I’m really enjoying finding different Christmas events to take the children to this year. We didn’t make much of a fuss about Christmas at all last year, so this year we’ve been making it extra special. One event that I’ve heard people talk about in previous years is Christmas at the Hub and how incredible it’s been. So this year we booked to take the kids, and experience it for ourselves.
We’ve visited Riverside Hub a few times before, and our 2-year-old and 11-year-old absolutely love it. Everything they’ve designed – particularly the sensory rooms – are incredible, so I was very excited to see the Christmas grotto.
This year Christmas at the Hub involves exploring the Christmas areas, pottery painting, decorating gingerbread men, and of course – meeting Santa! When you arrive each child is given an elf passport, and you can collect stamps for each section you’ve visited.
Pottery Painting
After picking up our elf passports, the first activity we did for our visit at Christmas at the Hub was pottery painting. Reuben and Ivy aren’t usually into crafty activities, but they were quite excited to pick out their own pottery decoration and to paint.
The Grotto
Once we finished our painting, we headed into the grotto to explore the Christmas areas.
When the door first opened to the grotto it was greeted with ‘wow’s from both the kids, as we entered. The first room you enter is full of props for photo opportunities with a festive feel, and right at the back of the room is a gorgeous train set going through a model village. The kids had a great time playing in this room and taking photos in the props, the trainset also had lit up tunnels underneath that the kids could climb through.
The second room was probably my favourite part of Christmas at the Hub – a room done up like an ice kingdom, full of snowflakes! There was a big house the kids could go in and explore full of mirrors. The whole feel of the grotto was fantastic, and I loved all of the attention to detail!
Gingerbread Decorating
After we had moved around the grotto, we did our final activity before meeting Santa – gingerbread decorating!
Each child was given a gingerbread man, icing, and loads of sweets to decorate how they liked! Ivy spent most of the time trying to eat all of her sweets before anyone noticed, but Reuben loved being creative with his!
Like the other Christmas rooms, this room has loads of detail and props for photo opportunities!
Meeting Santa
Then came the main event… meeting Santa!
Before meeting Santa the kids got to sit in the sleigh just outside the room you enter to visit him. One of the lovely elves spoke to them and got them all excited until it was our turn to head in.
Now let me tell you, I was absolutely blown away once we entered. This Santa not only looked the part, but the room was incredible. Given how amazing the other rooms were, I wasn’t surprised to see the amount of attention to detail that was involved in Santa’s grotto.
The kids absolutely loved talking to Santa, and he was amazing at giving them both attention and listening to them both – which must have been difficult when you have a 2-year-old just shouting ‘wow’ at you!
After we met Santa, we moved to the final part of Christmas at the Hub – choosing a gift from Santa! Christmas at the Hub works differently from other grottos we’ve visited – Santa doesn’t give you a gift, but instead, you can select your own gift from the toy selection. There’s a huge variety of toys to select from and you could either have one big gift, two medium gifts, or 5 little gifts.
We spent about an hour in all doing all of Christmas at the Hub, and at no point did we feel rushed – you’re left to make your way around at your own pace. All of the staff were amazing, and the whole experience blew us away! Christmas at the Hub is rather on the pricey side, it cost us about £70 to go – but everything I’ve mentioned was included, as well as entry to the soft play at Riverside Hub for your timeslot after you’ve finished in the grotto. It’s the best grotto experience we’ve ever been to, and it really appealed to both ages of our kids – which can be tricky when there are 9 years between them!
How to Find it
Riverside Hub can be found at 7 Carousel Way, Northampton NN3 9HG – use the map below for directions. There’s free parking outside but it can get quite busy!
Good to Know
- This years Christmas at the Hub event is fully booked, but its running between 4th and 24th December
- Timeslots are 2.5 hours and run between 10am and 6.30pm
- Each visit includes entry into the Christmas at the Hub event, as well as softplay entry to Riverside Hub
- Tickets sold over quickly this year – particularly weekend tickets – so be quick if you’re booking next year!
