Last weekend we went to the Lollibop festival.
On Friday morning we got early and headed down to Hatfield House. Arriving there was no queue to get in, which was nice, after debating which way to start (left or right) we walked down to the Discovery Zone, first visiting the science learning museum tent and watching some of the experiments going on, we then went on to the Nintendo area. The kids were given each a activity sheet where they had to collect stickers, and once they had collected the stickers, they would receive a prize. So the Jacob and Ruby (my niece) went around completing each activity - a ball crawl to find the Pokemon ball, to playing on the DS - the prize was a hat, booklet and some Pokemon cards. Whilst Summer was quite happy playing on the slide within the Nintendo area.
Jacob spotted the big letters B E A N O and was quick to get over to them, and climb on each letter. After which we stumbled on the Bear Grylls survival academy, both Jacob and Ruby thoroughly enjoyed the mini assault course (crawling under a net, rope walking, through tunnels etc..), even Summer got involved and shot through the tunnel. Jacob loved it so much he made us promise we would return later for another turn.
Time for lunch! After choosing what food from the fantastic array of food stalls available, we found a lovely spot under some trees, where we laid our picnic blanket and ate. We were right next to the Pom-Bear tent so that is where we header after we had finished our lunch. They had these giant teddies on display on either side, and inside the tent they welcomed children in with little tables for them to either sit down and draw with the supplied colouring-in paper and pens, or plenty of soft teddies where around for you to play with. The kids were given a crown and a flag and of course a free pack of Pom-Bear crisp (yummy)
We caught the end of Michaela Strachan Really Wild Adventures Show (she was great as ever, I found her fascinating to listen to) - at this stage, remembering from our last year visit Jacob wanted to buy a bubble gun, so as promised we headed to the tent and he purchased his bubble gun. Jacob and Ruby spotted the Wizard School tent, which we went in to make a wand each, finishing just in time for the magic show to start - Harry Potter really looked like the real thing, it was great.
After picking some free Bear cereal and Bear fruit nibbles (Which Summer loves) Jacob was dying to see the Skylanders area where they got to play the new Skylanders game which is due to be released this October, and where they had a superimposed photo each done.
We had fun with Squeaky Hill dancing and playing games, we meet Haribo bear which Summer had a cuddle with, we watched chick eggs hatching, met Postman pat, popped over to play with dolls in the Baby Annabell zone, until we finally headed to the stage to watch the Mister Maker live show - kids loved it! They sang along, cheered along and clapped along.
Finally we headed back to the Discovery Zone - River Island Kids Design Den. Both Jacob and Ruby designed their very own t-shirt, walked out on the cat walk and had some photos taken. They both really loved the whole experience, and kept their t-shirts on all day until we got home and took them off for bed.
The day was coming to an end, so we spent the final hour visiting the Thomas the Tank engine zone and played some carnival type games and won some Thomas & Friends crayons and stickers. We walked over to the Tottenham Hotspur area and kicked some balls, and finally we see Titan the robot.
What a fun packed day! There was loads to do and see, the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves and the atmosphere around the whole park was amazing. We couldn't possibly do everything, you would need two days for that. The Lollibop festival does caters for a wide range of children, and all three of the kids got to do some amazing stuff. We are looking forward to Lollibop 2015.
