Do you have any little Gruffalo fans in the house? If so then please do read on as this is something they will absolutely love! A little adventure in the deep dark woods just got even more exciting.
This year, Magic Light Pictures and Forestry Commission England bring The Gruffalo characters to life in the forest through a new augmented reality app across a whopping 26 forests in the UK. The closest one for us is Sherwood Pines Nottingham where we headed off last weekend to do some Gruffalo spotting of our own.
Before heading off, we downloaded the Gruffalo Spotters app from Google Play, it's also available to download from the App store. The app itself is animated by Nexus studios, it's completely free to download with no in-app purchases. The app mixes technology with the real world, encouraging children to get exploring, firing their imaginations and enabling them to have an all-new forest experience. Their photos are automatically added to the device’s gallery, from where it can be shared via social media with the hashtag #GruffaloSpotters.
Families can follow clues on an interactive trail and track signs of their favourite characters based on The Gruffalo, best-selling picture book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. The self-led trail is packed with fun facts about forest animals with fantastic activities along the way. Once families have spotted the characters, they can use the app to bring the 3D character animation to life and take photos alongside them.
The kids were super excited to get started on the trail, we'd taken part last year in the regular one but couldn't wait to see the augmented reality version in the forest this time round. We were able to buy a pack from the cafe for just £3 which includes all the essentials for our little forest explorers.
Here's a few pictures from the brilliant app itself;
Before setting off, we were also kindly sent some Gruffalo goodies from Aurora World to explore, including a beautiful Gruffalo back pack, beautiful mouse plush and story bag with finger puppets.
The kids think these are fab and would be the perfect gifts alongside the book for any little one! You can shop for these a John Lewis as well as picking up your very own activity kit on site.
We loved our Gruffalo spotting walk and will definitely be going back to do it all over again. We walked and cycled such a long way and having something so fun to follow meant the kids enjoyed every step! A huge thank you to Aurora World too for our Gruffalo merchandise, the puppets now bring our Gruffalo story time alive, the mouse is very much loved and Soph's bag will be off with her for her first adventures at school next month.
For full details for the Gruffalo trails and to find your nearest, you can visit the Forestry Commission website by clicking here.
Would your little Gruffalo fan love this app too?
