I love nothing better than a great day out with the kids in the Cotswolds, not least when we have a super fun experience and we didn’t quite expect it. Yesterday was one of those times. We were meeting a group of friends at Shakespeare’s New Place in Stratford-upon-Avon (which I know isn’t technically in the Cotswolds but it is just a 10-minute drive from Chipping Campden which is) where I had never taken the kids to properly explore in the daytime before, I had only ever taken them to some their special evening events like Shakespeare’s Garden of Curious A-Muse-ments and last month’s Midwinter Magic.

 

In the footsteps of the great bard

At Shakespeare’s New Place you get to experience a walk in the footsteps of the great bard and get a better understanding of the man behind the many famous works in a fascinating exhibition, both indoors and outside in the gardens. Shakespeare’s New Place was the family home of William Shakespeare from 1597 until he died in 1616. The actual house was demolished in 1759 but a garden was designed in commemoration of the importance of the site as well as to allow those visiting to make their own personal connection with the great bard.

 

Play the play

We spent a couple of super fun and interesting hours at Shakespeare’s New Place. We re-enacted some of Shakespeare’s plays in the garden as we walked from sculpture to sculpture, each representing a play of his.

 

A song and a dance

Inside we sang and danced, explored the big display case and drawers full of interesting facts, images, films and artefacts.

 

Upstairs we did puppet plays, we dressed up in masks and fought with wooden weapons, read plays, built the house in blocks and create a shadow theatre play.

 

A play and a dress-up

 

FUN FACT: The famous globe at Shakespeare’s New Place is missing a pretty big part of the World, Australia. The globe maps out the World as pictured on a map created when Shakespeare lived at the house, and they didn’t know Australia existed at the time. Ask the knowledgable staff and guides to tell you some stories about the various sections of the garden, they’re great stories and you’ll definitely learn something new.

 

Plan your visit to Stratford-upon-Avon

We can’t recommend a visit to Shakespeare’s New Place and Stratford-upon-Avon enough, with or without kids. We had a fantastic time and we all left having laughed, danced, acted out and learnt loads… what more could we possibly ask for?