Mummy Diaries | Hocus Pocus at Thrift Farm

Last year, we visited Thrift Farm for the Hocus Pocus Halloween-themed event and Alfie absolutely loved it. When I mentioned pumpkins again, his reaction was immediately: “At the farm?” Having booked an afternoon at The Patch MK – coming to the blog later this week – I just knew I had to book the Hocus Pocus event this year for him. Halloween 2020 was our first visit to the farm since lockdown, and we loved all the new additions. This year was much the same, but still with lots to do, we had so much fun.

So, what did we get up to?

Quad biking around the track

Included in our admission was a token to ride the quad bikes. These were parked up where the ride-on pedal tractors are usually based – and the queue was pretty big as it was maximum of two children at one time. While we were queuing, a lovely lady gave us her token as she said they wouldn't use it and so Alfie was fortunate enough to have two turns. The ride was no more than five minutes, and it was as simple as putting one foot on the pedal to get the bike to go, and then use the steering wheel to manoeuvre around the course… Easier said than done! It's fair to say on the first attempt, Alfie didn't really get it – and the second time, he ended up crashing into the tyres, multiple times.

Halloween crafting in the marquee

Much like last year, there was pumpkin picking and carving, as well as wand making in the marquee. This time, Alfie actually wanted to carve his pumpkin. I've never carved one by myself before so didn't really know what I was doing. Luckily all the tools were supplied and there were even stencils for those that couldn't carve free hand. I was pretty pleased with our attempt, but the poor pumpkin lasted three days before going mouldy. So, it didn't last for Halloween.

The wand making craft table was busy and again it was the same as the previous year’s event. It was easy as choosing a stick before decorating it with coloured yarns and feathers. Alfie just wanted red yarn on the end of his wand, and so it didn't take too long to do. He was definitely more interested in the sweets that were handed out at the entrance.

Panning for gold

A new addition since our last visit was the gold rush experience. The aim was simply to pan for gold and secure five pieces of loot to win a sticker. Easier said than done when some of the pieces were smaller than the sieve holes, and just fell through. Obviously, I had to help out, and it took a while. The water was freezing as well, but eventually we secured 11 nuggets of gold – dream team!

And all the usual favourites…

As is customary for us, we bought two bags of animal feed. You still need to pre-book these when buying your tickets online. And we fed the goats in the animal barn. They were all feeling hungry, fighting for our hands.

We also went to the petting zone to stroke the rabbits and guinea pigs. They weren't as hungry, and Alfie tried feeding them some orange segments, but they weren't having it. Luckily, we were at the front of the queue, so in the first session – as the queue was forming behind us, we were literally limited to only a couple of minutes at each table before letting someone else have a go.

We also spent a lot of time at Thrifty's outside play area, and of course the vintage Red Tractor. We even had time to walk around the paddock, stopping to admire and sit on the creepy bench – tired legs and all that. It was another great visit and I think we were probably at the farm for three hours in total, so plenty to do and see during that time.

Tickets are already available for Christmas, so don't miss out.

Love, Lucy xx