Activities & Packages

We will ensure your programme is designed and tailored to meet your needs

To ensure you have a valuable experience at Avon Tyrrell Outdoor Centre and really benefit from the outdoors, we have a wide range of adventure and environmental activities, all linked to the National Curriculum. We are committed to personal service and our experienced staff will ensure your programme, whether visiting for the day or as part of a residential, is designed and tailored to meet your needs.

Avon Tyrrell Outdoor Centre

With our three-tier pricing structure, there is an option for everyone to get the same high quality outdoor learning experience at a cost both groups and parents can afford. 

Our Birch, Chestnut, and Oak packages for schools and youth groups, include full board accommodation, catering and a personalised selection from our experience, learn and develop activities. It’s the full package and the price you see is the price you pay unless you add extras. 

We can also create bespoke packages for day visits, families and other organised groups, just let us know what you are looking for and we will do the rest.


Activities

Experience Activities

  • Abseiling and Climbing

    Whether you are climbing up, or abseiling down our Climbing Tower, this is a challenge for anyone and really pushes you to your limits.

    Restrictions:

    • Maximum weight limit: 16 stone (120kg)
    • Minimum age: 5+ years
  • Archery

    Are you a budding Robin Hood or Maid Marian?  Step on to our Archery ranges and take on the challenge to hit the Bullseye! Designed to develop skill and foster a sense of achievement, you can practice to perfect your technique from the shooting line and show us what you have got. 

  • blue circle with white bike graphic vector logo Bike Skills

    Designed for riders of all abilities, but particularly good for those who are not confident enough to head out on our trails or for those who are unable to ride a bike.  Taking place on either our field or the sports courts we run lots of games and tasks which are designed to build confidence and teach better bike handling. All of this can be done using one of our balance bikes so even if you are unable to ride a bike, you can still take part.

  • Canoeing

    Partner up in our 2 person canoes and paddle across the waters. With open tops you will learn traditional canoeing techniques and skills including the added buoyancy that comes with larger boats.

    Restrictions

    • Maximum weight limit: 20 stone (130kg)
    • Minimum age: 5+ years (adult needed for under 8 years)
  • High Ropes

    Enjoy the excitement of our High Ropes course with various tree based elements. 

    Crate Stacking – Tackle the crate stack in pairs and see if you can build the tallest tower. Whilst balancing on top of the crates, your friends and team will have to help pass you crates but also keep you safe by belaying your ropes.

    Jacobs Ladder – Take it in turns and work together on your way up the Jacobs ladder. With the rungs getting further apart as you go higher, you’ll need your best team work to make it to the top.

    Play Pen – Climb up the swinging beams, over the cargo net and up the tyres; be careful they spin! All on the way to conquering our play pen activity. Difficulty can be increased or lowered depending on the groups age and objectives.

    Leap of Faith – The ultimate adrenaline challenge! The objective is to climb to the top of our 20ft pole, stand on top of the platform and make the ultimate leap of faith to see you can catch the hanging trapeze bar. If you catch it once, we can always move it further away to make it harder.

    High all aboard – A great activity for building stronger teams. Take it in turns for you and your friends to climb to the top of our 20ft pole and once four people are stood on top see if you can complete a series of challenges without losing balance.

    Restrictions:

    • Maximum weight limit: 18 stone (120kg)
    • Minimum age: 5+ years
  • Kayaking

    Take on the lake solo in our Piranha Master Kayaks, or tandem sit on tops which allow individuals to explore their own competency levels. Develop skills as you paddle forwards, backwards and sideways taking on new challenges.

    Restrictions

    • Maximum Weight limit: 20 stone (130kg)
    • Minimum Age:
      • Double Sit on Top Kayak – 5+ years (adult needed for under 8 years)
      • Kayak – 8+ years
  • Mountain Biking

    Avon Tyrrell has a two bike trails within the 65 acre grounds making Mountain Biking an exciting and challenging session.

    We can tailor Mountain Biking sessions accordingly and help you improve techniques, learn new skills, improve your bike control or just enjoy mountain biking under the guidance of our qualified instructors.

    Session content will be led by your requirements, but also by the experience of your whole group. 

  • Paddleboard

    Paddle boarding is a fun and challenging activity at Avon Tyrrell. Enjoy a paddle around the stunning lake and see if you can get up on both feet with support from our instructors.

  • Raft Building

    Can you work together as a team to construct and build a raft that will float on our lake and keep you dry. We will provide you with a number of barrels, planks and ropes to construct your vessel before taking it to the water. Will you end up in the water, or will your team stay dry?

  • Tree Climbing

    Tackle our tree climbing challenge as participants have the freedom to go as high as they want, experiencing new sensations and perspectives. Once you’re in the canopy of the trees, you can enjoy the beautiful views of Avon Tyrrell or challenge yourself to go higher. As well as being able to enjoy a great fun session you can also learn about the trees, estimate their height, or even try tree orienteering!

    Restrictions:

    • Maximum weight limit:18 stone (120kg)
    • Minimum age: 8+ years
  • Tree Top Trail

    Climb into the tree tops and push your limits as you tackle multiple obstacles up high on our Tree Top Trail. Watch where your stepping, keep your balance as you navigate the trees before whizzing through the open air on the zip lines. It’s a must try for anyone looking for a thrilling adventure.

