We were very excited to hear that Compton Verney were starting their Forest Saturday Club so naturally we took a trip, on Saturday Afternoon, to join in on all the fun. They did some sessions over the Bank Holiday weekend that we couldn't make so we made sure we got booked in for this one quickly.

We had to pre book the session beforehand as they have restricted capacity to allow for social distancing and to make it as much of a relaxed experience as possible.

In order to give as many children the opportunity to take part, they are asking that you limit the number of accompanying adults to 1 per child; the sessions are £7, per child, per session. Accompanying adults are free but they will need a valid Membership Pass or Grounds Day Pass.

Our 3, excluding the littlest as the sessions are most suited to children aged approximately 2 – 8 years, were so excited and eager to get going but were very patient whilst we were greeted by one of the leaders, Janet, who explained how the sessions would work.

Each child was given their own ziplock bag which contained items they may find helpful to use throughout the session (paintbrush, wax crayons, magnifying glass, scissors, trowel, glue etc) and were asked to keep that with them at all times as once they’d used it it would be sanitised ready for the next group.

All activities were set up brilliantly and there was plenty of room for social distancing. All of the sessions are parent led but the two lovely leaders are always on hand if you need anything and are there to encourage play ideas.

Our 2 younger ones got straight into making music using pots and pans.

Whilst the older one enjoyed den building.

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They all pretended they were at sea in the wonderful wooden boat and even took an imaginary trip to Africa. They continued the sessions with mixing mud for painting and cooking in the mud kitchen, created nature pictures using sticks and leaves, looked for mini beasts in the deadwood piles and finished it all off with the toasting of marshmallows.

The sessions are running every Saturday in September - 10:30am-12:30pm and 1:30pm-3:30pm. Unfortunately, all sessions for September are fully booked but more dates are coming soon, so keep your eyes peeled for those. They are also hoping to start their Thursday Pre School sessions at the beginning of October so keep an eye on their website and social media.

We're gutted that the sessions are sold out as we definitely would have gone back as our 3 really enjoyed it.