Summer Holiday Activities in Bracknell and Ascot 2016

Are you looking for something to do with your children this summer holidays? I’ve seen so many people on my Facebook page asking for ideas for things to do, that I thought I would write a blog post about what is going on in my local area – Bracknell and Ascot. This list is my no means exhaustive, so if you want add something to the list or want to share a great event with others then please drop me a line – lovelylaurasblog@gmail.com.

I’ve divided this into three sections. Places that have events on on certain dates. Places you can go anytime and free parks and places I like to go to. I have not been to all the places listed on this blog post, but where I have been I have tried to add a comment with my thoughts.

Please note, details and dates are correct to the best of my ability. Like everyone I am susceptible to the odd typo. Where possible I have included website links to every activity listed below. Please check before you go as I would hate to have made a mistake and someone to have disappointed children because of it.

Summer Holiday Events

Baby Sensory, Baby Olympics

Award winning baby development classes. Visit their website here.

8th August – 10.30am. Jagz Day room.

To book a space email ascotandwindsor@babysensory.co.uk

Beales Country Park

Outdoor wildlife park and gardens, you can view their website here.

• 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th and 31st August. 1.30-3.30pm. Meet the bugs.
• 3rd August – 10.30am-12.30pm. Build a butterfly feeder.
• 10th, 17th, 24th and 31st August. 10.30am-12.30pm. Pond Dipping sessions

Bracknell Town Centre – Roald Dahl Activities

Every Saturday in Bracknell town centre there are usually free activities for children to enjoy. Last year their dinosaurs were fantastic. This year they are themed around the books of Roald Dahl.

• 30th July – 11am – 4pm. James and the Giant Peach day.
• 6th August – 11am – 4pm. The BFG day.
• 13th August – 11am – 4pm. The Twits day.
• 20th August – 11am – 4pm. Matilda day.
• 27th August – 11am – 4pm. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory day.

Read more on the Bracknell Town Centre events page.

Bracknell Fun Days – FREE

Bracknell council run a series of fun days throughout the summer holidays, these are FREE and include activities like bouncy castles, petting zoos, laser tag, crafts, falconry and lots more. These are taking place in the following locations on the following days:

• 29th July Warfield Memorial Ground
• 3rd August Great Hollands Recreation Ground
• 9th August Sandhurst Memorial Park
• 10th August Foxley Fields Binfield
• 16th August Morgans Recreation Ground Crowthorne
• 17th August Braybrooke Recreation Ground
• 24th August Carnation Hall Winkfield
• 31st August North Lake South Hill Park

All details are on the Bracknell council website.

Bracknell Libraries – Summer Events

If your children like reading then make sure they sign up for the summer reading challenge, they have to read and borrow at least six books in the summer holidays. There are so many events going on at the libraries, many free, that I couldn’t actually type them all out. Take a look at the library events section on the Bracknell website and hopefully you should be able to find something near you.

Buckleberry Farm, Reading

Children’s farm with indoor and outdoor play. More details on their website.

• 4th August – Teddy Bear’s picnic.
• 14th August – Outdoor theatre double bill with The Walking Theatre Company.
• 25th August – Film in the park – The Jungle Book.

Chiltern Open Air Museum, Chalfonts

Open air museum based in Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire. You can also get 2 for 1 vouchers on Chiltern Natter.

• 30th – 31st July. Meet the Highwaymen.
• 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th August – Terrific Tuesdays. Family activities, games and and crafts all day.
• 6th and 7th August. Learn about the Napoleonic era with Sharpe’s Rifles.
• 13th and 14th August. Medieval Pageantry.
• 20th – 21st August. Vicious Vikings.
• 28th – 29th August. Tudor Times.

Chiltern Open Air Museum website.

Creative Little Footsteps, Pre School

Summer holiday play sessions for children under 5.

• Wednesday mornings – 9.30-11.30am.
• £2 per family including refreshments.
• Church Hall, Church Road, SL5 9DP.

Call 07467 126924 for more information, or just turn up on the day.

