10 great activities for the kids summer holidays in Cheshire

I know what it's like planning for the summer holidays so I thought I'd put together 10 things we love to do in the summer holidays.

1.Cheshire Ice Cream Farm at Tattenhall
Free to get in with paid extra attractions including a small playbarn, electric go karts, crazy golf, free mega climbing frame and of course ICE CREAM - whilst is just delectable!!!!!

2. Cotebrook Shire Horse Centre nr Tarporley
Plenty of space for children to enjoy, gorgeous clean café overlooking their tranquil lake, with tasty family food, selection of animals to view and ofcourse the GIANT Shire Horses. Did you know that their 2 stallions (males) are WORLD famous as outstanding examples of this very rare breed and have winning progeny ALL over the world.

3. Applejacks nr Warrington
This is like an outdoor play area on steroids!!! Great for ALL ages! Long zip wires, huge hay bales to climb, sunken bouncy castle, pedal carts, maize maize, café with plenty of under cover seating, tractor ride and nerf gun shoot out (my favourite!!!!)

4. Wet n Wild at Winsford Lifestyle Centre Swimming Pool
Only on one day a week but keeps kids entertained for ages! They must be able to swim 2 lengths of the pool to participate. Basically it's a bouncy castle type assault course in the water - great for using up energy on an 'indoors' day!!!

5. Delamere Forest
Great for walking, bikes, running - just great to get the kids outdoors. You can hire bikes there and there are 2 cafes, one in the forest (Linmere Visitor Centre) and one just at the entrance to Linmere (Station House Café). They've just introduced a Gruffalo walk - I think (?) you follow it!!!

6. Soccerlocco at Bromborough on the Wirral
Footie mad or not this was a GREAT place to wear out 3 lively boys (!) It's a massive industrial unit converted for kids with footie pitches on one side and footie themed activities on the other. The pitches have inflatable men to 'defend' the goal (or just run into and jump on!) and the activities are things like kick the ball up and through and hole etc - Small but adequate café WELL worth a visit

7. Candle Factory, Burwardsley nr Tattenhall just outside Chester
Kids can make lovely candles and/or there are various activities to do upstairs eg paint a model, make a keyring etc - great for primary aged kids. There's a café too and walks to be had in the nearby woods. (The ice cream farm is nearby  too)

8. Manley Mere Adventure Centre
As well as offering canoeing/kayaking and windsurf lessons, they also have a 'trail' walk with various 'obstacles' along - the aim of the trail really is to get as muddy as you possibly can - so go with VERY old clothes that can be thrown away! There are outside showers at the end! Usually my kids strip off at the car (completely) and change and the dirty clothes go in a thick black bag!! Obstacles include logs over streams, tunnels, huge swings, slides, wobbly bridges, cargo nets etc - prob suitable from around age 5.

9. Go-ape at Delamere Forest
They've recently added a junior go ape which I think (?) is from age 7.
Walk along the high ropes, 'jump' off into mid air, monstrous zip wires  - takes around 2 1/2 hours to complete the 10 years and over one. Pricey but great fun (I think!)

10. Cheshire Pony Parties
I couldn't possibly put a list together without including Cheshire Pony Parties! With various activities for ages 2-14 including our well loved themed pony open afternoons. A more gentle afternoon of pony fun including grooming and pampering a pony with ribbons and stickers, a short ride, some craft and a lovely orchard walk to find the owls nest! OR for 6-12 year olds can come for a whole day and learn about looking after ponies.

School holiday pony fun for ages 2-10

Our tiny, gentle ponies are waiting to entertain your child-

Pony experience

A wonderful hour for between 1 and 3 children grooming, pampering and riding one pony. 

Book onto one of the scheduled times or request a time to suit you.

From £45
More details
Book here

90 minute kids holiday activity 

- a popular activity for between 5 and 8 children including grooming, pampering, riding plus another activity eg a wander around the orchard to look at the fruit trees, a pony quiz or mucking out the paddock!!!

THESE ARE NOW AVAILABLE FOR UNDER 4s - on alternate weeks.

Book onto a scheduled times or gather a group for your own private session!

