items in order to take part in the Santa Spectacular activities.

  • Elf Passport
  • Santa Grotto token
  • Gingerbread token
  • Create-a-cuddle token

Willows Activity Farm Elf Passport

A group of people posing for the camera
Willows Activity Farm – Elfie Selfie

Find your elf name

To get the children into the festive spirit what better way than discovering what their elf name would be. With one of the advantages of the children all celebrating November birthdays is that they are still siblings in this festive fun – introducing Snowy, Twig and Evergreen Baubledore.

Reindeer Hunt

A person holding a birthday cake
Willows Activity Farm Santa Spectacular – Make your own reindeer dust

‘Sprinkle on your lawn at night,
The moon will make it sparkle bright,
As Santa’s reindeer fly and roam,
This will guide them to your home’.

An added bonus to discover as you walk around and explore Willows Activity Farm. Seek out the nine reindeer names and jot them down within the elf passport. Plus there is an opportunity to make your own reindeer dust to take home and sprinkle on your lawn ready for Santa’s sleigh.

Collect your golden key from Santa

A woman standing in front of a group of people posing for the camera
Willows Activity Farm Santa Spectacular – Santa’s Workshop

As you make your way into Santa’s Grotto, it is time to hand over your Santa’s Grotto token. Be sure to get the elves to stamp the elf passport ahead of your journey through Santa’s workshop. You’ll need to show Santa this in order to receive a golden. This key will give you access to his shop, where children are able to choose which toy they would like to take home with them – but how to choose from the wide range of toys available in his toy shop??

Take a ride into the festive wood

A person sitting on a bench
Willows Activity Farm Santa Spectacular – Tristian the Runaway Tractor
A close up of a flower garden
Willows Activity Farm Santa Spectacular – Festive Wood

Take a load off and explore the Festive Wood on Tristian the Runaway Tractor. Grab some jingle bells to join in with the onboard music and sing-a-long. But be sure to hold on tight as it can sometimes be a bumpy ride.

Say hello to Santa’s Reindeer

A sign in front of a brick building
Willows Activity Farm – Meet the reindeer

Pop along to say hello to Santa’s reindeer. A chance to learn more about them and why they are so important to Santa’s epic Christmas Eve journey.

Write a letter to Santa

A close up of a fire hydrant
A cat sitting on top of a book

Whilst you may have already been to see Santa in his workshop to let him know what is on top of your Christmas wish list this year, It never hurts to write this down in a letter to remind him later. Although, we have always expressed to the children that they can only ask for one gift (and not the most expensive) from Santa – as Santa shouldn’t get all the credit when it comes to gift-giving at Christmas.

With paper, pens and pencils available for the children to write or draw their Christmas present wish it was time to sit and think about what they would really like to find underneath the Christmas tree this year. As an extra special treat, parents can add the child’s postal address to the bottom of the letters before they are posted, in order for Santa to send a reply.

A couple of people that are standing in front of a building
Willows Activity Farm – Elf Sleigh Show

3D short film Christmas Adventure

Let the festive fun begin by popping on some special 3D glasses. Take a seat and enjoy the short festive film. Perfect for all the family and a great way to recharge before the next set of activities.

Enjoy the Elf Sleigh Show

The Lapland elves have travelled to Willow’s Activity Farm to showcase their brand new Sleigh Show (with a host of other shows also being performed across the day). Be prepared to laugh, giggle and join in the festive fun.

Create a cuddle workshop

A group of people wearing costumes
Willows Activity Farm – Create A Cuddle Workshop

Time to exchange your create a cuddle token with the elves in the workshop. A difficult decision lies ahead – which cuddly to create? With each of the children selecting to create something different – a dinosaur, a spotty dog and a huskie. The children are each given a drawstring bag containing a heart, stuffing, a birth certificate and their chosen cuddly.

Time to head over to one of the tables to create their cuddly by adding in the hearts and stuffing to ensure that they are just the right kind of cuddly. Once they are ready, it’s time to give them a name before popping them back inside the drawstring bags to ensure they are kept safe on the rest of our Santa Spectacular adventures.

Biscuit decorating

A close up of a person holding a birthday cake
Willows Activity Farm – Biscuit Decorating

Exchange the gingerbread man token for all you need to create your very own festive treat. Tigger opted to forgo the decorations and tucked straight into his gingerbread man (one of the few sweet treats I’ll actually eat). Whilst the girls loved the chance to utilise icing pens and sweet treats to bring their gingerbread man to life. Well at least until they munched their way through it.

Other activities to enjoy

A bird flying over a body of water
Willows Activity Farm – Indoor synthetic ice rink
  • Meet & greet with Peter Rabbit
  • Skate on the indoor synthetic ice rink
  • The indoor play barn
  • Meet the animals in the farmyard
  • Take a ride on the fun fair.

Our thoughts on the Santa Spectacular

Would we go again?

Yes! Absolutely! Despite the drizzling rain, we had an amazing time. A full day of festive fun with a mixture of shows, crafts, activities and hands-on experiences that each of the children enjoyed.

Is it worth the money?

Yes! I have to confess to looking earlier in the year and wondering whether it would be worth the slightly higher than average price tag. However, having visited with the three children I would be happy to pay the entrance fee. So much is included within the price, as you can see from everything I have listed above. Nothing we have been to before comes close to the number of activities that we were able to enjoy.

Book your visit to Willows Activity Farm Santa Spectacular

Booking tickets to the Willows Activity Farm Santa Spectacular is recommended (it’s very popular!). Prices do vary depending on the date you wish to visit and under 2’s can go free but paying under 2’s visit Santa, do the Create-a-Cuddle workshop and biscuit decorating.

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