The Toddler’s Summer Top Five (and one for luck)

It’s a bit difficult to tell whether it’s summer or not here at TTR Towers. The paddling pool’s out but it’s full of rain water, we’re wearing short shorts but they’re accompanied by Bob the Builder wellies.

Rain or shine, these are the events we’ll be donning our IdaT raincoats for (we’ve plugged them before and we’ll plug them again: for IdaT and our other favourite funky kids clothes www.nordickids.co.uk) …

Camp Bestival, Dorset
www.campbestival.co.uk
30 July – 1 August 2010
weekend tickets £155 with camping
For the past few years the Toddlers’ summer has been all about Latitude Festival. But this year due to several issues (mainly revolving around Mummy’s inability to be within 100ft of Florence & The Machine without turning in to The Hulk) we’ve dumped Latitude in favour of Camp Bestival.

We’ve long been fans of Bestival but, in all honesty, have found it a bit much with kids in tow – beginning with the tale of Ted very nearly crowning during a Beastie Boys set 150 miles from the hospital and ending with Lillie stuck waist high in mud. So Camp Bestival promises to be a very pleasing alternative.

For while Mummy and Daddy are rather thrilled at the prospect of Friendly Fires, Madness, Funkadelic and The Fall, Mr Scruff and DJ Yoda, they are well aware that the true headliners of this happy gathering at the beautiful Lulworth Castle will be a chubby sign-language friendly clown and an imaginary monster with a poisonous wart on the end of his nose.

Yup, keep calm folks, Mr Tumble and the Gruffalo are indeed in residence.

Elsewhere Hugh Fearnley Whatischops (The River Cottage Family Cookbook – BUY IT!) is serving up food, there’s acrobats doing highwire stunts, there’s balloon animals, there’s dressing up, there’s cupcakes, there’s…well, let’s just say that for a certain four year old girl, Camp Bestival is heaven. Meanwhile Mummy friendly concepts such as hot showers, camping pitches less than 50m from your car, a WI tea tent, boutique babysitting and on-site pampering treatments are just a few of the fab ideas which make Camp Bestival the UK’s best family-friendly festi.

Standon Calling, Hertfordshire
www.standoncalling.co.uk
6-8 August 2010
weekend tickets £95 with camping
Last year’s last minute visit to Standon Calling was a great success – so much so that TTR are going back for more. We love the friendly vibe of this tiny festival hidden away in the rolling countryside of Hertfordshire. We love the little known acts which make up the majority of the muso-friendly line up (last year’s favourites including the awesome Josh Weller, please check him and his amazing gravity defying hair out). We love the spacious site with its two minute walk from tent to stage, it’s eco-loos and the tree-bar.

This year TTR are planning to get stuck in to the Murder on the Standon Express theme with costumes galore while also checking out tunes from the Buena Vista Social Club, Efterklang and Liars, get involved in interactive theatre, watch a cult movie and even do a little shopping at the fab boutiques setting up camp on site (although Mummy will be leaving the kids outside while she raids the retro lingerie in the wonderful What Katie Did, (see www.whatkatiedid.com) because Ted likes to wear bras as hats and shout ‘BOOBS!’.

In short Standon Calling is the ultimate back garden party, somewhere to chill out, make friends and let the kids run riot. This year’s addition of the The Little Den with its beatboxing workshops, Mr Reggae nursery rhymes, Punch and Judy show and the lovely Emma Kennedy reading from her murder mystery book series, promises to up the family friendly stakes and help mould proper rock ‘n’ roll toddlers too.

The Festival of History, Northamptonshire
www.englishheritage.org.uk
17-18 July 2010
weekend tickets £15.50 for adults, £8.50 children
It would be easy to call us biased, after all The Festival of History boasts the very useful advantage of being a five minute drive from the home of TTR, Market Harborough. But, truly, it really is a fantastic, curious-kid-friendly event worth travelling beyond the end of your road for.

Organised by English Heritage, The Festival of History takes place in the beautiful grounds of Kelmarsh Hall and combines education with a fun day out. There’s plenty of those funny blokes who like dressing up as soldiers recreating battles, but there’s also ‘encampments’ which give an insight in to life through the ages (promising lots of questions from young children confused about why the Saxons didn’t have ovens etc), aerial displays, jousting, food, fairground rides and loads of other stuff to boot.

Proper good, clean fun organised carefully to ensure that your day out is as action packed or as leisurely as you want it to be, The Festival of History will thrill children of all ages. (but remember your ear protectors for those artillery demos, from www.peltorkids.co.uk).

Kew Gardens Summer Festival, London
www.kew.org
until 5 September 2010
tickets £13.50, children free
Kew Gardens remains one of Britain’s most beautiful places, at least according to Mummy, who likes flowers and whatnot. And while Kew is somewhere you can go to simply laze the day away when kids are involved it’s best to have something to keep them occupied.

The great thing about the Kew Gardens team, y’see, is that they’ve recognised that it’s all about the little buggers so not only do they let them in for free – that’s right, F-R-E-E – but they’ve laid on a whole load of stuff which will fascinate them. First on our list is the PLANTastic Play Area which is pitched as an ‘interactive landscape’. So, in baby-brain terms, it’s a clever way to get kids to learn things while getting mucky crawling about on their hands and knees through ‘roots’, flying on a zip wire like a bee and climbing up totem poles shaped like mushrooms. Good-o.

Elsewhere the Prince of Wales Conservatory hosts much more than wicker furniture with its admittedly pretty awesome Butterflies, Bugs and Beasties display. Lil-style girls will adore the exotic butterflies fluttering around them while ultimate-boys like Ted will no doubt get rather excited about the less savoury bugs. Yum.

Toy Story 3, Nationwide
www.disney.co.uk/toystory3
opens 23 July 2010
Yes, we know that Shrek’s got a new one out too but you just can’t beat Buzz. Even if he did snub Daddy at Disneyland Paris.

Despite being around ten years old now the Toy Story franchise is still a huge hit with kids and the threat of ‘if you don’t sleep I’ll put your Buzz Lightyear in the bin’ still works with Ted. The added bonus is that Toy Story is as much a hit with adults as it is with chilblains, so Mummy and Daddy are eagerly awaiting it while debating ‘Who’s The Best Toy Story Character? Rex the Dinosaur v Mr Potato Head.’

Melton Monkeys, Leicestershire
www.pif.org.uk
every Tuesday 9:30am-3:30pm
£3 per child, £2.50 for each additional child
I shan’t lie to you, Melton Monkeys is a local initiative run by our friend Noah’s mummy. But who can argue with something that keeps the horrors entertained for almost the entire day for three quid?

Based in Melton’s Penman Spicer Hall (we know, limited readership in Melton Mowbray but, come on, it’s the home of the pork pie! The place deserves some love), Melton Monkeys has a truckload of gear on hand to entertain your smalls with plus the all important tea and coffee making facilities and loads of good, healthy snacks and drinks for the little’uns paid for honesty box style. But you’re welcome to bring your own food too if you’re strapped for pennies – it’s a small thing but as most parents know the whole ‘only food bought here to be consumed in this area’ rule stinks like Ted’s nappy.

We’re just waiting for the Market Harborough branch now…come along Noah’s mum!