Rusticus Theatre Presents The Forest Fairy and Thumbelina
The Forest Fairy has gone missing amongst the trees of Baldersby and wants to meet magical young Deer Shedders!
Help titchy, tiny Thumbelina find the Forest Fairy amongst the trees of Baldersby Park by joining our interactive adventure trail to discover where she is hidden and learn the secrets of the natural world.
Remember to keep your eyes open as you go - there are clues to follow and fairy tale characters to help you along your way in this enchanting self-led trail...
Story Craft Theatre Presents Once Upon a Fairytale
Mini-Shedders, we need your help - Goldilocks has gone missing! Join Janet and Cassie from the award-winning Story Craft Theatre team as they explore our favourite fairytales and meet some familiar fantastical faces along the way...
Will Little Red Riding Hood, The Gingerbread Man and The Hungry Bears know where Goldilocks is?
You'll have to ask them to find out!
Deer Shed On Tour Presents Hang Linton
Now this is gonna be special. We’ve invited Yorkshire’s very own space cowboy Hang Linton up for a one-of-a-kind Mini-Shedder spectacular.
Expect singing, expect dancing, sure; but where avant-garde artiste Hang is involved, prepare to expect the unexpected too!
Linton’s eclectic, electric creativity suggests a colourful new way of looking at the world. We reckon it’s going to blow minds both big and small.
Feral Farm
It's really important that even our youngest guests have the freedom to choose what they do over the weekend, so of course Feral Farm is back for Deer Shed 13.
The first rule of Feral Farm is 'there are no rules on Feral Farm', so leave your parents at the door and go wild!
Play in the straw, build stuff, run around, sing, shout and do pretty much whatever you want without those pesky parents (though they can come in if they really, really want to...)
Mosh Tots Disco!
We've joined forces with Birkenhead's Future Yard crew to create the super-duper Deer Shed MOSH TOTS DISCO!
With wall-to-wall pop bangers, Disney classics and alt-anthems; Mosh Tots is Princess Polly meets Daft Punk with a bunch of guitar solos thrown in for good measure.
Put your little fists in the air for sugar-sweet singalongs and full-on rock-outs, cover yourself in glowsticks and don your ear defenders - prepare to pogo!
SongBugs Singalongs
Singalongs, puppets and playtime, oh my!
Yep, SongBugs are bringing their interactive marvellous menagerie of felt friends up to Baldersby Park for Deer Shed 13!
Expect cheery renditions of all your favourite songs and learn some neat new dance moves too, courtesy of the plethora of puppets that SongBugs are bringing to join in the fun at Deer Shed 13.
Baby Neon RAVE-ING
We're always upping our game when it comes to our under-5 raving and this year is no different, with the introduction of Baby Neon RAVE-ING.
We've put together a curated collection of old skool classics and contemporary anthems; so dust off those little neon glasses, gather your glow sticks prepare your neon paints!
You're on the guestlist for this self-led participation Rave session exclusively for 5 year olds and below, make sure you bring your I.D with you!
The Forest Zen Mud Kitchen
Børn of the Forest is a classroom without walls, where the team invite the great outdoors in for our littlest explorers to discover the natural world without the fuss.
The Nature Kitchens are here to let little ones explore all the natural materials on offer in Baldersby Park with all the sensory sorting, pouring, scooping and mixing they can manage!
Whether they're cooking up a mud pie or some stone soup, there's enough to keep your little one entertained for hours. Bon apetit!
Adventure Babies
Take your little one on an adventure with multi-award winning, sensory storytelling classes by Adventure Babies.
Bringing books to life through interactive stories, sensory props and messy play, the team will support your tot's language and communication development by stimulating all of their senses.
With classes designed for newborns up to 4 year olds, there's something here for any little one; no matter what page they're on.
Børn of the Forest Presents Børn to run Børn to Walk
Join Børn of the Forest for a Woodland Walk. They'll be exploring colour, texture, and shape as you collect natural materials from around Baldersby Park.
The walk will wind up back in the Under 5’s area where you can use your treasures to decorate a journey stick/magic wand to take away with you.
There'll also be plenty of gloves and litter grabbers on hand to keep the forest clean and safe for everything that calls it home.
Baby Sensory Central Presents Sensory Festival Party
It’s easy to forget that, when you’re a tiny person, pretty much every experience is an overwhelming one and we’re willing to bet they’ve not got all that many music festivals under their belts just yet…
Worry not, Baby Sensory Central return this summer to bring your buzzing babes back down to earth with their Baby's First Festival and Beach Party Sensory sessions.
By focusing on feelings, sights and sounds in a comfortable controlled environment, BSC aim to ensure that *everyone* in the tent gets a good night’s sleep.
Mama Got Moves Presents Dance for all .
A baby-wearing dance class for all parents, carers and bumps to be!
It’s the dance class of our generation's dreams, stacked to the rafters with ’90s/ early 00’s classics. Mama’s Got Moves is a chance to bond with your baby and connect them to the world of music and dance.
