On Saturday, Loz and James took a trip to Mudchute Park & Farm on the Isle of Dogs, London to celebrate the launch of Shaun the Sheep: Spring Cleaning DVD (7th April). As James loves the spin-off show, Timmy Time, it was an event we knew he’d enjoy. The combination of a trip to the farm AND a chance to sit and watch a similar type of show to TT was possibly a dream come true for the little man and he had a great time playing with all the other kids too!
Getting to Mudchute Park & Farm from Chelmsford was really easy for them with a buggy as it’s all step-free access along the way. It’s a train into Stratford and then a DLR train to Canary Wharf. You have to change at Canary Wharf onto another DLR to Mudchute and that’s it. There is an entrance to the farm at the back of the large ASDA at Crossharbour so if you’ve forgotten anything for your day out, it’s a perfect place to stock up on picnic things. You can also feed some of the animals carrots, apples and other suitable fruits and veg so it’s a good place to stop and pick up a few bits too. Do look at the signs around the farm for advice on what they eat though.
The day started with a tour of the animals by the lovely farm manager who explained more about the different breeds of sheep and educated Loz on the fact not all sheep with horns are male! There was an actual Shaun the Sheep in a pen they were allowed to pet, but the best experience of the tour (according to Loz) was being allowed into a field filled with sheep. James loved this part of the tour, shouting “baaaa!” and trying to “beep beep” their noses.
After the tour they were then taken into an area which had tables set up for model-making with an Aardman animator and a screening area of the DVD. James made himself comfortable on the hay bales that were in front of the TV and sat and watched nearly the whole thing whilst the model-making activity took place.
Loz has said she’s going to make some of the Shaun the Sheep cakes they had there to tie in with Easter too so I imagine she’ll use the “how to” guide from the model making as inspiration for the design. For anyone interested in how to make your own Shaun, there is a guide in one of the images (above).
I imagine Shaun the Sheep: Spring Cleaning will be watched over and over again by James. He loves the animation and I think not having a lot of dialogue helps his concentration. It’s full of colourful characters and sets and it just captures his interest.
