Family day out: Stick Man trail, Wendover Woods
We are huge fans of Julia Donaldson’s books. At one point I could recite the Gruffalo all but word perfect. I’m still a secret fan of Room on the Broom (perhaps more than my daughter) and have been known to well up at The Snail and the Whale. But Stick Man has somehow passed us by. Until this winter.
In the space of a week, we saw the TV adaptation, I managed to win a copy of the book and the new Stick Man trail at our local Forestry Commission site opened.
So having done the Superworm trail there and Room on the Broom in Yorkshire, and desperate for time out of the house on the first dry day after Christmas, we set off for Wendover Woods, one of my favourite days out in Buckinghamshire on a Stick Man hunt.
There are 25 of the trails at Forestry Commission sites around England, so each has its own slightly different twist. At Wendover, the Stick Man trail follows a fairly easy path through the woods along the same route as Superworm.
EDIT: The Stick Man trail is no longer at Wendover Woods, although there is usually a new Julia Donaldson themed trail most years, and the other attractions remain the same
As a bonus at the end, there’s the Gruffalo sculpture from the original trail, plus a few carved animals (which may or may not feature in the book) along with a fantastic viewpoint down to the surrounding countryside.
On the plus side, it’s a nice easy walk even for younger kids and generally buggy friendly although the lashings of rain meant it was a lot muddier than normal. Joy for a three-year-old, less so if you’ve got a baby. Having said that, plenty of buggies made it through.
On the other hand, if you’ve walked the route before, only the signs and activities themselves are new. With almost a year gap for us between trails, Minnie was more than happy to retrace her smaller steps though.
The nine main boards retell some of the Stick Man story, following his misadventures as he tries to return to the family tree.
But along with the plot points kids will recognise, there are some lovely bits of information about the forests and animals featured linking in to the activity pack.
And unlike Superworm, there are also extra mini signs to spot deeper into the undergrowth so there was not only a bit more to find but Minnie also got hugely excited whenever she spotted one a little way off in the trees, scampering over to get a good look.
We’d picked up our £3 activity pack at the cafe before we set off – fortunately, we’d grabbed lunch as well (I hadn’t quite been organised enough to pack something) as the queue was out of the door when we returned just before lunchtime.
There are pictures to spot, pipe cleaners to make your own stick man and other little questions and quizzes, plus paper and crayons to do rubbings on the trees and a stick man sign. This time around, there’s no mini version of the book included though.
Unsurprisingly the trail was pretty packed with families that day but it’s spread out enough that we never felt crowded or had to wait to read the boards, which had activity suggestions too. I’m quite glad we turned up early though.
Even better, a lot of the activities were really fun ones which even younger kids could do – star jumps, adding sticks to a nest, collecting sticks (although wooded area by the board which asked you to collect sticks was unsurprisingly almost out of sticks).
As it’s a general trail to suit all 25 locations, there were a few which didn’t work at Wendover – playing Pooh sticks is a great idea, and something I love to do with Minnie. Sadly Wendover doesn’t have so much as a stream, let alone one with a bridge over it so we couldn’t try that.
What it does have is a lovely den building spot, a huge nest of twigs to explore inside and a mini wooden throne to clamber up on.
Then along the path, around the corner and to the finish! With our Gruffalo reward. Last time, Minnie had insisted the Gruffalo was moving and flatly refused to go too near him. This time her initial wariness wore off quickly and she decided he was friendly enough to hug.
And Stick Man? A gleeful and very muddy Minnie, who had been wielding a variety of sticks along the way, persuaded me to waive the usual ‘sticks live outside’ rule and bring him home.
After a narrow shave nearly being left on the roof of the car, we compromised and made his new home out in the garden.
Whether the squirrels and fox which regularly appear there take him off on another adventure remains to be seen…
Need to know: Stick Man trail at Wendover Woods
The trail at Wendover Woods is free although parking costs from from £2 for one hour with machines near the information centre to pay on exit.
The woods (and cafe) are open 364 days a year from 8am, closing between 5pm and 9pm depending when you visit – see the website for more details.
There are toilets, a cafe, picnic benches and a BBQ area on site, as well as a play area and several other trails suitable for kids.
