Ad – Gifted¦ Hever Castle just outside Edenbridge is one of our favourite places to explore as a family. It always looks beautiful and feels magical, no matter what season it is or what the weather is like. We hadn’t been in almost a year and were delighted to be invited back to put their children’s Easter trail and activities to the test! These run until 18th April, so they’ll be on for the rest of the school holidays too.
Hever Gardens Easter trail
Of course, we love walking around Hever Castle‘s grounds anyway. However, the Easter trail certainly adds another element of interest. Especially for Autumn, who will often get tired of walking quickly if she doesn’t have something happening to keep her interested!
She was very keen to get started on the Easter trail, eagerly clutching her map and following it carefully.
On the back of the map were some clues as to where we could find Easter eggs around the grounds (not real ones, obviously!) Once all of these had been found, we could collect a small chocolate prize for each child.
On the map itself were lots of carrots for us to find. We really enjoyed helping Autumn to use the map to excitedly find the next carrot!
The big finale of the carrot trail was…THE GOLDEN CARROT! Autumn found this VERY exciting, not that you’d believe it from the photo below. Although, she did give two thumbs up to show some enthusiasm there!
I adored the photo opportunity floral frame with Hever Castle in the background and was really hoping to get a decent picture with Autumn. Oh well!
Hever Castle Easter Trail
Inside the castle was another Easter trail. As we meandered from room to room around the castle, we read clues about various animals. A hatched egg with the answer was to be found nearby.
At 5 years old, Autumn was probably at the younger end of suitability for this activity (as opposed to the outdoor trail which younger children would also enjoy). However, she really liked it and I think she learned from it. She certainly didn’t realise before that fish lay eggs! I’m not so sure that she learned anything about spiders, though, as she was too busy being scared and making suitably dramatic noises!
Other Activities
Another activity taking place over the holidays is crown making! There was a vast choice of pens, sequins, ribbon, pipe cleaners and stampers to decorate a cardboard crown with. Autumn put great thought into designing hers ahead of pretending to be Queen of the castle. I think she could have happily spent hours in the marquee decorating it!
Her effort paid off, as the result was beautiful and very appropriate for spring!
Enjoying the grounds
The flowers on Autumn’s crowns weren’t the only ones to appreciate, of course. It is lovely to see the plants at Hever Castle begin to awaken and bloom at this time of year. There were so many daffodils everywhere!
Blossom on several trees also added colour to the beautiful gardens where you can definitely still picture Anne Boleyn and her family walking in.
Of course, the castle itself is also incredibly beautiful and there are some very impressive topiaries to the left of it. We had fun spotting a pig, a tortoise and a deer!
I was also overjoyed to find a donut kiosk outside the castle. While I’d have wanted ice cream if it were a milder Easter, warm sugared donuts with delicious sauces and toppings were just the thing to warm us up when it started to drizzle.
Yet, even drizzle couldn’t have dampened our spirits if it had continued when we got to the Acorn Dell playground. It’s without a doubt one of the best playgrounds I’ve taken Autumn to. She especially loved going down the slide, time and time again. As it was quiet I maaaay have gone down it a few times myself! You might have seen the evidence in my recent Instagram reel. I’ll just leave that here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CcGbnGSg251/
As you can see, we had a wonderful day. If you’re looking for something to do this Easter, I highly recommend Hever Castle!
Disclosure: We were gifted entry to Hever Castle and gardens in exchange for coverage on the blog/social media. As always, all views and opinions are honest and my own.