*AD – We were gifted tickets, but all opinions are my own
This isn’t our first visit to the Norden Farm Christmas production, nor do I think it will be our last. I was first introduced to Norden Farm about 7 years ago. My oldest son’s pre-school organised a trip to see their Christmas show. All I knew was it was aimed at children and used puppets. At the time I thought they were a little mad and wondered how a group of 3-year-olds were going to sit through a production, and then watched amazed as they all sat there enchanted. The Norden Farm family show has since been a regular feature in our Christmas calendar and we have been fortunate enough to have been invited to review including The Bear and Moomins the Fir Tree. I have to say The Bear is probably my absolute favourite.
Each year, Norden Farm create a wonderful show based around a children’s book. The show is short, about 45 minutes long and aimed at families. It’s full of young children, do not be put off, your pre-schooler will love it I promise. The show is with big, life-sized puppets and it’s absolutely amazing. Every time I go and I am always amazed by the creativity.
The 2021 production is of the book Kipper’s Snowy Day, a wonderful winter classic about Kipper and his friends experiencing the wonder of a wonderful snowy day and then getting a little bit lost. The story captures the fun of the snow and the excitement and wonder of Christmas Eve.
This year was the first time that Bo has been to one (other than strapped to me as a baby) and his attention span is shorter than his brother and sister’s were even at his age – he’s 3. So I wasn’t sure how well it would go down. But…. he did really enjoy it, towards the end his attention did wane and I made a rooky mistake of not bringing any sacks and him noticing other children had snacks which he was not impressed with because he couldn’t have anything. But afterwards he told me he loved Kipper, so it was a winner.
I was also worried it would be too young for my ten-year-old, he’s on the cusp now. But when we came out of the theatre he turned and said to me that was so nice Mum.
We went to the relaxed performance – if you check on the Norden Farm website you can see which performances are relaxed. Which is great for smaller children, babies and SEND children. I decided this would be better for us as I didn’t need to worry about how Bo would manage. At times he did get out of his seat to stand up and watch and asked me a few questions during the performance. So knowing this was a relaxed showing meant I wasn’t stressing about this, knowing that other children might be doing the same.
Once again we really enjoyed the Christmas show at Norden Farm and would heartily recommend them to anyone with young children. They are wonderfully festive and magical. The use of puppets is so clever and it’s a great family activity for the lead up to Christmas and a lovely way to introduce young children to the theatre.
