With two boys aged nine and ten unplugging can be an issue sometimes. Not the time spent unplugged but the high tech tantrums when I tell them that it is time to turn off! We call it reluctance to transition in The Mad House. We recently had an unplugged weekend at Sherwood Pines (Nottinghamshire) with Forest Holidays and it was a huge success.
Our weekend unplugged
Sherwood Pines is around two and a half hours drive for us and we had a pet friendly cabin booked, so set off after school on Friday night. Checking in was a breeze as I had filled out the online check in form and we were in our cabin and the boys in the hottub 12 minutes after arriving!
We had made the decision to have a tech free weekend (I still used my phone), but we took board games, books, colouring in and also watched some TV in our downtime. It was really important to me to have quality family time.
On the Friday when we arrived (once we had dragged the boys out of the hot tub) we had a lovely walk around the woodland area. It was almost as though we all exhaled and immediately relaxed when we entered in to the woodland area. We returned to the cabin to find our ice cream, sweets and pop that we had pre ordered, along with our breakfast pack had been delivered and we watched a movie together.
I woke on Saturday morning to MadDad cooking breakfast for everyone and the boys in the hottub again! We then walked to the Forest Retreat for our archery session. We then popped back to the cabin for lunch before returning for a bush skills session with a Forest Ranger, all with Alvin in tow. It was wonderful to do activities as a family and all learn together.
We picked up a BBQ pack at the retreat for an evening meal at the cabin. MadDad cooked whilst me and the boys took advantage of the sunny evening in the hottub! The meat from the retreat was excellent and really great value. We ended the evening with a competitive session of sleeping Queens.
Sunday we took a short walk to The Forestry Commission at Sherwood Pines, where Maxi and MadDad did Go Ape and Mini did Go Ape Junior. Me and Alvin spent the time watching and videoing them. It was so much fun for them all.
The cabins at Sherwood Pines are superbly equipped and even have plastic wine glasses for the hot tub. We actually felt that the cabin was possibly the best cabin we have ever stayed in as a family. It was so well set out, comfortable and smart, without feeling that we couldn’t relax. The beds were really comfortable and we all slept really well, but that could have also been down to all the walks we did!
It was the perfect place to have an unplugged weekend and the kids didn’t miss their electronics at all.
Would we recommend it? Yes we would and our friend Susan K Mann has just come back from Sherwood Pines with her family and they loved it too!
Disclosure: We were provided with a silver cabin at Sherwood Pines for the weekend by Forest Holidays. We paid for all activities and provisions ourselves.
It sounds like you had a wonderful time. Why is it we need to wrench ourselves from normality to appreciate simple things? Though the hot tub would win out over most things – even technology!
It looks like you had a wonderful time Jen, I’d love to go here and only live a few miles away lol, it just feels like it is far enough away to have tranquility 🙂
This looks wonderful Jen and isn’t that far from me I would love to go unplug and unwind !
I love the idea of unplugging and unwinding. Plus for me I’d find being among the trees very restful.
This sounds just lovely – great for the whole family to have an outdoorsy weekend and be unplugged.
This loks and sounds likes a lovely place to unwind and relax. Great video too 🙂 x
That all sounds really lovely (well apart from being up in the trees, I’d have to pass on that) I could easily do a weekend without technology if it was somewhere like this.
One of the reasons I loved our holiday to France was that we were mostly (we drove there so boys took hand helds) were unplugged. It also stopped me with my phone.
Looks a great place to go to be unplugged.
This is something my boys love doing and would be the perfect break for us
Looks very nice and relaxing being surrounded by nature. I would love this, if only I could take my dogs too.
A weekend unplugged sounds absolutely fab to me, so glad you managed it and had a fab time x
What an amazing sounding weekend, I think sometimes unplugging can be a wonderful thing to do.
I do love all the facilities on offer there, the tree tops adventures are a real thrill and I know mine would adore the archery too. What a great break for the whole family and easy to see how they enjoyed it once the tech link is broken. I understand the reluctance to down the gadgets all too well, yet unplugged kids spring back to the youngsters we love! Thank you for sharing your weekend away on Country Kids
This looks and sounds wonderful and a perfect family weekend. I would love to do an unplugged weekend as my 12 year old and partner both spend far to much time playing online games and on you tube. I bet a hot tub was wonderful x
What a wonderful break away! Love the video!
Ahh I want an unplugged holiday! I think my boy would love this when he’s a bit older xx
What a great weekend away. Thank you for the mention and the recommendation. We had such a lovely time there. Looks like the minimads had such a wonderful time x
This looks amazing – we are going camping next weekend and looking forward to an unplugged few days ( i think!!) Kaz x
aww what a lovely idea we spend far too much tome as a family on screens , your weekend looked lovely
This looks like a lovely weekend and I really want to go on a Forest Holiday, they look great. (PS I love your boy’s yellow scandi tops!!)
That looks like an amazing place. I would so love to visit to have an unplugged weekend for the grown-ups in ur house!
ww doesnt it look fantastic for the older kids,