Family Adventures in Swindon - Butterfly World

Looking for something to do with the children? Sian Jack has more brilliant suggestions for fun family days out in Swindon.

Over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend we had plans of family Easter egg hunts, picnics in the park and a nice relaxing break. What we didn’t plan for was a toddler with chest infections and rain! We thought that finding something to do with little activity, toddler friendly and exciting and outside the house was going to prove difficult but we were surprised to find a handful of afternoon or morning activities.

On Saturday we decided to head down to Studley Grange just off J16 to venture into Butterfly World. Despite nothing being advertised on their website they had an Easter Egg trail. Whilst the little monkey didn’t grasp the hang of spelling out the word using the letters hidden around the attraction, he did find it fun hunting out the small eggs hidden around pens which we navigated him towards using the clues. It was a six letter word and felt like the perfect length for the size of Butterfly World and perfectly navigated you around all the animals inside and out. After the visit we returned to the ticket desk to claim our prize, a Crème Egg, which was well received and a nice treat after lunch!

Aside from the Easter Egg hunt, he also loved looking around Butterfly World itself. It’s a firm favourite in our household as under 3’s go free and its £4.95 for an adult. My no means is Butterfly World a day out but it’s a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours looking at both the butterfly homes and the animals outside including Meerkats and George the tortoise. The internal Butterfly enclosures can be walked around freely by visitors and you can see butterflies feeding on fruit and happily flying around. For younger guests there is nothing more exciting than seeing butterflies landing on plants at their height and the excitement when they fly away. The colours of the butterflies are also fascinating for younger guests and great when encouraging them to identify colours. For adults there is something peaceful about watching butterflies flying around as its something we rarely see during a British Summer now.

We were lucky enough to see the resident tortoise George freely walking around and all the kids and adults were fascinated by him. We were unable to touch George but watching the little man follow after him and crouching down to talk to him was rather amusing as other parents found watching their younger ones do the same.

There are plenty of facts littered around Butterfly World and the chrysalis incubation unit is fascinating. Especially watching the butterflies hang to let the blood drain from their wings allowing the colours to shine!

All in all a fun filled afternoon was had by all and the prefect way to break the cabin fever of the weekend and keep the little one entertained.