AD – You have probably heard of the magical Lapland UK, and if, like me, you haven’t been, well they have brought the experience just down the road from Slough. Last weekend we got to visit the first ever LaplandUK Wishing Store, which is in The Lexicon shopping centre in Bracknell. We were booked in for a morning story-telling session and made our way to the Wishing Store, which is next to Smiggle.

Walking through the room, we were transported to this magical wintery place. It was Christmas all over with fairy lights, Christmas decs, gifts, toys and a giant wishing tree at the end that had lights and hanging lanterns on the branches. All this with the scent of what I can only describe as Christmas trees in the air, it was just wow.

A beautiful elf called Wish came out to greet the children. She had the cutest dress on, and was just enchanting, the way she talked to the children. They followed her into the ‘forest’ and sat on stools ready to hear a story. No adults here! We watched from behind the tree and it was lovely to see the wonder in the kids’ faces. And amazingly Lily sat there with no fuss. The story was a unique Lapland one about Father Christmas, and was read from a huge book, like in those fairytales.

After the story, the children were led to a set of these cute traditional-looking desks, to sit and write their letters to Santa.

Tyler wrote it and Lily added a picture of Peppa (with some help from Tyler) and she signed her name all by herself. We then folded the letter into an envelope and Tyler wrote ‘To Santa’ on it.

Then the kids posted their letter in the Elven postbox. They found this ever so exciting, that this letter was actually going to Santa.

Afterwards we went back to admire the wishing tree, and put on these special glasses. When they looked at the tree through the glasses, Lily described it as “so sparkly and brights up the air”.

We looked around the shop and there were lots of festive goodies on sale, including cute plush huskies and dress-up outfits for them, snowman plush, penguins, candles, wishing jars, stockings.

Tyler found some festive themed Russian dolls (you know the ones you stack inside one another) and Lily found giant gingerbread man biscuits.

Wish and Scribble came over to talk to Tyler and Lily. Lily hid behind me, but Tyler was really happy to sit and chat with them. They sat under the Wishing Tree and told the kids that each lantern on the tree held a wish. So the wish they made to Santa in the letterbox went into one of the lanterns. It was seriously magical, the kids looking up at the lanterns in amazement, wondering which one was theirs. I was impressed with how Wish and Scribble talked to the children, they were just so enchanting.

The kids were given a LaplandUK goodie bag each as we left the store. We headed over to Starbucks to have a morning snack while the kids opened their bags. There was an activity book, a pencil, stickers and a bag of chocolate sprinkles. This kept the kids busy while G and I had a cuppa.

We spent the rest of the day shopping at The Lexicon, stopping for lunch at GBK. All the big brands are in this shopping centre and the kids love visiting the toy department in Fenwick of course. We bought a few things including warm boots from myself from Deichmann. They are fleecy on the inside and they were half price at £13.99 – bargain! And for an extra £2.99, they added a waterproof coating. So I don’t have to worry about soggy feet when it rains.

Ganesh chose a Grinch Christmas jumper from Primark, which was £14, and the kids chose remote control cars from MenKind. But these aren’t any old RC car – they drive vertically on windows and walls. They were £19.99 each or 2 for £30. We bought two so that we could give one to a friend.

The day we visited was the big Christmas lights switch-on, and there are even more festive activities on at The Lexicon.

Now until December 19^th – Elven Treasure Hunt (Pick up a treasure hunt form from the LaplandUK Wishing Store)

Now until December 29^th – Christmas Market (along the High Street)

Limited Edition Christmas Baubles for sale
(£2 each from the Information Hub, raising funds for The Lexicon Charity Fund)

9^th to 23^rd December – Late Night Shopping until 8pm Mon – Fri (Saturdays to 7pm and Sunday from 11am to 5pm)

9^th to 23^rd December, from 4pm each day – Christmas Angels Light Installation

Selected dates – Carol singing and Live Music

Every Saturday and Sunday in December – Christmas Face Painting (raising funds for The Lexicon Charity Fund, suggested donation £2)

There is so much on at The Lexicon and I can totally recommend shopping there – you will love it. As for the story-telling session at the LaplandUK Wishing Store, it is the perfect way to give your children a magical Christmas experience, and affordable too at a cost £5 per child (one adult free with a child). If you would like to go, I would recommend booking a ticket online to guarantee a place, and see the dates and times available.

Sabrina x

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