Shaun the Sheep at Kew Gardens

We’re going on a sheep hunt might not have quite the same ring as bears, but for a toddler who’s still a fan of Timmy Time, the Easter Shaun the Sheep events at Kew Gardens were probably the most exciting suggestion I’ve made for weeks.

The sun was shining, and after negotiating the horrors of parking during the school holidays, we finally made it in.

We were running later than I’d planned (not least thanks to driving round in circles trying to find a space) so we didn’t get chance to explore everything, but Shaun’s Madcap Meadow, space hoppers disguised as sheep and a couple of stamps on the Spring trail at Kew Gardens wasn’t bad in a short visit.

For more tips on visiting Kew Gardens with kids, check out this post with all my advice from countless visits with my daughter as well as another family event for Easter at Kew

Fortunately all the events are running to April 12, and I have my year-long pass courtesy of last year’s birthday, so I’m hoping to get back in the next fortnight to see the rest – even if I won’t be there for the Easter Egg hung on Easter Sunday.

For starters, there’s the Vegetable Orchestra. We had a taste with kids getting veggie shaped musical instruments (a squash rattle for Minnie) and adults baaing the Shaun theme tune. But there’s also more events elsewhere explaining how some of the sound effects from the movie were made.

In Shaun’s Madcap Meadow there was the sheepdog trial area where you can herd/roll giant sheep around in between a sack race past hay bale obstacles.

There’s also an indoor hopper maze with those sheep hoppers and supersize squashy vegetables to play with, perfect for toddlers as well as older ones who’d started a game of football with bouncy cabbages.

I don’t know whether to be sorry or relieved that we missed wellie wanging, as I’m not sure where a thrown welly would end up if wielded by Minnie.

Kew in the spring is lovely just to wander round, with daffodils and the fabulously named ‘glory of the snow’, a swathe of tiny blue flowers stretching out along one grassy are. Or you can see over two million, blue, white and mauve crocuses at the main Victoria gate.

Wherever you wander, you can follow the Spring Lamb Springtime trail with six stamps dotted around different areas of the gardens.

As the whole area is pretty vast, these are helpfully within a walkable distance that you might reasonably cover in a couple of hours, less if you’re rushing (unlikely though that is).

Minnie is still more impressed by the stamps than getting a prize at the end, but there is a treat to pick up from the cafe if you get all six.

Create your own Shaun at the pop-up stores in the meadow, get your face painted and see chocoholic Shirley the sheep, who knows all about cacao farming too, as well as making a chocolate baa (sorry, Kew’s pun) at the special holiday events – the last costs extra and you need to book in advance.

Last but not least, there’s even a real flock, Kew’s own South Downs Sheep who’ll be by the Brentford riverside (not far from the Madcap Meadow by the Brentford Gate).

Next time, I’ll be getting there early to nab one of those parking spaces…

Need to know: Visiting Kew Gardens with kids

Tickets to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew costs from £12 for adults (off peak excluding donation) and from £4 for children aged four to 16. There’s unlimited entry for members from £77 per year. The activities, including the trail at Kew Gardens, don’t have an extra fee.

The gardens open at 10am with different closing hours throughout the year – check the full Kew Gardens opening times here.

It’s worth getting there early to get parking: there is free parking on the surrounding roads at various times, including from 10am on the main road by the Victoria Gate on week days, and at all times except 10am to noon on the side streets.

You can also park in Kew’s car park on Ferry Lane for £7 for a full day, with overflow spots on the grass verges, next to the Brentford Gate. Download a map here. Bus 65 also passes by the gardens, while it’s a short walk from Kew Gardens station.

Images copyright MummyTravels

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