We are big fans of Hogshaw Farm in Buckinghamshire, and have been visiting since it opened so when we were invited to review their Father Christmas experience we jumped at the chance. As with all of my reviews, they didn’t see the contents prior to publication and had no input into it.
Just to give you a bit of context, Smallest Child is 6 and she is very much a believer. Middle Child is 11 and he knows the truth, but he adores Christmas. Biggest Child (13) decided he was too cool for Santa. We’re always looking for Christmas experiences that cater for all of the kids so I was interested to see how this would do as most grottoes are focused towards the very young.
Open farm Santa’s grottoes
This blog is all about getting the most out of your money, and Santa’s grottoes at open farms can be incredibly expensive so you want to know it’s worth it. I’ve had a look around the four major open farms in our local areas and here’s what you will pay for a family of four; Hogshaw Farm £76, Mead Open Farm £124, Odds Farm Park £153.30 and Willows Activity Farm £174. That’s a HUGE difference in price!
What’s included
The Father Christmas at Hogshaw Farm experience includes admission to the farm on the day (and you can stay as long as you like). We were there for just over an hour in total, but it will depend on how long you take to do the different craft activities. There’s a wishing tree, craft, gingerbread decorating, reindeer food station, real reindeer, games, visit with Santa and gift.
As you go from each area of the winter wonderland you’re guided by different Elves. They were all really lovely and interacted well with the kids. We were there at the very end of the day and even though they must have been knackered they were still very perky!
Wishes, baubles and reindeer
When you first arrive you’re greeted by an Elf who has a little chat with the kids and explains what’s going to happen. You get to see the reindeer and she tells you all about them (and the fact that one of them only has one antler). Then we went into the winter wonderland and the kids could write a wish and tie it to the wishing tree. Smallest Child seemed to think this was where she put her Christmas list so hers was more of a shopping list than a wish! Some kids had put really cute things like wanting to see their family.
Next, we were off to the bauble decorating station. They had some wooden decorations that already had a design on them but thankfully we were given slices of wood (from Lapland apparently) and the kids had free reign. For my kids this was absolutely perfect and I’ve now got a guinea pig and a rabbit decoration (with varying levels of success) to hang on the tree. They really enjoyed this bit and Middle Child worked really hard on his decoration. So much so that he took ages. I was really conscious of how long we were taking but, to give them credit, no-one hurried us on at all. Once Smallest Child had finished and was just sat there the elf asked her if she wanted to wait or go to the next stage which was nice.
The next stop on your journey is a reindeer food station. The kids are given a bag and make up the food however they want to. They also include a bit of magic flight powder to help the reindeer after a busy night! Important note, because I know it is important; I double checked and all of the reindeer food is 100% wildlife edible and 100% plastic free. If you do sprinkle it on your lawn the birds / local wildlife might get a treat, but they won’t get sick.
SANTA!!
Next up was a visit with the big guy himself. As I mentioned earlier, we were there quite late in the day. In fact, we were the only people in there so we didn’t have to wait for anything. There are other slots that are quite busy, and of course, they don’t want to rush the time with Santa so they have an area here with activities to keep the kids entertained whilst you wait. There’s a snowball pit where you can hunt of treasure (we found a LOT but we put it all back), colouring and word searches. Then on to the main event….
Important info for parents. They have two Santa’s on site most of the time so they can keep queues down but they are subtle about it. I’ll be honest I didn’t realise that until a member of the Hogshaw Farm team told me when I mentioned that I was doing a review of the Father Christmas experience. I only told her this after we’d been through her bit so we got exactly the same experience as everyone else. Both of their main Santas have real beards. There’s one other person they use as occasional cover apparently and he doesn’t have a real one.
We spent about five minutes sitting with Santa. He asked lots of questions about what the kids wanted and what they’ve been doing. Having spent time on the farm before we went in the kids have changed their lists to include rabbits and guinea pigs. One thing that was good is that Santa said he’ll see what he can do but sometimes he has to change what he gets children as it isn’t always possible to do things like that. It was quite good actually. Overall I thought the Santa we saw was really good.
The only thing I think he could have done better is with names. He’s supposed to be Santa and Santa knows all the boys and girls. When you book you have to give your children’s names and when you arrive they check the booking name so will be able to see the kids names. When we went into the grotto the elf asked the kids their names, but Santa asked as well. It would have been nice if she mentioned their names as they came in and Santa pretended to recognise them or something. It’s a small thing, but it would have made a difference I think.
You’re not done yet
Once you’ve met Santa it’s off to the gingerbread decorating station. The Elf in here was particularly lovely. She explained a cute little story why she had tons of gingerbread kicking around and the kids chose which one they wanted to decorate. Grown-ups are offered a glass of non-alcoholic mulled wine. I don’t like mulled wine normally, but this was actually really nice. Again, we weren’t rushed, they just took their time. The icing was quite watery and so once we’d put the gingerbread in the bag all of the decorations slid off. Not that it mattered because it was out of the bag and being eaten as soon as we were out of the door anyway!
The present
Once you’ve finished you get to see present Elf. He checks their age and then asks the kids what kind of present they would like / the kind of things they’re into from a list of options. You don’t know exactly what you’re going to get but you’ve got a good idea. It also means you won’t get something totally irrelevant. We went for the painting option for Smallest Child and table tennis for Middle Child. This is what we actually got;
Our Father Christmas at Hogshaw Farm review
Overall I’m quite pleased with the quality of the presents from Santa. We were there for an hour in total, plus time on the farm itself. The kids really enjoyed themselves and Smallest Child thinks maybe this one could be the actual real Santa. I bang on about this a lot with Hogshaw, but I do think the stuff they do is good value for money. Yes, this visit was gifted and we’ve been invited down before as well, but we have also paid to visit ourselves many, many times. No, you don’t get the build-a-bear that a few of the other places offer. And you don’t get a show, which is on offer and some of them as well. But this place has always been about balancing some of those bigger added extras with a significantly reduced price.
This review of Father Christmas at Hogshaw Farm is based on our experiences at the time of our visit. Things can change over time, including the facilities available. If you have any specific requirements such as access it’s always best to check with the site directly before visiting. If anything I’ve said in this review is no longer accurate then please do let me know. Thank you.
Admission cost
£24.95 per child, £13.45 per adult or child under 1. Booking via their website is essential.
Parking / How to get there
Parking – free on-site
Address – Claydon Road, Hogshaw, Buckinghamshire. MK18 3LA
Toilets
On-site, including baby change
Food
Cafe on-site. Picnics allowed.
What else is there to do this Christmas?
If you’re looking for other things to do this Christmas, check out the Christmas pages here. There’s what’s on guides for Bucks, Beds, Oxon & Herts as well as event reviews and more.
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Hi, I’m Vicky. My husband and I live in Aylesbury with our three children; a 14 year old son, an 12 year old son and a 6 year old daughter. I (mostly) love spending time together as a family. We visit all kinds of places and we’re quite happy to drive a fair distance for a decent day out. A few years ago I decided to set up Free Time with the Kids as a way to share our experiences of these family days out.
You’ll find the essential information you need to know before your visit that can be surprisingly hard to find out. Where do I park? How much will it cost me to get in? Are there any discounts available? Are there loos? Can I take a picnic or get food? My aim is to be your go-to guide for all your free and cheap family days out across Bucks, Beds, Oxon, Herts & slightly beyond. I really hope you find the reviews helpful. If there’s anywhere that you’d recommend please get in touch contact@freetimewiththekids.com or get in touch via Facebook
