Summer circus fun at Odds Farm Park

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I’ve heard good things about Odds Farm Park, so when they sent us tickets to go over the summer holidays, we were there like a shot. We took a friend and her daughter with us, and the day turned out to be a beautiful sunny one too. Perfect for a day out.

Odds Farm Park is near High Wycombe in the middle of nowhere and we arrived just after opening. There’s plenty of car parking and it needed it, with the number of cars we saw as we left.

Having a boy and girl out with us makes it challenging when one wants to do one thing, and the other might have other ideas. But I think it’s really important that N gets out and about with friends, and remember that he can’t always do his own thing.

But luckily they boy loved the play equipment so they had some fun playing there before wandering down towards the Big Top for the circus performance. It was a challenge at first, because there were no signs telling you where the circus performance was being held. We had to ask someone where it was.

Over the school holidays, Odds Farm Park have various entertainment or activities on. The circus was a first for N. The atmosphere was good, with beautiful lighting, and good seating with visibility for all of us. The performance was a mix of acrobatics – trapeze, hoop air work and work on silks, hip hop and others. Most of the children were enthralled. N of course, decided he was bored after about 20 minutes. He did stay until the end though and didn’t fidget too much. Us adults were just bemused by the extremely tiny costumes.

After a brief interlude playing with the giant footballs, we remembered the sheep racing was ready to start. A quick gamble on the sheep name we liked best, and we were ready to go. Sheep racing (or pig racing) is always pretty eventful. N didn’t want to bet on a winner…until he realised too late that it could be fun yelling on your sheep. None of our sheep won so no medals for us, but Odds Farm Park is the first I’ve been to where you can actually choose a winner and receive something if yours comes in first. A little bit of fun for kids (young and old).

We then decided it was time to get some lunch before it got too busy….but only before they checked out the play area in the field before we could remind them lunch was waiting.

We’d also been sent a voucher to use in Marmalade’s Tea Rooms. At first sight the seating area seemed quite small, but even a little after midday there always seemed to be tables free for those who wanted them. It might be different on a wet day, although there are undercover picnic areas for those bringing their own food.

The food choice is pretty standard – the usual kids lunchboxes for around £5, sandwiches and a few hot meals for adults (and kids), and cakes and sweet treats. Although drinks as always are quite pricy, we had 2 lunchboxes, 2 soft drinks, a packet of crisps and 2 sandwiches for just over £20.

As soon as they’d guzzled down their food, soft play was calling. Unlike some soft play places we’ve been to, Odds Farm Park softplay seemed really clean and not all hot and stuffy. The kids loved the wavy rainbow slide, dragging their mats behind them over and over again to climb up for another go. Then they had a great time on the nets and generally running around. Where they get all their energy from I have no idea.

One activity N really wanted to go on was the go karts. Unfortunately when we got to them, they were just too big for them to use. A shame for N, but good for older children who’re there for the day, because a lot of the equipment is a bit younger. Instead N decided to go on the ride on tractors instead, but most of them were pay for which I refused to pay for. There were only 2 free ones and these were being hogged by 2 children who showed no sign of giving them up after N had waited patiently for 15 minutes.

Instead we headed to the maze which was like none I’d seen before. It was all wooden like fences, then you went round to find the baby animals before getting out at the end. N and L led us round, and it took no time at all so perfect for young children. And you can see through the slats of the wood so you can’t really lose your children if they go running ahead – although it did make me feel a bit giddy looking through.

We popped into the barns to see the animals. N is always a bit blasé about seing animals when we’re out and about. Of course, having turned down the opportunity to buy some food at the entrance to feed them, once we got in the barn he wanted to. It would have been handy to have some for sale in the barns, but it wasn’t far to the entrance if you just had to get some bags.

We watched a piglet having playtime with a hosepipe and then had a laugh at N telling us all about the goat in the pen in front of us. He looked most put out when I suggested it was a sheep. Because as he so often tells me, he’s the farmer not me.

Last on our list to do was the tractor and trailer ride. It runs every hour and we queued because we didn’t want to be hanging around for a later ride. We missed out with the cut at us, but luckily the driver said she’d do another run for us and the people behind us in the queue which was nice. So we didn’t wait long for it to return for us to have our go. N loved it. We got taken round the field, behind where the big top was, through some Highland cattle and back past some feuding goats.

Then it was time for one final play in the playground. The playground has such a variety, the kids didn’t want to be dragged away to go home.

We had a lovely day out at Odds Farm Park. People had mentioned they thought it a bit pricy at £12.50 for kids and £13.50 for adults at peak times, but that’s on a par with other farm adventure parks we’ve been to. If the weather’s good and you take a picnic, it’s definitely worth it if you’re spending all day there.

Have you ever been to Odds Farm Park or what other similar farm parks would you recommend?

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