This post features gifted experiences
This Christmas, Cockfields Farm near Oldham has a range of fabulously festive experiences on offer including Breakfast with Santa and Santa’s Toddler Experience (especially for the under 4s) but the main event is the Cockfields Christmas Experience which we went along to try out on Saturday morning.
Cockfields Farm is on the border of Ashton Under Lyne and Oldham in Greater Manchester – making it all of 15 minutes from our house. And yet for some reason not only had we never been before this weekend but I’d actually never heard of it before this month either! Quite how this little gem has slipped under my radar for so long I don’t know!
The Family Christmas Experience at Cockfields Farm Park
We arrived at Cockfields Farm Park in plenty of time for our allotted 11am “take off” to find ample free parking and a cafe serving a range of hot and cold food. I sat down to catch up with my lovely friend Jenny whilst the kids went off to play in the ‘indoor play village’ – which if I’m honest they were probably all a bit too big for! It kept them well entertained whilst we waited but we were conscious that they might be a little too big / boisterous for the younger guests!
Shortly before 11am we were gathered together by a team of elves who asked us to make sure we’d filled in our passports and been to the toilet ahead of our adventure. (This is advisable because toilets aren’t that accessible along the way and you don’t want to miss out on any of the experience!) We then assembled at North Pole Passport Control – essentially we were penned in together so that our ‘passports’ could be checked and we could make sure everyone was ready to set off at the same time!
Elf School
The first stop on the Christmas Experience at Cockfields is Elf School – this is a really cute show featuring two elves – one decidedly more expert than the other. The purpose of the show is to train up the less expert elf so that she can earn her “elf ears” to become one of Santa’s Amazing Elves – and of course you, as the audience, are trained up at the same time.
The kids all sit together on the floor for the show (which they were all perfectly happy to comply with – years of school assemblies I guess!) putting them in the perfect position for plenty of interaction. As adults, we sat on rows of hay bales a little further back.
The highlight of the show for my three was a re-write of the 12 days of Christmas, which has been stuck in their heads ever since.
Ben was a little “eye rolly” at the end of the show and claimed it was a “waste of his time” but, at 10 and a half yrs old, he’s hardly the target audience any more – Amy, at 6 yrs old, thought it was fab!
At the end of the show, the passports were stamped on the way through to the next stage – each section of the experience earns a different shaped stamp which the kids loved.
Mrs Claus’ Kitchen
After a wander down Candy-cane lane (a very cute corridor made from Christmas tree branches opening out into an outdoor space bordered with enormous red wrapped bales) we were greated by Merry Berry – a larger than life character who welcomed us to Mrs Claus’ Kitchen.
Mrs Claus invited us into her kitchen – which was beautifully decorated with so much attention to detail – from the real stove to the enormous sideboard, you really did feel like you were peering into her actual kitchen!
Mrs Claus explained that we were all to be decorating our own gingerbread men – these were already laid out on tables across the back of the room giving each child a plate with a gingerbread man, a fun-size packet of smarties, a tube of icing and a paper bag in which to take away their gingerbread man should they wish. (It won’t come as a suprise to know that all three of my children chose to sit and eat their gingerbread man whilst Mrs Claus told a story at the end of the session!) The children had just the right amount of time to decorate their gingerbread men without feeling rushed or being left to get bored – once they’d finished they were taken back to the front of the kitchen for their Christmas story.
The Elf Village
The Elf Village was by far my favourite part of the experience – not least because of the hot chocolate, mulled wine, mince pies and cookies awaiting our arrival! By this point I was feeling quite cold so a warm drink was very welcome!
In the Elf Village there are several activities for you to do – it doesn’t matter what order you do them in or how long it takes so don’t rush. For a few minutes we just explored the space, taking in all the clever elf-related shop names and details. We eventually decided that the Post Office looked like a good place to start as it wasn’t too busy – the children were given a special sheet of paper to write their letter on before placing it in an envelope and, with the help of the Post Office Elf, putting a special stamp on it ready to post. (I’m pleased to report there were no surprises on the letters – well except for the ones Amy asked for!) The letters were then posted in a special letter box outside.
