Every Summer, Bubs' nursery has a day trip to a destination chosen by the children and the term's theme is set to gear the class up to the day. This year, it was all about Safari animals and what better way to put classroom learning into action than a visit to Woburn's Safari Park. For the past few years now, I've accompanied Bubs on his school outings and it wasn't going to be any different despite also having a 4 month old. We planned for Mr J to take a day out of the office and integrate a school trip with a family outing. Two birds with one stone... In reality though, this didn't go to plan. I toyed with the idea of taking the boys anyway but in the end, just couldn't face going alone with two little ones. Instead, we all went on the weekend and Bubs got a double treat when we saw the Gruffalo was also visiting!
A few days before going, I thought it would be a great way to involve Bubs by printing the safari maps (road & foot) and talking through the route with him. He absolutely loved doing this together and became even more excited counting down the number of sleeps left.
Road Safari Map (Source: Woburn Safari Park)
Foot Safari Map (Source: Woburn Safari Park)
Within the foot safari, there is a fair amount to do including Go Ape for older children, a mini train, soft play & playgrounds for little ones. The highlight of the park is definitely the Road Safari and seeing the animals roaming, eating, sleeping. We had bears crossing the road, monkeys climbing onto the roof of the cars and wolves just taking a walk alongside the vehicles.
Although I felt guilty I couldn't take Bubs on the safari trip with his friends, I'm actually happy we went as a family day out instead. The boys were both thoroughly shattered from the excitement, we got to meet the Gruffalo, saw a lot of animals very close up and importantly, spent some rare time together as a four.