Come meet other likeminded parents, do something for you, have fun, and get your groove on! This event is for anyone and everyone, we will go slow, learn some easy routines and have baby carriers available to borrow.
Bed Time is for Boogieing
Everyone knows that partying is an important part of any festival, so when it comes to bedtime there's got to be more fun ways of getting your little ones off to sleep...
This year at Deer Shed, the regular old routine of tooth brushing and bedtime stories will be accompanied by a soundtrack designed to squeeze that last little burst of energy out of our mini-shedders before bed.
With flat batteries they'll sleep that bit better and, with any luck, so will you! No need to thank us.
Thula Mama Time
Thula Mama is a baby singing group with a difference.
Join Jenny Cook as she leads the group in uplifting and magical a cappella harmony singing featuring carefully selected songs from a wide variety of languages, traditions and cultures around the world.
The universal themes of families, babies and motherhood will shine through in this heartwarming singalong of lullabies and upbeat mostly with a theme relating to families or babies, mixing gentle lullabies with catchy, upbeat songs.
Soft Play with The Little Gym
We all know how fantastic a session at the gym can make you feel after a stressful day, so just imagine how mind-blowing a quick stretch will be for the little people in our lives?
The Little Gym have been helping kids around the world develop their coordination for over 45 years so we’re pleased as punch that they’re on hand to help our mini-Shedders let off some steam.
Watching our under-5’s doing anything is always funny, but seeing them nail their first forward roll is Big Top level hilarious!
Art at the Start
Visiting Deer Shed from Dundee University, Art at the Start explore the benefits of art-making for babies, toddlers and their grown-ups.
With sensory 'Small World' trays, gentle art and, of course, messy play, these specially designed drop-in sessions are the perfect environment to get Mini-Shedders all get settled into festival life.
Where else can your under-5's contribute to global academia?!
Stampz to the Beat
If a picture says a thousand words, what about a picture made of loads of little pictures? That’s got to be approaching a novel, surely!
Our Stamp Print Station is where your little Shedders can unleash their full creative potential, choosing from a vast range of patterns and paints to compose eye-watering Warhols or meditate on minimal pieces in homage to Henri Matisse.
When your kid’s work is selling for millions on the art market, just remember they got their big break at Deer Shed 13, yeah?
The Great British Dig Off
Having laid dormant for a year, we think it's time to dive back into our sand pits...
What we used to call '8 tonnes of sand, nuff said' has become so much more. In fact, we're declaring it the inaugural Deer Shed Great British Dig Off!
Featuring a series of specially themed pits, we've got all the spades, buckets and excavation gizmos you could ever need; who knows what you'll dig up?
Wet Wet Wet
Keeping everyone hydrated at Deer Shed is a big deal. However, we know that for some of our smallest guests plain old water out of a tap just isn't going to cut it.
That's where our Water Play Station comes in. New to the Under 5's area this year, a series of ingenious contraptions will let our water babies pour, squirt and drench to their heart's content.
Remember those old water toys from school? This is that but dialled up to eleven; with some water hopefully going in their mouths as well as everywhere else!
Finesse that Feltz
Seriously, what can’t you do with a bit of felt and some glue?
You know it, you love it, our beloved felt factory is back for another weekend of fuzzy fun! We've got fascinating felt creations from Deer Sheds gone by proudly adorning our desk and we can't wait to add another for 2023.
Whether your kids have got grand plans this year or they’re coming down with an open mind, we’ve got more than enough felt to facilitate even the most fantastic of crafty creations.
Easy Riders
We can all stand to be better acquainted with our bodies, let’s be honest. Even if it’s just not slouching on the couch, being in control of how we carry ourselves can have a massive impact on our physical and phycological well-being.
So, we’ve asked Easy Riders' James Hodgson back to the sports field of Deer Shed to help our under 5's feel the benefits of the cycling buzz early.
We're sure they won't mind if some bigger Deer Shedders happen to join in too...
Laughter Leaves
We know just how creative, bouncy and always on the go-go our young Shed heads can be.
Devised especially for them, Laughter Leaves pairs a moment of calmness, collecting Topcliffe finest flora, with a good old bit of sticking and glueing.
The result? The perfect tool for waving in time to main stage tunes atop Dad's shoulders... Did we mention they're also pretty good whackers as well as wavers?
Sing & Sign
Just because our littlest Deer Shedders don’t have the biggest vocabularies yet doesn’t mean they aren’t trying to talk to us!
The award-winning Sing & Sign team are here to encourage our babies to use signs to tell us what they want and how they’re feeling.
By treating signs like dance moves along to catchy little songs, our mini-shedders will be chatting away before we know it, not to mention busting a groove down at the main stage!
Stick Streamers
Run like the wind! Or crawl! Or bottom shuffle! Whatever your preferred method of movement at the moment, it'll be all the more funny and sunny with a streamer in tow.
We've had our chainsaws out to harvest the Baldersby Park's finest windfalls and have amassed a tub full of 'under-5' sized sticks and more floaty fabrics than you can imagine.
Whether you're a whirler, twirler, wafter or waver, this is going to be ex-streamer-ly good fun!