We took my eldest and his friend to their half term treat today. Now they have just turned 8 there are more fun activities that have opened up to them, so today we took them to learn archery with a Halloween twist.
The New Forest Activities Centre based in Brockenhurst is an outdoor pursuits company that not only does archery, but kayaking, canoeing, ropes, bushcraft and cycle hire for the wonderful cycling that can be had in the area.
During the 2 hours we had there, they learned how to hold and load the bow correctly taking the proper stance and aim posture, then they had a go at hitting targets. For the final few rounds they got to take shots at a pumpkin. They boys were surprisingly much better at this than I thought and although at this age they found it difficult to hit the pumpkin, they still had lots of fun trying and felt very grown up that they can use a bow and arrow. At the end they got to take the pumpkin home (which is just as well they didn't get a shot at it, so we can now carve it ready for our Halloween spooky walk).
Festive activities aside, this was a good find as now the boys are a bit older there are more activities we can do at other school holidays later in the academic year.
