Ad disclosure: We were provided with three tickets for the Merry Hill Elf School experience & a gift voucher for the centre in order to review the grotto. This post reflects my honest opinion.
On Friday afternoon, we headed to the intu Merry Hill shopping centre to check out their “Elf School” Father Christmas experience. Georgie and Lydia were joined by Georgie’s best friend Sophie and they were all very excited to be on an outing together! We ate some lunch then headed straight to the Elf School.
We turned up a little early for the 3pm slot and went in fairly promptly. The children spent the time waiting “writing” letters to Santa which we posted in the letter box. Touching a handprint on the wall activated animated puppet show which the girls enjoyed. We left the pushchair at the entrance as requested by the signs and were ushered into the elf schoolroom by a very friendly elf.
The Elf School bit was great fun and the kids adored it. Colourful benches were lined up in two rows facing the front, with a large blackboard at one side containing various rules for being an elf. Additional seating is available at the back of the room for adults if the benches are full of children.
The kids were invited to come forward to talk to the elf; to tell her their name, chat about Christmas, and join in with different activities. They all sang Jingle Bells, with Georgie and Sophie on the mic, and the elf read The Night Before Christmas to them which they all loved. Once the lesson was complete, each child was given an elf hat and a certificate with their name on to say they had graduated. This is a really nice touch. The certificate is printed on nice card, and the elf hat is super cute.
Next up was Santa! We had to queue for a little bit but there were quiz questions on the walls to help keep the kids entertained, and plenty of Christmas things to look at – Lydia kept cuddling a giant Christmas mouse statue that was about her size! The queue wasn’t too bad, and we were soon being invited in to see the man himself.
I had filled in a form with the girls names and ages and Santa knew them when we were talking to him, and identified Lydia straight away. He needed a bit of help with the two older girls as they are both the same age, but he was good with the kids and chatted to them. Georgie asked him for a hobby horse (of course – 5th time now, I think she is trying to make sure he’s got the message!) and Sophie wants a barbie doll (which is news to her mum!).
When our 21 month old Lydia was asked what she wants for Christmas, she helpfully pointed to her t-shirt’s Peppa Pig design and said PIG quite loudly to Santa. Aren’t I a helpful Mummy, dressing her in visual aids?
We had a quick photo taken, and then another… mostly due to the fact Georgie was pulling up her knickers in the first! Once we were finished with Santa we headed out to choose toys from a good array available. It was good to see nice quality toys; with recognisable characters from kids tv. They had Hungry Caterpillar and Ben 10 colouring in placemats, Barbie & Peppa Pig colouring pads with crayons & stickers, and various crafty sets.
Sophie and Georgie both chose the dough cupcake kits and Lydia made a beeline for the Peppa set. All three were delighted with their gifts. It is nice when children get to choose gifts at these things, as they end up with something that suits their taste better, and they find it really exciting too. We “jumped in the muddy puddles” back to the pushchair, and headed off to treat the girls to a pressie each from the Disney Store.
Overall we were really pleased with the Elf School; the girls certainly all enjoyed it and I think you get a decent amount for your money, leaving with a certificate, hat & good quality toy. The Santa could have been a touch jollier but he was really good with the children and Georgie felt comfortable enough with him to whisper to him which is great for her in that situation.
The elves were all fantastic and were chatting away to the children easily & naturally, making them feel comfortable and entertaining them. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to locals and certainly it’s worth stopping by if you are taking a child to the shopping centre anyway.
Tickets for the Elf School are £6 per child, and need to be pre-booked. They are available in half-hour slots, although you may be able to book tickets on day by walking up to the desk in any are avaliable. Opening times and more information can be found on the Merry Hill website Elf School page.
A helpful elf takes a photo or two of your children & Santa, and then you can of course buy various photo products using this photo at the exit. As well as the usual keyrings and magnets, they also have snow globes and christmas baubles.
Karen, Sophie’s Mum, very kindly bought Georgie & Lydia a snow globe for their Christmas present, so the girls will have a memento of their afternoon with Sophie that they enjoyed so much! It’s really lovely and I am sure that Georgie will really love it.
Oh this looks like so much fun, LP would LOVE it! x