Giggles Indoor and Outdoor Play centre, Bagshot

• Treasure Hunts every Tuesday and Thursday in August
• Session 1 – 11.00am 
• Session 2 – 2.00pm 

Holme Grange Craft Village – Wokingham

Holme Grange is a craft village and coffee shop open 7 days per week. But they are also running special events for children during the summer holidays listed below. You can visit their website here.

• 28th July – 11am -3pm Creation Station craft activities, pony rides, The Wildlife Trust.
• Tuesday 2nd August – 11am – 3pm. Musical minis class (at 11am), Creation Station, Reptile Man, The Wildlife Trust.
• Thursday 4th August – 11am – 3pm. Creation Station craft activities, pony rides, The Wildlife Trust
• Tuesday 9th August – 11am – 3pm. Musical Minis class (11am), Creation Station craft activities, pony rides, The Wildlife Trust.
• Thursday 11th August – 11am – 3pm. Creation Station craft activities, pony rides, The Wildlife Trust.
• Tuesday 16th August – 11am – 3pm. Musical Minis class (11am), Creation Station craft activities, pony rides, The Wildlife Trust.
• Thursday 18th August – 11am – 3pm. Creation Station craft activities, pony rides, The Wildlife Trust.
• Tuesday 23rd August – 11am – 3pm. Musical minis class (at 11am), Creation Station, Reptile Man, The Wildlife Trust.
• Thursday 24th August – 11am – 4pm. The Wildlife Trust.
• Tuesday 30th August – Musical minis class (at 11am).

Jakes Soft Play and Mini Farm – Sandhurst

For children up to 11 years old.

• Thursday 28th July –  2-4pm. Reptile visit.
• Wednesday 3rd August – 2.30 – 4pm. Mr Giant – magic show and balloon modelling.
• Friday 5th August 2.30pm. Guided bird walk.
• Tuesday 9th August – 10am – 4pm. Birds of Prey day.
• Thursday 11th August – 2.30pm. Fun, Games and Races.
• Tuesday 16th August –  2-4pm. Reptile visit.
• Thursday 18th August – 12 – 4pm. Circus Skills
• Tuesday 23rd August – 2.30pm. Treasure Hunt.
• Friday 26th August – 2.30 – 4pm. Mr Giant – magic show and balloon modelling.

Jakes Playworld website.

Jo Jingles, Bracknell and Ascot

Music classes for young children. Special summer sessions.

Binfield Memorial Hall:

• 3rd August – On the farm
• 10th August – Dinosaurs
• 23rd August – Outer Space

Family 10am, £6. Babies 11.30am £5

South Ascot Church Hall:

• 16th August – Teddy Bear’s Picnic
• 24th August – Outer Space

Family 10am.

Contact jo.jingles@btinternet.com to book a space.

Little Muddy Boots, Ascot

Children’s gardening lessons aimed at 2 to 5 year olds. Visit their website here where you can book online.

6th August – 10am. Pay as go class in Warfield.

Messy Monkeys, Ascot

Messy play classes for babies and toddlers. Special classes running in the summer holidays in South Ascot on Fridays and Saturdays.  Classes aimed 18months – 3-4 year olds.

• 29th July and 26th August 10-11am.
• 20th August in south Ascot 1-2pm.

Visit the Messy Monkeys website to book your session.

Odd’s Farm, High Wycombe

We’ve been here several times as always have a fantastic time, farm animals, feeding and petting, sheep racing, tractor rides, outdoor adventure area, indoor soft play, play diggers and tractors. Lots to do all day.

• 21st July – 12th August. Daily Wild West shows.
• 13th August – 4th September. Circus Spectacular.

Odd’s Farm website.

Photography Classes for Teens and Tweens

Run by Shoot from the Heart – Kerry J photography. Full booking details available here.

• 30th August, Woking
• 31st August, Guildford

Pinewood Miniature Railway, Wokingham

• 21st August –  1.30 – 4pm.

Rides cost £1 each, no booking required. Under 3s free. Light refreshments available. Full details on their website.

