Easter Egg Hunt at Hughenden Manor National Trust

It’s the beginning of the Easter holidays and they’ve only been off school for a couple of days, but already I’ve broken up several fights, interrupted more than a dozen slanging matches and questioned my sanity on more than one occasion! It’s amazing how they can turn into different kids, the second we get outside so that’s exactly where we went and are planning lots of outdoor activities over the holiday while the weather holds out!

So, for our first excursion of the hols we headed to Hughenden Manor, a National Trust site featuring an Easter egg hunt over the Easter period. I’m determined to make the most of our National Trust membership this year, with so many in our area! Dani (our childminder, before she had her son) met us there with her 9 month old little boy, whom we haven’t seen for a while, with life getting in the way! It was the perfect place for us mums to chat, while the children burned some energy!

The kids continued to bicker until we had paid our £3/ child and collected our instructions for the hunt, then they were off!

We were sent to the gardens and told that there were 10 eggs hidden there, each with a number or letter that could be arranged into a phrase. Once we had worked out the phrase, we could return to the start to claim a prize.

The gardens and views surrounding the Manor were beautiful, exemplified by the lovely weather that day, showing off the fact that spring had definitely sprung! So, while the kids ran around, finding the eggs, we enjoyed the buggy friendly garden and paths around the woodland at a more leisurely pace.

It didn’t take long for them to find all the eggs and compared to the Pantomime Trail that we had completed at Cliveden, over the Christmas holiday, it was a little disappointing as I had expected a similar, more lengthy experience. There were no clues or even directions, just lots of eggs placed around the grounds. The kids didn’t mind though, they were just keen to find the eggs and claim their prize! I think the whole experience is more appropriate for younger children (under 6) and it certainly wasn’t a full day out. Taking the trip with friends made the day really and seeing The Boy entertaining Dani’s little one with a bit of ‘peek-a-boo’ made us all giggle!

We managed to convince the children to take another walk around the grounds before heading back to collect their chocolate trophy.

After a picnic lunch and devouring their chocolate prize, the children played in the wooded area leading back to the carpark. As it was such a beautiful day, we decided against exploring the Manor House itself and will save that for another day.

All things considered, Hughenden Manor is a lovely National Trust venue for a day out with younger children. It’s very buggy friendly with with open spaces, allowing the little ones to run around without disappearing from view. There are lots of wooden benches within the grounds to enjoy a picnic and the cafe provides reasonably priced drinks, snacks and lunches.

For our next adventure, we plan to visit Cliveden for their Easter Hunt! What have you been up to with the kids over the Easter holiday? Are you planning any National Trust visits?