Enchanted Garden at Harlow Museum

The Harlow Museum and Walled Gardens has been hosting more and more events, especially as we head into the summer season! One of their most interesting event to us was the Enchanted Garden, as it looked like something Robin would very much enjoy. We have previously been to the Harlow Museum, though many years ago, but are trying to do more local activities as more events seem to be popping up. The Enchanted Garden event seemed to be aimed at younger children, so Kai was a little out of place, where as Amelia likes to participate and Robin was well interested and into things. I can see this also being great for children younger than Robin too.

The concept behind the Enchanted Garden at Harlow Museum is all about helping fairies and finding enchanted creatures. We were given a big list of all of the fairy houses that were dotted around the outside of the Harlow Museum. Some had the names on the side that matched our lists, while others were based on the names that we were given in our list. It was a fun time moving around and spying them all! We met a pirate who told Robin that she needed to put a piece of treasure on the best fairy house, as he was looking for a fairy to help him but was cursed to not see the houses. The characters they had dotted around (this pirate, a half-goat creature, a snail creature, a wizard, goblin, gnome and fairy) were all very much in character and spoke in their own ways.

After looking at a lot of houses, and Robin voting for her favorite (she picked the button house and Amelia actually voted for the Robin house) we went onto another area to take part in more activities. There were a bunch of stands selling enchanted items or snacks, along with a crafting area and the Harlow Rocks stand. We did paint a few rocks! Robin and Amelia crafted a bird (or a cat in Amelia’s case) ornament, though there were a few other crafts to choose from including little peg dolls and butterflies, we stuck with doing just the one so that there were plenty for everyone.

We then started doing some of the games that were set up. There were three challenges, each providing a token that could then be used in the Fairy’s Shop at the end of the enchanted Garden at Harlow Museum. The goblin needs you to wager something that you have on your person, so Robin wagered her shoe, but won! Amelia, in a silly turn of events, wagered Robin, and also won. It’s a die rolling game, which was fun to see. For the Wizard, our girls each invented a spell; Robin’s was long and full of magic, that ended with not turning you into a frog, where as Amelia’s was helpful, to help the wizard get their stolen staff back. For the gnome, they just completed a fishing game – and then all of the tokens were gathered.

Before going shopping in the Fairy Shop, we did go to visit the Queen Fairy at the Enchanted Garden at Harlow Museum. This fairy was taking people in groups, so when our group was up we went into her little forest. She played little games and told a story to all the children, which Robin excitedly participated in. She was very in-character and engaging! We then went to the Fairy Shop, where Robin and Amelia could each pick out one thing with their tokens. Amelia got a mushroom and Robin got a robin, which ended up in our front fairy garden. All of the items were handmade by the fairies, which was lovely. We had a lovely day at the Enchanted Gardens and enjoyed the sun.

You can check out our other Days Out to see what else we’ve been up too!