loopyloulaura

Last year I spotted Track Party advertised near my sister in Basingstoke and was desperate to go but the tickets had all sold out 🙁

This year a fellow blogger pointed out that it was running again, yay!

Actually, Track Party runs at various locations in the south of England throughout the year (take a look here to see if there is one near you!)

As I mentioned in my #project365, I’ve been struggling with vertigo this week and to be honest it hasn’t been a lot of fun for the kids as they have been anxious about me as well as trying to cope with changed routines while they adapted to me being stuck in bed.

I was adamant that they would still go to the Track Party but was soooooo disappointed that I couldn’t go too. Chris was a little jittery about coping with the three of them on his own especially as the scope for over excitement was high. Matthew is a huge dinosaur fanatic and before that it was trains. Anya and Zach take their cue from him so I knew it would be a perfect chance for the children to enjoy some freedom from the burden of worrying about me.

Anya was in a minority at the party because she is a girl. She is very much a girly girl but that doesn’t mean she can’t have fun with toys that are traditionally associated with boys. I don’t think she spotted that there weren’t many other girls at the party, she was too busy having fun!

Anya isn’t constrained by society’s norms of gender roles. I don’t personally believe in gender neutrality as I think it can be just as restrictive as gender polarity. Why do toys/clothing have to involve gender at all? Individual strengths and preferences should be encouraged irrespective of the contents of the person’s pants! Rant over…

Back to the party, look at the track! It puts my tracks to shame and I’d love to know if each set up has a specific layout or if each event is done differently. I know my dad uses a computer program to plan his Hornby layout so maybe something similar is used (design, technology, IT, science: all essential skills for boys AND girls)

Anya’s favourite part of the Track Party were the car ramps and she raced them to the bottom so no pics available as she was too speedy! Matthew loved the dinosaurs and his obsession is still not waning (it’s been 6 months now!). Zach was equally happy playing with the trains and the dinos: he has just started playing co-operatively and this was a great opportunity for him to watch other children playing together.

Track Party are holding another event in Basingstoke on the 28th April. Tickets cost £7-7.50 depending on the session and I know from my own experience that they get snapped up fast!

*I was given tickets to this event, however I was genuinely planning to attend last year and will be purchasing future tickets.