Click here for details of the other Forestry Commission sites and their various walks and trails – we’ve also since visited the Zog trail. The Julia Donaldson trails run at multiple Forestry Commission sites around England – we also found Zog in the Forest of Dean
PIN FOR LATER: STICK MAN TRAIL AT WENDOVER WOODS
All images and video copyright MummyTravels
LIKED THIS? SIGN UP FOR MY EMAIL NEWSLETTER
I must admit I’ve never heard of stick man although we love the Gruffalo. Anything that gets them out and interacting with nature is a great idea.
Absolutely – if the lure of wandering in the woods and picking up sticks isn’t enough, I find these great for encouraging her around the next corner.
What an exciting trail! I used to love these as a kid exploring the woods and solving all the puzzles and it is a great free activity for families to enjoy!
It’s a really fun idea I think, especially for littler ones with short attention spans.
The gruffalo is a favourite in this house, even though my children are much older (my youngest is 8 and still loves that story, which we both know off by heart!)
Awww, this looks like such a lovely trail and day out! The activity pack is a great idea!!! I love the boards and the idea of the stick man story. It sounds like a super fun trail and I love the wooden gruffalo! And the owls are fantastic! Lovely photos and lovely post. xx
Thanks! It is a lovely idea for a trail, and the activity pack is definitely worth getting I think.
This looks and sounds fantastic. I’ve heard about activities like this and the gruffalo walk and it is something my hubby and daughter could do together. Thanks for sharing your experience and the picture are fab too!
Angela
Thank you! And absolutely, I think they’re great for slightly older kids too.
I am all but lost as I am not familiar with stick man train but sounds like it was a nice family day out even with the muddy trail
It was a very lovely day out – probably not something you’d do if you weren’t going as a family but a nice tie-in to a children’s book.
We met The Stick Man over the holidays, when we saw him on TV. This looks so great – I wish there was one near us. Kaz x
That was my first real introduction too – it’s a real shame they don’t have them in Wales and Scotland too, was really surprised.
Sounds like a great trail i am hoping to Monkey to one near us soon, but maybe when the weather improves a bit. It sounds like they have thought more about some of the activities this time round which is great. Lovely to see the Gruffalo at the end! I wonder how many stick men we will end up coming home with! xx
The activities were very fun – and I’m impressed we didn’t have an entire stick family…
I mentioned the Stickman trail to my brother as an activity for my niece and nephew after reading the post on a few blogs, it sounds like such fun x
It really was fun – I hope there’s one near your brother for your nephew and niece to discover too.
I read a few post last year about the gruffalo trail, didn’t realise there was a stick man one. looks fab
It’s very fun – I think the Gruffalo was so popular they’ve started working through the rest of the books
We love these sort of trails too and Stick man would be another favourite I’m sure. looks like lots of fun#countrykids
They are really fun aren’t they, great for a day out I think.
We love Wendover Woods and are hoping to try Salcey Forest tomorrow for the first time and do their Stickman Trail too – looks like we are in for an adventure too #CountryKids
Hope you have fun! Salcey Forest is a bit of a drive from us but I’m wondering about checking out the trail at Alice Holt in Surrey too – they’re always a great day out, I think.
Christmas was our first introduction to Stick Man. I’m sure we’ll get to know him much better this year. It’s looks like you had lots of muddy fun at Wendover. I still need to get round to finding our new closest Forestry Commission trail! #countrykids
It was very fun being able to watch on Christmas Day, then head out on the trail a few days later – I think Haldon Forest would be your nearest now? Hope you find him too…
What a great idea. We love stick man. Would be lovely if they got to make a stick man at the end too. The den building sounds fun.
Thanks – was really fun. We did get a couple of pipe cleaners to make our own (find your own sticks!) 🙂
I love the trails that pop up, they’re always so clever and you can tell so much thought has gone into them. This one looks beautiful! The activity pack looks really good too, and not too badly priced. Ray xx #CountryKids
They’re such a lovely idea, aren’t they – the trails always keep my daughter entertained
what a fab day out, my son loves stick man!
It’s a really fun one, I think.
This is such a cool idea! The stickman is a great book & I love how it’s been brought to life here! The finish with the Gruffalo & wood carvings is fab. I think any activity that gets the family outside for an adventure is really great!! Thanks so much for linking up with our first #BloggerClubUK, we really appreciate your support & hope you will be back again this week x
It’s great isn’t it – such a lovely idea to get kids outside. And my pleasure, do remind me if I forget! x