Next on our list was to make some reindeer food – I was really pleased to see that the reindeer food contained only natural ingredients (cornflakes, porridge oats etc) and no pesky glitter so we can happily sprinkle it outside on Christmas Eve for the reindeer.
Apparently you can also hang a Christmas wish on the Wishing Tree . . . though I completely missed that, we definitely didn’t meet Santa’s reindeer either – both of these things are mentioned on the website as being part of the Elf Village but they must have passed me by?!
The Elves Workshop
And finally, before you visit Santa himself, you must pop into the Elves Workshop to learn how to make your very own teddy bear to take home! We left this till the room had cleared out a bit as I wasn’t sure that guiding three kids around the workshop whilst making bears was going to be all that easy – however the process is relatively simple and the various stages are clearly signposted to help you!
There are a number of bears to choose from including a pink reindeer, a highland cow (guess who chose that!), a dinosaur and a more traditional teddy. Once you’ve chosen the type of bear you want to make, the elves give you a paper bag containing everything you need – the body of your bear, it’s stuffing, a heart and a birth certificate. You can buy optional extras including a voice box and clothes (so be prepared for the pester power on that one if you don’t want to spend any more money – I made it quite clear to my three before they walked into the workshop that it was bear only!)
Making the bear is, thankfully, pretty simple. You plump up the fluff and stuff your bear. You do need to be careful to spread the fluff out – some of the bears need fluff in the arms, others don’t. Once you’ve stuffed your fluff, you pop your heart in and velcro your bear up. Job done.
Santa’s Magical Grotto
Of course the main reason for your visit is to see the big man himself! Before you can be let through to see Santa, you have to check if you are on the nice list by walking through the Naughty or Nice detector – the “naughty” alarm went off just often enough to make the children feel a little nervous walking through – which I thought was funny, I mean we all need them to be a little nervous that they might not be on the right list don’t we? Comically, having mostly gone off for dads walking through, the naughty siren went off for Ben (I think the elves running the detector might have had a little inside knowledge!). Thankfully he was allowed a second try and got the green light on his next attempt! Phew.
Santa was really lovely and welcoming, he had a good old chat with the kids and managed to convince Amy that she needed to keep her bedroom tidy if she wanted to stay on the good list (literally to the point that she came straight home and sorted her room out – the man is geuinely magic!)
What I really loved was when it was time to take a photo, he said to Ben, “Now, you’re the biggest, come and sit on my knee and give my beard a gentle tug” – which not only made for a hilarious photo but demonstrated that indeed that beard was very real!
North Pole Toy Shop
Every child receives a special golden coin from Santa which can be spent in the North Pole Toy Shop – imagine walking into a gift shop where you can choose anything you want?! The kids were in their element – Amy chose a doll, Chloe a sequin snake (one of which she has wanted for some time) and Ben picked an egg to hatch his very own elf – they were all thrilled with their gifts.
Santa’s Stables
Finally, don’t miss out on a chance to visit Santa’s Stables to see Prancer & Dancer – actual real reindeer! (As well as a range of other animals!) The stables aren’t well sign-posted and as such we missed them – turn right as soon as you leave the toy shop and head out the back. Jenny said that handling some animals was the perfect way to calm her boys down after all the excitement of the Christmas Experience!
I think the experience took a couple of hours in total, and we could have easily spent longer at Cockfields had we found the stables! The kids had a lovely morning and it was a great way to kick off the festive season for our family!
Top tips for visiting the Christmas Experience at Cockfields Farm Park
- When you pre-book online you can order a personalised invitation to arrive in the post. This is a really lovely touch.
- Bear in mind that although you are “indoors” for much of the experience, you are basically in farm outbuildings so it can be quite cold. Wrap up warm!
- Keep your passport handy – this will be stamped at the end of each stage of the experience so that both you and the staff know you haven’t missed anything out!
- Make the most of a hot drink in the Elf Village, you’ll be ready for it.
- Be prepared for add-ons in the Elf Workshop!
- Prams and pushchairs aren’t allowed for safety reasons so baby-wearing is your friend
- Don’t miss the stables once you’ve finished in Santa’s Toy Shop!
Click here for other places to visit Father Christmas in the Manchester area or for our suggestions of top festive days out in Manchester!
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