UK Wolf Conservation Trust, Reading

Wolf sanctuary in Reading, Wednesdays are visitor days. 2pm is feeding time with the wolves. On Wednesdays there are lots of activities for the children including crafts, nature trail, quizzes and bug boxes. Full details on their website.

• 3rd August – Owen’s animals
• 10th, 17th, 24th and 31st August – Quirk’s animal show

Wellington Country Park

Outdoor park with play areas, go-karts, camping, dinosaurs, nature trails, animal petting farm and play sand and diggers. My advice, it’s not great on a rainy day and take a picnic as the I found the cafe pretty expensive. You can visit their website here.

• 30th – 31st July. Wellington’s Enchanted weekend.
• 3rd August – 11am – 4pm. Shire Horse and Cart Rides.
• 6th – 7th August. Wellington’s Pirate weekend.
• 10th August – 11am – 4pm. Shire Horse and Cart Rides.
• 13th – 14th August. Wellington’s summer picnic.
• 17th August – 11am – 4pm. Shire Horse and Cart Rides.
• 20th and 21st August. Wellington’s summer bonanza.
• 24th August – 11am – 4pm. Shire Horse and Cart Rides.
• 27th and 29th August. The big inflatable takeover.

Whoosh Play Centre

A soft play centre located within Bracknell Leisure centre on the Bagshot Road. Just about to re-launch under new management so their full summer holiday programme hasn’t been released. You can read more on John Nike website.

• 1st-7th August Re-launch week. Face painting, mess play, cake decorating, kid’s disco and more.

Windsor Castle

Who doesn’t love a castle? Private guided tours are available.

Live Shakespeare performances, probably more suited for older children during the summer:

• 16th and 17th August. Much Ado About Nothing.
• 19th and 20th August. Love’s Labour’s Lost.
• 18th – 20th August and 25th – 27th August. A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Details on their website.

Local Activities – Any Day

Aldershot Military Museum

A museum for the military going back to 1854. Family activities, talks and picnic area. (Note the museum is closed on the 30th July). All details on their website.

Bocketts Farm, Leatherhead

Great fun, we had a lovely time when we went there. Lots of animals to pet and feed, play area, soft play, ride-on tractors, loads of fun. Visit the website here.

Bracknell Leisure Centre, Bagshot Road

Inflatable aqua run – an 18 metre inflatable aqua run in the training pool 1-3pm Monday – Saturday. Read full details on the Bracknell Leisure centre website.

Prices family ticket (2 adults and 2 juniors or 1 adult and 3 juniors)  £10.60 for members and £17.80 for non members. Under 5s are free.

California Country Park, Wokingham

Children’s play area, cafe and paddling pool. £2 per child free to enter the paddling pool, plus you will need cash to pay for parking. Great when the weather’s warm. Pool open 10am-5pm. Full details on their website.

Dinton Pastures Country Park

This is a new to me park, I just found it courtesy of Google. I cannot see if there are any charges but it looks like a really nice adventure park with a sand pit too. View the website here.

Extreme Motion, Windsor

This looks like great fun from zorbing, bike hire and crazy golf there is activities for all ages. You can visit their website here.

Gravity Force, Camberley

A trampolining centre in Camberley. They run different sessions aimed at different age groups. Looks like great fun and a great way to burn energy.

Gravity Force website.

Go Ape, The Lookout

For tree top fun and forest Segway adventures. There are courses available for all ages and group packages available, have a look on the Go Ape website. Although for the Segway you need to be over 10 and weigh at least 7 stone. You can also get 10% off on Bracknell Council website.

Grays Farm, Wokingham

Pick your own fruit and vegetables. Also includes soft play, picnic area and farm trail. Visit the website here.

Hollywood Bowl, The Peel Centre

Bowling and amusements.

• Free ice cream Mondays – free ice cream for children who bowl on a Monday
• 2 for 1 Wednesdays – on main meals in the summer holidays

Prices vary, so based to check out their website for full details – no booking fee when booking online.

John Nike Leisure Centre, Bracknell

I think there are very few people in Bracknell who haven’t heard of the John Nike Leisure centre. It’s the place to go for dry ski slopes and ice skating.

