5 fabulous things to do with kids at Sherwood Forest Visitor Centre

Those of us who live in Nottinghamshire, are lucky enough to be able to brag about our county's legendary association with the world famous Robin Hood of Sherwood Forest. No matter who you speak to, whether they're from America, Australia or anywhere in between, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who'd never heard of Sherwood Forest. However, just when did you last pay our great forest a visit? Perhaps things have changed a bit since your last trip. Of course, the big old Major Oak will always stand proud at the centre of everything which is Sherwood Forest, but what else is there, especially for those visiting with kids?

Here's what we found; 1. Tree Climbing and Den Building

I can honestly say when we visited Sherwood Forest, the simple, free act of climbing various trees in the park and building dens with the many branches which lay on the floor gave the kids the most entertainment throughout the day. It's such innocent and old fashioned fun which they will remember for many years to come and it really brings out a degree of team work in them which I've not seen for a long time thanks to their general addiction to computer games!

The trees they climbed were all very sturdy and had quite obviously been climbed by many generations before them. There were various logs laying around which had been felled by the forest rangers. These made excellent balancing poles, which provided another 15 minutes of entertainment, even more so when they watched me fall off.

2. Sherwood Forest Fun Fair

The fun fair sits beside a large field which is great for playing ball games on. Inside the fun fair itself are several rides which you'd expect to find at any travelling fair. There's a walk through ghost house, a mini roller-coaster, hook a duck, a large wavy slide and an arcade which has many 2p coin machines. These occupied the kids for absolutely ages. It's surprising how far £1 goes!

They even have a burger van at the fair, complete with candy floss, so there's no need to bring a picnic if you're missing your Goose Fair food at any other time of year.

3. A Visit to the Gift Shop & Visitor Centre

There are various interactive displays on offer at the Visitor Centre, my kids found themselves in the stocks, having a pretend argument with a plastic Sheriff of Nottingham and sitting in a cooking pot at one point. There was lots to read, and it wasn't too busy to get to see all of the displays properly, as is so often the case with many exhibitions.

The gift shop sells everything from quills and ink to wooden swords and Nottinghamshire history books. It's an Aladdin's cave for anyone Robin Hood mad. Just keep an eye out for random kids waving swords in your face, you don't want to go home missing your head!

4. A good old English woodland walk.

The woods in Sherwood Forest are very child friendly. There are various carvings made out of old tree stumps which my daughter found fascinating. My son was keen to try out his new camera and there was plenty of wildlife to test it on, including various birds and squirrels. We stopped off several times when we came across a good climbing tree and amazingly despite my poor sense of direction, we didn't get lost once. Everything is very well sign posted and it's difficult to get lost here.

If your kids are a bit younger than mine, pushchairs should be no problem in these woods, and the route isn't too far for slow walkers, a mile or 2 at the most. 5. A picnic by the children's play area

There are a few picnic benches next to the children's play area at the Sherwood Forest, which are ideal if you just want to relax for a bit while they play. It's not a huge play area, but there is some open land next to it which allows them to play football or Frisbee where you can see them.

Whilst we were at Sherwood Forest, my son created his first 'Olipob's HoliVlog' video, where he's hoping to share his experiences of visiting various child friendly tourist attractions from a kids' point of view. You can see his video here, and also more photos of our day out to Sherwood Forest as a family.

We do regular reviews of child friendly attractions in Nottinghamshire and other areas. Take a look at our 'Days Out With Kids' blog for more inspiration.

Guest blog by LoveFamilyHolidays.co.uk.