Z-arts are inviting families to enter a magical fairy tale land. The newly launched Fairy Tales experience encourages little one’s imaginations to run wild and promises an experience ‘like being inside a pop-up book of fairy tales’.
The event is running until February 2023 and is aimed at children aged 0-8 (along with their grown-ups) and lasts 50 minutes. I visited z-arts on the opening weekend with my niece 5-year-old Darcie, and her friend, 2-year-old Maeve.
We started the experience by heading to the forest to visit the Three Bears Bed and Breakfast. Here, settled on the cutest toadstool table and chairs we met the housekeeper, who kept the children entertained sharing stories from his celebrity guests at the bed and breakfast.
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And then it was time to enter the Bed & Breakfast and from there, step into magical Fairy Tale Town armed with their maps and a quiz, and set the challenge to search for the gingerbread men who were causing havoc, and off they went into an immersive and visually stimulating play area for children.
Darcie and Maeve enjoyed crossing the bridge while avoiding the troll and looking for gold coins, to return to the treasure chest. But their favourite part was dancing at the palace disco and experiencing the smoke machine, glitter ball and musical instruments- girls after my own heart!.
Armed with their maps and the quiz, they set about searching for the gingerbread men who were causing havoc. And with several little areas for children to play in, it doesn’t get over-crowded and the children have a good opportunity to experience everything in the time allocated.
Darcie and Maeve finished off helping in Hansel & Gretel’s - The Oven Door Café, and when the buzzer rang to mark the end of their time in the fairy tale town – the girl’s faces said it all. Because we were visiting on the launch weekend, the children were given a goodie bag with an activity booklet in and we then joined a family friendly gig.
Here we were entertained by Adam the storyteller, and Goldilocks and the Three Bears Band- who were excellent. Adam told the classic story of how Goldilocks and the three bears met, and the band performed a few classic feel good songs, such as Elvis’ Hound Dog, and Pharrell’s Happy.
The children were encouraged to dance and sing-along, but in all honesty, the excellent music and singing from the band was all the encouragement the children and adults in the audience needed.
Once the show was over, we retreated to the lovely café area for an all-important debrief from two happy little girls, fuelled by yummy homemade cakes and drinks – all in all an excellent morning!
Fairy Tales interactive exhibition is designed by Discover with illustrator David Litchfield and author Ross Montgomery, it’s stint at z-arts is the first time the experience has appeared outside of London, and it’s proving a sure fire hit already with young families.
The experience runs several times per day from now until next February and offers socially distanced experiences each Saturday at 10am. It costs £8 for little children and bigger children, and £3 for babies. There are discounts available for residents in the M15 area.
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