REVIEW: Cobbs Play Barn, Hungerford

Last week, our local, family blogger and her two children enjoyed a sunny trip to Cobbs at Hungerford, a fantastic play barn with plenty of fun for children of all ages! Here, we hear all about their experience...

We had the absolute pleasure of spending a very hot summer's day at Cobbs play barn this week with Lily age 6 and Archer age 3. A literal breath of fresh air as we stepped into the air-conditioned and bright soft play barn!

We were greeted warmly and shown to our booth where Archer happily selected a chocolate brownie from the selection displayed. As a mum of two on my own, the children can be difficult to negotiate at the same time but the private feel of the booth and attention to detail is set up from the start to support the visiting families, each booth with its own plug outlet for charging devices if needed, cubby holes for the shoes, an information sheet about rules of play and a menu all ready to go.

The menu itself was unlike a standard soft play menu and the food was sourced locally and from their very own Cobbs farm shop, with many of the items homemade on site, an ice cream cart ready and waiting and fresh milkshakes too! 

The play barn itself is inviting and unique with natural wood, a secret tunnel from the seating area into the adventure (or a garden gate for the less flexible of us!) There is a Cobbs Farm shop role play area with a till and shopping toys, a range of dressing up and a reading area stocked with a variety of books.

Follow the route around and you’ll find a mini restaurant and kitchen for imaginations to explore and enjoy. Yet more still tucked away as you continue round to the climbing sections with hidden cubbies under the stair pieces, familiar soft play obstacles and rope walkways offer safe but exciting physical play exploration for both Lily and Archer and the space accessible enough that adults can see and hear where their little ones are from the seating and space for adults to navigate the space too.

A separate soft play at the front of the structure offers an age-appropriate space for the smallest visitors as a designated area for under ones leaving both older children and the little ones the space to engage with the same age (and help to avoid any crashes!) The under-one section offers a large padded area with big soft play shapes that can be moved around and stacked together to create their own structures and challenge their physical skills, perfect for cruisers and climbers!

To carry on our day we ventured out into the grounds for even more fun on the Cobbs ‘Beach and Bus’ a beautiful vintage double-decker bus serving fresh ice cream and handmade milkshakes, soft drinks and snacks - they even serve dog-friendly ice cream! Heading onto the ‘beach’ there we found a huge clean sandbox with sit-on diggers, sturdy wooden toy water wheels for tipping and pouring sand and such a thoughtful touch - child-sized parasols to keep the children shaded and the sand from getting too hot in the sun. It was a delight to be able to sit back in the deckchairs provided!

We then made our way to the outdoor play park with climbing wall, trim trail and overlooked by the Cobbs farm shop and restaurant this would be a lovely family activity to shop and play. We finally rounded off our day with the Ispy trail sheet provided by the play barn to explore the working Vineyard and PYO Sunflower field. 

I highly recommend Cobbs play barn for a peaceful day out with so much to do in an easy going and friendly environment. The staff were so happy to help and were genuinely proud and knowledgeable to talk about their venue and all that was on offer.

Find out more about Cobbs Play Barn here!

Review by @rolling.withthe.stones (Instagram)