Why is a summer break at Home Farm so good for families?

We thought we’d share some of the reasons why, other than our family-friendly green-belt location, Home Farm is such a lovely place to come as a family in the summer.

My memory of my childhood at Home Farm is always sunny, filled with independence, and never boring. We were literally on London’s doorstep but I had no real concept of that.

What I took for granted (but now realise in hindsight was just very good parenting) was the feeling of freedom I gained from pottering around the fields near our house “on my own”. Of course I was never on my own really, my mother always knew exactly where we were and what we were doing, but we had enough space not to realise that.

Space to play and explore

At Home Farm there are 150 acres of historic park and woodland for you to explore as a family, but the main glamping meadow is 4.5 acres of safe, fenced, cultivated wilderness, teeming with nature. Children can roam free and let their imaginations run wild.

The long grass between the tents is perfect for hiding in (a forest for a toddler so they will feel like explorers!) and our carefully mown paths are a ready-made race track for the older ones. And all the while you’ll be relaxing in front of your tent fully able to see the top of their heads and easily visible to them if they feel the need to look for you.

As a family you can walk around the farmland and through the woods and have proper conversations without constantly having to stop them being run over or tripping and hitting their head on the pavement.

In the meadow they will inevitably team up with other children staying with us to have adventures that have no need of you to get started, the memories of which will stay with them long after you get home.

The paths stretch around our meadow providing the perfect racing track for a herd of children

Here are just some of the things they might get up to! If you are looking for more family-friendly games, you can read our blog post about ‘glamping games’.

They will no doubt get covered in mud, get brambled, get stung by stinging nettles (and discover the soothing power of the dock leaf).
They will build fairy / goblin/ Borrower homes in the roots of huge trees, they may tread on slugs but may very well also find a hedgehog on the snuffle looking for those very same slugs.
They will gather leaves shaped like their teachers’ heads and bring home a collection of significant-only-to-them objects foraged from a hedge.

They will have stories to tell their friends about at school, and hopefully ambitions to spend more time outdoors in the future.

And if you want to take the outdoor memories one step further then Justin, our local Scout Leader, is often on hand to organise a bushcraft session. He will spend a few hours teaching everyone how to build a proper den, light a fire with just a stick and some leaves, string up a canopy shelter if you’re ever lost in the rain, and loads of other useful skills!

(Caption) iPad? What iPad?! No need for screens here when you have this much to explore — iPad? What iPad?! No need for screens here when you have this much to explore

I truly believe that Home Farm Glamping provides the perfect environment for children to get back in touch with nature, the land and all those simple pleasures that don’t require a plug socket or charge*. And best of all, we’re so close that you only have to come for a night or two. A child-sized outdoor adventure, with most of the work done for you.

*Don’t fret...we do have places to charge your devices, but the hope is our children will be less reliant on them as they explore a more natural way to play and wear themselves out racing around the farm.

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