16 ideas for special family days out for Mother’s Day, in and around the East Midlands

I know Mother’s Day is a sensitive time for some people, so I hope to not upset anyone by this post – it is just a few ideas for days out for children and their mothers (or fathers who are mothers, aunts, sisters, carers, grandmas, guardians who are mothers, or anyone who just wants to celebrate a special day with someone who has been a mother figure to them)!

Adventures at West Lodge with my little lady!
Mama-Lily Adventures at West Lodge with my little lady!

There are some lovely events to enjoy a day out together with the family on the weekend of March 22nd 2020 for Mother’s Day, so read on to find some of my top suggestions for days out around the East Midlands.

1. West Lodge Farm Park

Enjoy a Mothers’ Day meal to remember in the Rickyard Restaurant on March 22nd at West Lodge Farm Park, where all mums receive a free glass of prosecco with their meal – simply prebook a table online.

Exploring the woods around the West Lodge Rural Centre
Exploring the woods around the West Lodge Rural Centre

All mums will also receive a free primrose, and there will be free Mothers’ Day card crafts, special piglet racing, and all the usual awesome fun on the farm (including barrel rides and the incredible indoor play barn) as well as their stunning woodland walks of various lengths for all the family.

We always enjoy their events so know this will be one not to be missed, whatever the weather.

Find out more here or check out our review of West Lodge here.

2. Bluebell Dairy

On the 21st and 22nd March, the Bluebell Dairy in Derbyshire has a very special Build-a-Bear Peter Rabbit event which includes making a special plush Peter Rabbit toy, meeting Peter Rabbit, as well as activities on the farm.

The Bluebell Dairy is a beautiful family-run farm, with its own delicious home-made ice cream, animal patch, play areas and more. What’s more, the Mothers Day experience includes music, dancing and a FREE hot drink for mum!

Find out more about the Peter Rabbit event here.

The Peter Rabbit event at Bluebells
The Peter Rabbit event at Bluebells

3. Twycross Zoo

Twycross Zoo are hosting a Mother’s Day afternoon tea with a difference over Mother’s Day weekend. You can enjoy a full cream tea with treats, scones and sandwiches for all the family including a ticket for the day at the zoo for £30 for adults and £20 for children (under 2s free).

Find out more here or check out our Twycross Zoo review here.

Enjoying a day out at Twycross Zoo
Enjoying a day out at Twycross Zoo

4. Heights of Abraham

An event to remember – reach new heights this Mother’s Day at the Heights of Abraham, with special live music a the top of the cable car, cake with epic views, rides on the amazing cable car itself, and fun in the caves.

There are also some fantastic play areas and educational areas for all the family too. What more could you want to show her how special she is?! 🙂

For more on the event, click here, or to check out our review, click here.

Enjoying the views on the Heights of Abraham
Enjoying the views on the Heights of Abraham

5. Mini Meadows Farm

Mini Meadows are hosting a Mother’s Day crafts and cream tea event on Sunday 22nd. Entry to the farm is just £5, with crafts just £1 extra and £5.95 for the cream tea.

We’ve always enjoyed visits to Mini Meadows, especially their forest school, and love how there are so many animals to feed and visit indoors as well as outdoors, as well as their huge indoor play area.

Find out more here, or visit our review of Mini Meadows here.

Enjoying a day out at Mini Meadows farm
All kinds of fun at Mini Meadows farm

6. Thurlaston Garden Centre

The lovely family-run Thurlaston Garden Centre are hosting a beautiful Mother’s Day afternoon tea over the weekend of the 21st and 22nd March for £19.95 for adults or £9.95 per child.

We always enjoy their beautiful homemade cakes and delicious food in their newly-refurbished cafe. The staff are always so friendly, and on these special dates you can even enjoy a singer at the event to truly treat a very special mother.

What’s more, if the weather is fine, there’s also a lovely wooden play area for children too!

Find out more here or read our review of Thurlaston Garden Centre here.

You can't beat the Thurlaston Afternoon tea events
You can’t beat the Thurlaston Afternoon Tea events

7. Guildhall Museum, Leicester

Leicester’s Guildhall Museum is hosting a special pottery painting event on March 15th as part of their Craft Sundays.

Children of all ages can choose from a teacup or bird shaped planter for £7.50, where you can enjoy such a special activity together and take home your ceramic memento. A plant is even included that was grown at Belgrave Hall. Times are from 11-12am or 1-2pm.

Such a unique and memorable event in such a stunning location.

Find out more about booking here.

Little Lily enjoying the museum at the Leicester Guildhall
Little Lily enjoying the Leicester Guildhall museum

8. Manor Farm Park & Woodlands

Celebrate Mother’s Day at Manor Farm Park with free entry for mum when accompanied by a paying child!

There is so much to do on the farm including indoor and outdoor play areas, lovely Antlers cafe (definitely recommend their cake!), animals and countryside to explore, beautiful woodlands and more – a really lovely day out for children to spend with their mothers! What’s more, the staff are always so friendly – and you may even catch a free ride on Ernie the Milk Float!

Find out more about their event here or check out our Manor Farm review here.

