Easter Holiday ideas
Our Easter holiday activities guide provides ideas that you and the kids can do at home, free activities you can do outside and various play schemes and paid for activities available across Bedford Borough and surrounding areas.
Holiday Clubs
Activate Camp
https://www.activatecamps.co.uk/venues/bedford-school/
Bedford Activity Camp
https://www.barracudas.co.uk/camps/bedford/
Dawn Until Dusk
https://kidsdawntildusk.co.uk/holiday-club-bedfordshire/
SSG
https://ssgservices.co.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2021/03/SSG_Mar21_Easter_Active_Childcare_291.pdf
Parks and open spaces
Addison Park - Kempston
https://localoffer.bedford.gov.uk/kb5/bedford/directory/service.page?id=ODOEadsza5c
Ampthill Park
https://localoffer.bedford.gov.uk/kb5/bedford/directory/service.page?id=2KZLt7NAktA
Bedford Park
https://localoffer.bedford.gov.uk/kb5/bedford/directory/service.page?id=fs0WWBBTaXY
Bedford Priory Marina
https://localoffer.bedford.gov.uk/kb5/bedford/directory/service.page?id=cFBzw8TkUtk
Box End Aqua Park
https://localoffer.bedford.gov.uk/kb5/bedford/directory/service.page?id=eRbwvkaJBMg
Gratham Water
Grafham Water Coronovirus - Current Service Availability | Bedford Local Offer
Harrold-Odell Country Park
https://localoffer.bedford.gov.uk/kb5/bedford/directory/service.page?id=YZg0gTU_-nw
Jordans Mill - Historic Mill and Gardens
https://localoffer.bedford.gov.uk/kb5/bedford/directory/service.page?id=CEdGMLlKxFw
Millennium Country Park and Forest of Marston Vale
https://localoffer.bedford.gov.uk/kb5/bedford/directory/service.page?id=BYhMPYL-Dgg
Mowsbury Park and Woods
https://localoffer.bedford.gov.uk/kb5/bedford/directory/service.page?id=h0QOW3CyQ_0
RSPB The Lodge Nature reserve -
https://localoffer.bedford.gov.uk/kb5/bedford/directory/service.page?id=fTISQBA4L7o
Russell Park
https://localoffer.bedford.gov.uk/kb5/bedford/directory/service.page?id=NiNuzo3gl00
Shuttleworth Swiss Gardens
https://localoffer.bedford.gov.uk/kb5/bedford/directory/service.page?id=bQpsA-l5oZU
The Embankment - free unlimited parking at Aspects Leisure park at the top of the Embankment
https://localoffer.bedford.gov.uk/kb5/bedford/directory/service.page?id=EtmBtYCh_G8
Walk/Cycling path from Priory Marina to the Danish camp – PLEASE NOTE THE DANISH CAMP will reopen on the 13th of April
Route 51 is a walking/Cycling path that follows the old railway line from the Marina to the Danish camp and there is free parking at Aspects or the Priory Marina.
Follow signs from the entrance to the marina turn first left by the recycling facilities and follow that road and you pick up the path as you walk/ride over the bridge.
Walks from Woburn some of the walks have passing views of Woburn Abbey and pass through the deer park. The walk start from the FREE car park in Park Street, is currrently closed.
https://localoffer.bedford.gov.uk/kb5/bedford/directory/service.page?id=Fw-D0X00rao
Wrest Park
https://localoffer.bedford.gov.uk/kb5/bedford/directory/service.page?id=LxzvDjN15jM
Woburn Safari Park reopens on the 12th of April
https://localoffer.bedford.gov.uk/kb5/bedford/directory/service.page?id=bwLtLUXwxwk
Things to do at home
Library services
Libraries may be closed at the moment however click and collect continues from both Bedford and Kempston libraries. For more information visit
Bedford Central Library
https://localoffer.bedford.gov.uk/kb5/bedford/directory/service.page?id=4lA0o766smw
Kempston Library
https://localoffer.bedford.gov.uk/kb5/bedford/directory/service.page?id=7QH3f2mlLaE
Digital Services
If your child/young person is more device minded there is an amazing range of FREE digital service including Audiobooks, e-book, and music streaming on the Virtual Library . To join the library online visit https://virtual-library.culturalservices.net/cgi-bin/vlib.sh?enqtype=REGISTER
Discover your family Tree
Begin exploring your family history with FREE access to Ancestry Library Edition from the comfort of your home.
You will find-
- Searchable English census records 1841 - 1911
- Census records for other areas of the UK and parts of the world
- Birth, marriage and death records
- Records of immigration into the US and of emigration from the UK
- Military records
- Directories and membership lists.
Visit the Virtual Library to learn more about Ancestry Library Edition.
Music for Bedford Borough
The Council Music Service has created a website full of fun musical activites and how to learn to play guides
https://localoffer.bedford.gov.uk/kb5/bedford/directory/service.page?id=r4NhaZEGzzk
National Trust
The national Trust have pulled together a wonderful list of “50 things to do before you are 11 ¾” which is full of activities, craft ideas and challenges that you can do either at home or in any of the parks, English Heritage or National Trust sites nearby:
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/50-things-to-do
Online activities at the Higgins
Enjoy online jigsaw puzzles that you can enjoy from the comfort of your own home. Find more jigsaws here.
Kevin's Create at Home Challenges
Join Kevin the Platypus in creative challenges that can be done from the comfort of your own home.
Visit https://www.thehigginsbedford.org.uk/Whats_on/Family_Events.aspx
Treasure Hunt
Do your kids (and you) love treasure hunts? Well, if so how about joining the ‘world’s biggest treasure hunt’? Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity, in which participants use an app on their mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", at specific locations marked by coordinates all over the world. Once you find the geocache, you write your name in the log book and seek out the next one! Great fun for all the family:
https://www.geocaching.com/play
Woodland Trust
Is your child a lover of nature? Do they love to hunt for creepy crawlies, or watching the birds in the sky? Then the Woodland Trust have pulled together lots of fun games, activities and craft ideas that you can do in the garden or local parks and woods that they will love. The ‘Nature Activities for Kids’ blog on their website has been a huge hit with many families during lockdown:
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2020/03/kids-nature-activities-self-isolation/