Ad - Our writer, Rachel, visited the Kids' Fun Zone at Brocksbushes Farm Shop & Tea Room during the Easter holidays with her family.
Here's her review
We drove up to Northumberland for Brocksbushes Easter Fun Zone, where the kids spent two hours exploring rides almost exclusively designed with younger children in mind, excellent inflatables, and some county fair style games.
At a pre-booked entrance fee of £10.95 per child and only £1 for adults for two hours of unlimited rides and inflatables, it’s hands down better value than paying by the ride.
There’s an area which seems more specifically aimed at toddlers, but actually the whole thing is very toddler friendly. Both our boys (5 and 2) did a lot of bouncing, but they also went on all the rides at least once and played a few of games scattered around the site. I was unsure about the 2-hour time slot, but in the end it felt perfectly timed.
Things we loved:
• A beautiful drive to the site and lots of parking
• A friendly smile on arrival
• Excellent inflatables for bouncing and sliding
• Fun rides aimed at younger kids. Expect the usual – a gentle plane ride, spinning swings, Disney car merry-go-round…
• No queues
• All rides, most games, and all inflatables included in the entry fee
• A tempting farm shop and easily accessible coffee
Tips for the day:
1. Wear. Wellies.
And waterproofs.
Or at least bring spare trousers.
It was VERY muddy. No one to blame but myself for going to a farm in the English countryside after several days of rain and not thinking to pack the wellies. Brocksbushes did their best to create walkways and keep things clean, but there was no way to avoid every bit of mud. Thankfully, the children all seemed oblivious to the mud as they raced around the site.
2. Bring cash
While all rides and inflatables are included in the entry fee, there are extras which charge. The face painting is £7 and it’s £4 to hook a duck and win a prize. They do have card machines but the connection is spotty.
3. Special days
The bubble man is scheduled on select days (11th-14th 20-21st, 27th-28th April, 4-6th May). If your children are anything like mine it’ll be worth going just for the bubbles!
4. Snack stand
There’s a little snack stand conveniently located next to the fair.
5. Farm shop
We peeked into the farm shop, which I would highly recommend. They had some gorgeous food – my children basically cleaned them out of plums (I didn’t even get a chance to try one!). In addition to the apparently life-altering produce, there is a tempting cheese counter, baked goods, and other lovely bits you might expect to find in a farm shop.
There’s also a little tea room which we would have tried if the timings worked, but my littlest needed a nap so we decided to pack him into the car and head for a buggy nap in ever-charming Corbridge, which is only about a 7-minute drive.
I wasn’t the only adult who had to wrestle with the urge to grumble about the mud, but it was a pleasure to know the vast majority of the rides were designed for our boys’ age group, and all included in the entrance price. The kids had a grand time. They raced from ride to bounce to slide and were just the sort of ‘happy tired’ you hope for as a parent after a day out.
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