Manor Farm Park & Woodlands - A beautiful location for a family adventure
Manor Farm Park & Woodlands – A beautiful location for a family adventure

9. National Trust Stoneywell

We always love our visits to Stoneywell, so this sounds really special. You can explore the stunning gardens and cottage, and enjoy a coffee and cake in the lovely little Laundry Tearoom.

What’s more, for Mother’s Day you can enjoy time with the volunteers to make a table flower arrangement with freshly-picked foliage from the gardens.

Entry is free with National Trust membership but there is a £5 donation for flowers and you need to ensure you book a timeslot for the mini bus from the carpark, as you will not be allowed entrance otherwise due to limited numbers of spaces each day.

Find out more here or read our review here.

We love exploring Stoneywell National Trust
We love exploring Stoneywell National Trust

10. Matlock Farm Park

Mums go FREE this Mother’s Day at Matlock Farm Park, and you can enjoy a full afternoon tea with sandwiches, treats and scones – with an optional upgrade to Prosecco too!

There is so much to do all over the farm for all the family, including animal encounters and feeding, play areas (indoor and out), petting small animals, and a lovely indoor tea room to enjoy your afternoon tea.

Afternoon tea must be prebooked and you arrive at certain slots to enjoy this, but then you can spend the rest of the day having fun together on this fantastic farm.

Find out more here or check out our review here

All kinds of fun at Matlock Farm Park
All kinds of fun at Matlock Farm Park

11. Katylous Forest School & National Forest Day Adventure

The very lovely Katylous Forest School is hosting a very special National Forest Day Adventure for Mother’s Day on Burbage Common from 2-3pm.

If you’re the type of family who likes to get outdoors, head along to explore the woods, chill in hammocks and even plant a pot for mum! £7.50 for kids, £5.60 for a sibling and adults go free 🙂

Find out more here

Get outdoors together this Mother’s Day, whatever the weather

12. Pukka Pacas alpaca walk at Charnwood Forest

If you’ve ever been looking for an excuse to head off on an alpaca walk, Mother’s Day is definitely an amazing excuse!

There are walks and experiences of various lengths to enjoy spending time with the alpacas (and your mum of course!), followed by an afternoon tea as part of one of their packages, or just enjoy a coffee and treat in their tea room!

We’ve been around 5 times now and can’t recommend it enough – from a unique Mother’s Day treat through to a special present idea!

Find out more in our review here or visit their website here

The best adventures at Pukka Pacas!

13. Gullivers Theme Parks, Milton Keynes, Matlock Bath & Warrington

Mums go FREE all weekend at all Gulliver’s Theme Parks from the 21st to 22nd March when accompanied by at least one full-paying person.

If you’ve not yet visited Gulliver’s then this is definitely the excuse you need, with so many incredible rides and family-friendly activities for everyone.

All kinds of fun at Gulliver's Land
All kinds of fun at Gullivers Land

We’ve loved every visit to Gulliver’s Land at Milton Keynes, and Gulliver’s Kingdom at Matlock Bath. While you’re there, why not make a weekend of it with a stay at their fantastic Adventurer’s Village or Explorer’s Retreat? We can’t recommend it enough!

Find out more here or check out our review of Gullivers Land here or Gulliver’s Kingdom here.

Making memories with my little lady at Gulliver's Land
Making memories with my little lady at Gulliver’s Land

14. Sundown Adventureland

Sundown Adventureland is a fantastic theme park to visit with families with children under the age of 10 – and on Mother’s Day (22nd March) mums can go for just £8!

There are rides, activities and play areas for children under the age of 10, making it a fun day out for families with young children.

We particularly loved the little fairytale story village and huge sand play areas, but there are plenty of places for a snack, a Mother’s Day lunch… and a play too!

Find out more here or check out our review of Sundown Adventureland here.

This kid loved Sundown Adventureland
This kid loved Sundown Adventureland – so much to explore!

15. Cattows Farm

For something more civilized, I’d definitely recommend heading to Cattows Farm. Whether you’re looking for breakfast, lunch or a luxury chocolate afternoon tea, there are a whole range of menus for every taste, to truly spoil her on Mother’s Day, with gorgeous views of the countryside.

There’s even an option to have Prosecco and Pudding – something no lady would want to turn down!

Cattows Farm has its own lovely farm shop, a small outdoor play area, sheep, and plenty of stunning walks in the countryside. We love heading there for PYO pumpkins and sunflowers – and can’t recommend them enough for their food/cake too!

Find out more here or check out our review of Cattows Farm farm shop and tea room here!

Sunflower picking in the fields at Cattows Farm
Sunflower picking in the fields at Cattows Farm

16. Trentham Monkey Forest

The beautiful Trentham Monkey Forest is such a stunning and unique place to visit with the family, getting up close to nature in stunning surroundings.

By using code MUMSTREAT when booking online, mums can go FREE with any child ticket for Mother’s Day!

Monkeying around with this little monkey at Trentham Monkey Forest
Monkeying around with this little monkey at Trentham Monkey Forest

Find out more here or check out our review of Trentham Monkey Forest here

Prefer to get away somewhere remote with the family? Check out our top ideas for weekends camping and glamping here!

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