£17.50 per child

More details
Book here

 

3. Pony Agility

Coming VERY soon!!! Yes it's like dog agility only much slower!!!

This is a test of understanding and relationship between handler and pony and gets people thinking about how to interact with their pony to get the best out of them - some good life skills there too me thinks!!

Children will be taught how to handle a pony correctly and safely before attempting the course.

More details to follow shortly!!!

Maybe not suitable for tiny tots!!!

Whatever the reason for your visit to Cheshire Pony Parties you will be greeted with a warm welcome and receive personal attention.

You will then be blown away when you see our tiny, gentle ponies, happily grazing in our idyllic orchard setting.

You/your child will enjoy a very special time here, with the emphasis on fun and confidence-building. No prior experience of ponies is required.

Yes your child will groom, pamper, decorate and ride one or more of our ponies, but a visit here is so much more than that-

You will learn some fascinating facts about ponies (ask me about their ears!) and their behaviour, plus hear some personal pony tales.

Some visitors tour our orchard and learn about a few of the many trees and animals in and around the orchard.

No wonder little visitors want to come back every day, or that we have people visiting from as far away as London.

"Nobody does it like Cheshire Pony Parties does it."

Amanda Keech

Amanda Keech is an experienced owner of horses and ponies. She has owned, trained, competed and bred horses/ponies for over 20 years. She has experienced teaching her daughter to ride and how to be safe around ponies.

She is one of the first and longest established pony party providers in the UK. 

She holds the British Horse Society Stage 1 in Stable Management and is keen to understand more about improving our communication with equines to keep ourselves safe as well as have a better relationship with them, which may mean being able to catch a pony to improving our riding.

Amanda enjoys offering her ponies to delight visitors!

http://www.cheshireponyparties.co.uk/

Pony Club with Amanda

FUN FUN FUN guaranteed with Pony Club with Amanda -
4x    2 hour enjoyable sessions introducting how  to safely handle and care for horses and ponies

Perfect for

*  children who just loves ponies
*  children and adults who are new to pony ownership
*  children who go to riding school who'd like to understand more about ponies, their care       and safety around ponies.

The course is designed to provide an enjoyable introduction to safely handling and caring for horses and ponies.
Children will learn by doing. They’ll will;
*  understanding how to safely approach a pony,
*  catch and lead a pony safely,
*  groom using the correct brushes,
*  put rugs on safely
*  put the saddle and bridle on
*  make up pony feeds
*  check the fields for weeds and dangers


To ensure plenty of hands on learning there will be a maximum of 4 children to 1 pony with everyone having the opportunity to practise the excercises.

Numbers will be restricted to a maximum of 12 on each course.

They’ll understanding a bit more about how horses/ponies think to understand how to be safe around horses/ponies and improve their relationship with horses and ponies.

Want to grab a place now - click here


The course is led by Amanda who has over 20 years experience of looking after her own horses/ponies. She has trained, bred and competed horses and ponies for many years, holds the British Horse Society Stage 1 Certificate in Stable Management and is keen to understand how we humans can better 'connect' with our horses and thereby improve our relationship, whether that be being able to catch a pony in the field (!!) to acheiving better scores in ridden competition.

The course is appropriate for ages 8 and over including adults.

All activities will be ‘on the ground’ ie there will be no riding.

There is a choice of dates to avoid holiday clashes!

£22.50 per person per week, £20.50 per person per week for 2 people booked at the same time.

Click here to book one of the 12 available places

(If you are looking to buy a pony and would like a private session please get in touch (see the contacts page) and we can tailor a session or two to your particular needs!)

Half term pony fun for the kids

February half term is fast approaching and I've put together a summary of what your children can enjoy here -
They can ride, groom and pamper a pony - we've got red ribbons and hearts for a valentine's themed week!!
Depending on the activity we might do an orchard walk, see if the snowdrops are out yet and find any acorns that the squirrels have left! We may even see if the fairies are playing!
They may do a quizz about the ponies or if they're really lucky go in the paddock and stroke all 4 ponies!
Older children can attempt leading one of the ponies around our obstacle course - a bit of a challenge!!!

