Fall is officially here and although I’m bummed that summer is over I’m happy that we can head outside without sweating our faces off and enjoy crisp, sunny fall days! Last weekend my husband was away and I wanted to make sure I kept little one busy out of the house so we didn’t get cabin fever. He is so into animals and vehicles right now so I thought it would be great to take him to a farm for some fresh air and exploration. (Are you noticing a theme to our Afternoon Adventures lately?)
My Googling led me to Brantwood Farms which is at the north end of Brantford, at 251 Powerline Road. I know it’s not Hamilton which is the theme of my blog, but it was only a 25 minute drive from home which is a shorter distance than if we were to travel to some of the outskirts of Hamilton. So I’d say this is definitely an Afternoon Adventure for Hamilton parents to consider, especially when it’s a quick drive on the 403 which is not particularly busy on weekends.
Of course on a weekend when Dada was away, my little guy was refusing to nap in his crib. This made for some very long days… I wanted him to nap before we went so he’d be in a great mood at the farm. After over an hour of him fighting it, I put him in the car and hoped he’d fall asleep. Of course he fell asleep! 3 mins from our destination. Luckily, I was meeting my mom at the farm, so I had some company as I sat in the parking lot while toddler napped for an hour. Luckily there was lots of parking in one of their fields, and we were able to sit and watch other families as they enjoyed some of the activities like the straw bale castle and the apple slingshot.
Once little one woke up we ventured into Brantwood Farms’ Fall Festival. There’s no admission fee, but you pay for tickets to take part in their attractions. You could go and enjoy the Fall Festival without buying tickets or doing the various attractions making it a completely free activity– there are lots of animals to look at, areas to walk around and pumpkins and apples to see. We opted to buy 11 tickets for $20 which was the perfect amount for myself, my mom and little one.
We then walked up to the Storybook Barn where they had a few scenes from story books reconstructed from pumpkin characters and farm accessories. Thomas the Train was of particular interest to our toddler who proclaimed “choo choo!” when he saw it.
I feel like one of my favourite parts of the afternoon was that the Fall Festival wasn’t too busy and it was at a farm so I felt totally comfortable letting my toddler run around at his own will without having to keep right on top of him so he didn’t get lost or hurt. He loved running off to see pumpkins, animals and check out apples on the ground in the orchard. He would stop and point at everything he thought was interesting, which I really enjoyed because I love seeing the world through his eyes.
It was pretty clear that little one was pumped about the tractors so we hopped on the hay ride when it came by. The hay ride takes about 20 mins if you want to ride the full loop, and stops at the magic forest play area and the pumpkin patch if you want to hop off. We decided to just stay on the hay ride and little one was plenty happy with that as he was intent on watching how the tractor worked. It was also the perfect opportunity to feed him a little snack.
We did a few more activities like a pony ride, bouncing on balloon animals and playing in the straw obstacle course. The straw obstacle course was little one’s very favourite activity once we showed him that he could run into the tunnels and play hide and seek with us. Running into the tunnels and then “surprising” us with a “boo!” kept him occupied for about half an hour. He was busting a gut laughing as we acted surprised to see him. I got some pretty cute videos and pictures which I’m so happy to have, capturing him at this fun little age.
We also visited the farm animal enclosure where they have goats, wild boars and a pony. Toddler was busy making farm animal noises as he watched them.
We didn’t check out the Brantwood Farm Shop because it was dinner time by the time we finished up at Fall Festival, but I noticed on Instagram that they sell fall Porch Packages. How much easier can your fall decorating get? You can pick the Premium or Deluxe package which come with straw bales, mums, pumpkins, corn stalks and gourds, and the prices seem pretty reasonable! I’m going to stick that idea in my back pocket for next year!
It looks like Brantwood Farm’s Fall Festival runs every weekend from now until the last weekend of October. If you’re looking for an afternoon adventure for your little one in the Hamilton area, you’ll want to check this out!
I’d love to know- what are your favourite outdoor fall activities in Hamilton for little ones? I want to soak up as much of this weather as possible while it lasts!
Comments