John Nike website.

Kids ‘n’ Action, Winnersh Triangle

Large soft play centre, with dressing up rooms, video games room and make believe high street and cafe.Separate soft play areas for different aged children. We’ve been here several times and had a great time, but it does get very busy.

Kids ‘n’ action website.

Leap Frog Ceramics, Warfield

We love it here and have been several times. It’s pottery painting, fab fun for children and parents alike and also a great idea if you have a grandparent’s birthday coming up or if you want to get organised for Christmas. For Mums who need to escape in the summer holidays they also run Pottery and Prosecco nights. During busy times it’s best to book.

Leap Frogs website.

Legoland Windsor

The Lego themed website in Windsor is great fun for all ages. We have had a season ticket for several years and love it. Although it gets super busy and can be expensive in the holdiays. Top tips you can get tickets for much cheaper is you have Tesco clubcard points.

Legoland website.

Little Street, Camberley

Open 7 days per week. Quite literally a little street with shops, a doctors, supermarket, cafe, fire engine, beauty salon and dress up. We went for my daughter’s birthday and it was great fun. Suitable for young children. Pre-booking recommended.

Little Street website.

Living Rainforest, Newbury

The Living Rainforest is an indoor rainforest complete with wildlife and plant life. Great for rainy days, I like to take my children in the winter too as the rainforests are always warm! A day’s pass gives you access for a year. Visit the website here.

Lookout Discovery Centre, Bracknell

A science discovery centre located in Swinley Forest. You do have to pay for parking there, but can get the cost discounted from your ticket. Lots of things to do there to help children how things work, as well as a little play shop, very small soft play pit and water play. Great for rainy days and it keeps my small children entertained for ages, but there is more for older children upstairs.

Lookout Discovery centre website.

Milestones Museum, Hampshire

We only went here (twice) last summer as they had a visiting animatronic exhibition and my son loves dinosaurs. But actually on a rainy day there’s lots to do. It’s all about the past, from room sets up from different eras, old transport, a sweet shop when you can buy a rations amount of sweets. My son has asked to go back again this summer even though the dinosaurs aren’t there. They have an interactive mystery adventure going on this summer holidays.

Milestones website.

Odeon Kids – Bracknell, The Peel Centre

Films showing this summer: The Jungle Book, The Angry Birds Movie, Racthet and Clank, Zootropolis and Kung Fu Panda 3. Great for rainy days.

Showings usually start at around 10 am and start at £2.50 per ticket

You can book tickets on the Odeon Kids website.

 Windsor Leisure Centre

Missing Coral Reef (me too). There is a pool with flumes in Windsor, their website says that the flumes open at 4pm and unfortunately I was unable to find a summer timetable on their site. You can have a look here.

West Morland Park, Warfield

A 8 hectar site in Warfield, Bracknell. With a pavilion, three tennis courts, football pitches, basketball hoop, play areas suitable for children aged 2-14 years. And a balancing pond. The tennis lawns are for members only for details on the Bracknell website can be found here.

FREE Places To Go and Parks

Don’t miss some of the activities I have listed above that are free. Such as the Bracknell fun days, which are always great and the activities in the local libraries.

 Jock’s Lane Park

Another fab park with a splash pad, lots of things to play with, cafe, picnic area and tennis courts.

Jock’s Lane Website.

Lily Hill Park

Lily Hill park is great for walks, picnics and cycle rides.

Lily Hill Park website.

Lock’s Ride Recreation Ground

Another place my children and I love. A park with a huge sandpit, splash pad and zip wires. It’s a fab sun trap too. Highly recommended for picnics.

Lock’s Ride website.

The Lookout

I have mentioned the Lookout Discovery centre above, but outside of the centre is an adventure playground. There also walks, hiking and cycling trails.

The Lookout website.

South Hill Park

I love South Hill park, it’s so picturesque. There’s a big playing field, two parks, one with a sandpit. A place for feed the ducks. It’s a fab place for picnics and also has a cafe.

South Hill Park website.

Phew, writing up this list was no small feat! I hope you all have a fantastic summer!