The Gruffalo Trail at Bedgebury Pinetum is the first spring outing for Our Kent Family

Some children took a walk through a very big wood.

They found an interactive Gruffalo trail.

The trail looked good...

It feels like we've been waiting forever for Spring doesn't it?

But finally some sunshine and a chance to get out with friends and try what we've all been desperate to have a go of since its launch - the new interactive Gruffalo trail at Bedgebury Pinetum.

Armed with phones, tablets and a picnic we went in search of Julia Donaldson's much loved creature, the mouse, his woodland friends and a log pile house.

We found it all!

The trail, in which you use augmented reality to watch The Gruffalo story come alive, is so clever.

Scan your phone at the stops along the mile-long walk through the wood and up pops mouse, in clambers fox, a slithering snake, owl, and of course him with the claws and the terrible jaws.

Now roaming through a woodland as gorgeous and picturesque as Bedgebury on a warm sunny day watching your children discard first their hats, then coats, and then their jumpers is utterly good for the soul especially after what has felt like a long winter inside.

And I know there are all sorts of arguments you could make about technology in the great outdoors or them seeing what is on a screen and not their surroundings - but watching Oscar and Liv's excited faces as the characters sprung up around them and their friends was utter magic.

And in between the technology stops, they ran, clambered, climbed fences, found bugs and waved sticks just as they would have done if we hadn't have come armed with phones and tablets.

Bedgebury is such a great place for an outing particularly if you are looking for a hefty dose of fresh air and a safe place for your children to run and roam.

Alongside the Gruffalo trail, which really made our day, are lovely places to walk and picnic, a great adventure play area and a cafe selling everything from hot meals to coffees, snacks and ice-cream.

There is also the Go Ape attraction and bike hire facilities on site if you wanted to book and pay for more during your visit.

Parking for our car was £12 for the day - and we were there all day - which with only the cost of an ice-cream - or four- thrown in, makes it a really reasonable family outing.

One thing about parking to be aware of, is that Bedgebury can be forced to close its car parks during busy periods, sometimes for up to an hour or so.

We arrived not long after 11am and a notice on it's facebook page said they had been forced to put in a temporary closure about 90 minutes later.

If you're planning on going and don't want to risk disappointing little people it is best to set off early.

Five things you also might want to know about taking on the trail before you start below...

1 Download the Gruffalo Spotter app before you leave home

There is very little wifi or 4G signal to be had anywhere near Bedgebury so downloading the app before you visit is a must.

2 You need to hold your devices closer than you think

We weren't the only family merrily waving our phones at the first stop to find that nothing was happening.

When there are a few groups standing around trying to get it to work and people watching it takes a brave person to step forward, but you will need to get your phone camera closer to the signs to scan than maybe you think.

Do so and you'll instantly know you've got it right as up will pop a tree trunk as the creature struts in!

3 It can take pictures too

The app will let you take pictures!

For the first two animal encounters we couldn't work out how to keep the interactive image on screen and open the phone's camera so were taking screen grabs instead.

But hold the device still - and for long enough - and a little option to take the picture will appear on the screen as part of the app. Tap that and it gives you a nice background too! Just be patient.

Although this won't ensure the creatures behave themselves.

They are prone to a wander and a wriggle and we have more than one picture of an animal's bottom shoved in someone's face - mostly much to Oscar's amusement.

Boy humour and all that!

4 Battery battery battery

It sounds daft but come with a fully charged phone and endevour not to use it too much taking other pictures before you've done the trail.

There are five creatures to meet, lots of scanning to be done and the chances are the children will want you to do each one more than once - firstly so they can be in the picture and again so they can watch.

Running out of battery half way round - or before the grand finale - would be a disaster. Go armed with juice!

5 Snacks

Go armed with snacks too!

Let's be honest, nobody wants other little people in their pictures so you may have to be patient if you get to a stop where other families are also waiting.

And while even for a sunny Saturday it wasn't too bad or busy, a bag of Cadbury's mini eggs, a punnet of grapes and a few cartons of drink left from our picnic served as a suitable distraction on the couple of occasions that we needed to hang around, wait our turn and stop our own children creeping forward into other people's frames.

That and a log full of bugs we found on route!

For further information, opening times, and prices at Bedgebury visit the Forestry Commision website.

Happy spotting!

Lauren x