As you can see the ponies are fairly hairy at the moment - sporting full winter coats! Lots of brushing required!!!

Here's why we think you should bring your kids;

• Visits here provide a very personal and unique experience.
• Our setting is idyllic, rural and rustic. We are not a large riding establishment simply a horsey family – your visit provides exclusive access to our private garden/orchard which include a variety of established fruit and other trees and bushes.
• Our ponies are adorable, tiny, child friendly, patient, cuddly, gentle, well-mannered, healthy and happy.
• We don’t just ‘go through the motions’- we interact with our visitors to ensure they feel special and make the experience really enjoyable for them – our testimonial give a flavour of the attention we pay to the children
• We also unobtrusively adapt each session to the needs/confidence level of the visitors, taking care to build confidence where needed or challenge more confident children so everyone goes away having had a great time
• Parents also enjoy the relaxed atmoshphere as well as the chit chat about ponies in general and our personal pony tales.
• We’ve got heaps of experience of working with ponies and children and plenty of knowledge, experience and tales from riding, training, driving, competing, breeding and generally caring for horses and ponies over many years.
• We also enjoy giving children such immense pleasure from spending time with the ponies.

But don't just take our word for it-this is what our customers say-

• "I cant thank you enough for such a fabulous day. You, your daughter and your ponies were all fantastic. Thanks a million for making it so special."
• "I just wanted to thank you again for Francesca's wonderful experience last Sunday. She hasn't stopped talking about Poppy and her "horse riding teacher" since. The whole session was perfect for her and she now has lots of envious little friends whose Mummies are gutted you're not closer to us.
• Thank you again, it was truly wonderful and both Rich and I thought great value for money. Hopefully we'll be able to come and see you again next year when we're back at Fishpool."
• "You're one in of a kind"
• "Just wanted to thank you for a lovely party you made the birthday girl feel really special and although Olivia is extremely shy she chattted about the pony tricks being the highlight. She will always have a memorable time to cherish and I have no hestitation in recommending Cheshire Ponies."

To book either ring on book online.

See you next week!

Amanda

01829 741919

amanda@cheshireponyparties.co.uk

First miniature pony centre in Cheshire

It seems that Cheshire Pony Parties is the only miniature pony centre in Cheshire!

Your child will enjoy lots of hands on pony activities whilst they're here including grooming a pony PLUS he/she will get to ride one of our very gentle, child friendly ponies around our delightful orchard.

There's plenty more too with an educational orchard walk to learn about some of our trees including why we've got pears on our pear tree this year for the first time in 7 years-do you know why??? Sometimes we even try and find the fairies at the bottom of the orchard!

A visit here is very interactive-we don't just stand back in silence-I'm afraid I'm a bit of a talker and have LOTs of fascinating facts and pony tales to draw on from my life so far with horses and ponies, including some fascinating information about foals we've had-ask me!!I'm also quite happy to answer the many questions fired at me from inquiring minds!(young and not so young!)

So whether you're a native from Cheshire or just visiting Cheshire your child(ren) will thoroughly enjoy their private visit to meet the ponies. Just check out all the activities available on our website-
Cheshire Pony Parties

Pony experiences a popular summer holiday activity

Our miniature ponies are waiting to entertain your children this summer holiday!

We're the ONLY miniature pony centre in Cheshire!

Our hour long pony experiences are proving really popular - only £28.33 per child for 3 children, £32.50 per child for 2 children and £45 for 1 child. A wonderful hour of grooming, pampering, riding and answers for inquiring minds!

Alternatively gather a group of between 6 and 8 similar aged children for a private 90 minute session of grooming pampering riding plus orchard walk and pony quizz (if time permits!). Only £15.50 per child

Make a day of it by following on for a walk in Delamere Forest (only 10 mins away), a play down at Keslall play area (5 mins away) or a snack/lunch at Summertrees cafe at the top of the world (well the top of Kelsall Hill anyway!!)

Book into one of the times listed on the website (pony experience/90 minute session) or contact me to visit at another time.

Hope to see you soon!