Olly and Tom visit Puzzlewood – we find out what two of our younger visitors thought of their experience!

Puzzlewood recently welcomed brothers Olly (aged 9) and Tom (aged 6) who were here for the very first time. The boys live in London and were staying in the Forest of Dean where their aunt and uncle have recently settled, so the school holidays are a great opportunity for a visit and exploring the area.

Far from being ‘city slickers’, the boys enjoy lots of outdoor activities so Auntie Sarah and Uncle Adrian knew that a visit to Puzzlewood would appeal to them. Their Forest of Dean adventure coincided with a change in the weather, so while many of us rejoiced at cooler temperatures and welcomed the rain, the boys were having to make do with improvised indoor camping and no chance of building woodland dens – they needed to get out and about!

Thankfully, Puzzlewood can be enjoyed even in the rain, so with wellies on and kagoules at the ready the boys weren’t going to let a few showers dampen their fun.

So what did you think of Puzzlewood, boys?

Olly: "I really liked using the Puzzlewood app. We downloaded it and did the treasure hunt while we were walking around. We had to look for special signs with coins on them. You use your phone to scan the coins and collect them. It was a bit like Pokemon Go, which I like."
Tom: "I liked looking for the hidden things. We found dinosaur feet and a magic door, but we couldn’t find the crocodile or the secret cave. I think we found the spooky tree but I wasn’t sure if it was the right one."

And what else did you get up to?

Tom: "I collected lots of leaves! And we had lunch in the garden."
Olly: "We did some tree spotting because there are lots of different types of tree in Puzzlewood."

What was your favourite part of the visit?

Olly: "The balance beams on the paths because I like doing Parkour."
Tom: "I liked playing on the musical instruments best. At first we were the only ones playing with them, but some other children started as well and it was fun. We made a lot of noise!"

If you had to sum up your visit to Puzzlewood in one word, what would it be?

Olly: "Cool."
Tom: "Awesome."

So there we have it, a trip to Puzzlewood ticks plenty of boxes. Fresh air, healthy exercise, exploration of nature, and even a bit of techy wizardry thrown in for good measure – a good combination of what parents want for their children and what the kids want for themselves!