Archery in the UK and Ireland

My two kids absolutely love the Hunger Games films so as a little treat I decided to book an archery experience for the whole family. As you can imagine the kids were really excited when I told them, but I wasn't quite prepared for how excited my husband was! Bow and arrows must be a boys thing because the three of them couldn't wait. Thankfully I'd booked for the same week so I only had to deal with a house full over excited boys for a couple of days.

On the day of our archery experience we arrived at the site and got down to action straight away. The session started with a quick run through of how to use the bows safely, followed by a hands on archery masterclass. The instructors were really good with the kids and they got to use smaller bows, which made getting to grips with the basics really easy.

The boys were complete naturals, and they definitely got the hang of things a lot quicker than their mum and dad! We eventually mastered the basics though, and after nailing the targets in the practice range we moved onto some that were a lot trickier. To make things even more fun the instructor challenged us to a game of hit the bull, and yet again the boys showed showed us how it was done!

To say it was their first archery experience the two of them did really well, I only wish I could say the same! We did improve as the session went on though and when we moved onto some of the harder targets we all did really well.

To finish the day we took part in a scored competition which was really good fun, and gave the boys the chance to show off just how good they were. The whole day was such good fun and the kids really loved our archery experience. We'll definitely be back to give it another go, I think we'll be practising in the mean time though!

Arranging a birthday party is never an easy task- especially when the kids are about to turn 11. At this age, they are too old for the stuff that entertains younger children and far too young to take part in any teenage activities. My daughter was just about to celebrate her 11th birthday and I needed to find the perfect activity that she could take part in, that her friends and classmates would love being a part of too. Many of the other kids in the class have stopped having parties altogether, whilst the ones that do don’t make much of an effort any more; I had to push the boat out to make sure everybody had the perfect party.

I started looking online for great activities my daughter and her friends would love taking part in. There are plenty of different locations near us that are suitable for a party, but booking there for her birthday often breaks the bank. When you’re budgeting for 15 kids, you need to find the cheapest activities possible, but still make sure they are more fun than you can possibly imagine. Easier said than done.

Soon, my search was over and I found the National Archery website. I hadn’t considered archery as a activity for the kids, but it was definitely suitable; it was safe, fun and completely out of the ordinary. None of the children had taken part in any archery before, but give them some bows and arrows and they’ll probably transform into Robin Hood within minutes! I called some of the other parents to see if this was a good idea and they loved the sound of it. When the kids all found out about it, they couldn’t wait either!

When scrolling through the National Archery website, I found out the closest location to us ran a game called “Combat Archery”. This was undeniably a better fit for the kids- it was more suited to their hyperactive personalities as it let them run wild as much as possible. I had doubts that the kids would manage to stay still during a day at a typical archery range. But running round firing rubber arrows at each other? They’d love it. When I told my daughter and her friends, they checked out some footage online and loved the look of the sport. I booked a place for the whole gang immediately.

When the day of the party arrived, the kids had already got into battle mode, boasting how they were going to beat each other and be crowned champion of the game. I was happy to see they were so eager- and the game itself definitely didn’t disappoint. The staff were incredibly helpful in getting all the kids kitted out for the game, then once the battle began, they were all having the time of their lives. It was certainly a great idea to spend the birthday celebration here!

One of the other kids asked if he could have a combat archery party for his birthday, so I knew the day was a success. My daughter definitely thought it was a great way to celebrate her big day and can’t wait to go back again- so I would definitely recommend it to everybody!