    Restrictions:

    • Maximum weight limit: 18 stone (120kg)
    • Minimum age: 7+ years
  • Zip Wire

    An adrenaline charged experience where you can race against friends as you travel at high speeds over our stunning lake. Climb 30 feet up to your starting platform, but make sure you don’t close your eyes, or you will miss the amazing scenery as you zip from up in the trees, down to water level. It’s an exhilarating experience you will never forget.

    Restrictions:

    • Maximum weight limit: 18 stone (120kg)
    • Minimum age: 7+ years (must be 130cm in height)

Learn Activities

  • Animal Tracks

    Identifying animal tracks and signs can open up an unseen world, a window into the lives of shy and elusive animals. Can you track animals by following their footprints and habitats? Let our instructors show you how.

    Discover more about the natural environment, what lives there and what it leaves behind as you walk the grounds at Avon Tyrrell looking for signs of animals and wildlife.

    Discover deer, rabbits, birds of prey and squirrels and use your identification sheet to record what you find.

  • Art in the Environment

    A hand’s on fun session of creativity using nature as both an inspiration and material resource where you will gain knowledge of the environment and design your own piece of art. 

    Gain confidence in using a wide range of materials an develop understanding of colour, line, texture, shape, pattern and form. 

  • Bushcraft

    Explorers and Adventurers – Learn the essentials to surviving and camping in the wild whilst keeping the protection of the environment in mind. Learn from our skilled instructors how to safely light a fire, boil water and make a cup of tea with our Kelly Kettles or how to build a protective shelter. Bushcraft teaches valuable life skills and shows you how to adapt and survive in the outdoors.

  • Challenge Course

    Think fast, play hard and your team will conquer our Challenge Course. A great team building activity, our Challenge Course has all the basics you would find on a traditional assault course, but our focus is on your ability to work as a team.

    The better you work together the faster it all gets.

  • Discovery Walk

    This is a sensory exploration with a difference! Learn some interesting facts about the Avon Tyrrell grounds. Discover how the environment changes with the seasons and how the wonderful environment has many secrets to show you.

    You will be guided through the grounds at Avon Tyrrell and given as many opportunities as possible to connect and interact with the natural environment. Use your sight, smell, touch, taste and hearing to investigate different aspects of the environment. When you get outside and experience the atmosphere this is when you discover an often unseen world.

    So whether you are making smelly cocktails, leaf crowns, natural postcards or leaf rubbing, tasting plants or having close encounters with trees, we guarantee you will discover something new.

  • Forest Walks

    Gain some insight into the history of Avon Tyrrell and encounter some of the flora and fauna around the New Forest. Our Forest Walk will take you around the centre and off site into the National Park in a fun and interactive way. Exploring vegetation, landscape and wildlife species, you will come face to face with the outdoor environment and discover so much more.

  • Ice Breakers

    Perfect for newly formed groups or those meeting for the first time, this session helps to break down barriers and initiate conversations. Play and connect as you break the ice and start getting to know each other, understand each others strengths and begin truly working together.

  • Low Ropes

    Our Low Ropes course at Avon Tyrrell is a low level balance activity combining problem solving, team coordination and cooperation. Work together as a team to take on each element and navigate you way around the course as you build confidence together on a series of beams, ropes, planks and tyres.

  • Mini Beasts

    Explore the world of mini beasts as you investigate what creatures you can find and in what habitats. Look into adaptations and classifications and discover the bug world from a whole new perspective.

  • Navigation

    What would you do if you were lost and your phone battery died? Would you know how to find your way if you had no signal?

    With the popularity and invention of modern technologies such as the Sat Nav or Google Maps, many people have lost the basic skills of navigation.

    This session will teach you how to understand the key on a map, contours and how to relate it to your physical surroundings as well as learning about a compass and how to use it. This is a great session for anyone that wants to get back to basics and explore the world.

  • Pedalos

    This fun session allows you to power and steer the craft with your feet as you experience the lake from an alternative type of boat – one of our Pedalos. With four people per craft you can take it in turns to compete in challenges and games or just take in the views and relax together.

  • Pioneering

    Ancient Greeks and Romans used Pioneering skills to create various structures and weapons that were capable of firing at their enemies.  You will use ropes and wooden spars and work together to build your giant Ballista. We won’t let you fire weapons at each other but you will fire sponge balls at targets or your opposing team. It takes a lot of precision and aim to hit the bullseye!

  • Pond Dipping

    A fun and simple way to explore an aquatic habitat and observe a diversity of different creatures from leeches to dragonfly nymphs. Equipped with nets, trays and magnifying glasses, you will have the opportunity to explore our freshwater ponds and discover what creatures inhabit them.  Learn about the wide variety of creatures and their adaptations and how to identify them using simple ID keys.

  • Problem Solving

    Stretch your brain to its limits as you solve complex puzzles and tasks of both a physical and mental nature. Use your initiative and work as a team to make decisions and strategies to complete you challenges. Are you a good communicator? Can you work as a team? You will need to, to solve these problems.

  • Shelter Building

    One of the great secrets to survival is creating a shelter that will keep you protected against the elements. Split into teams and go hunting for natural materials to design your structure before we put them to the test. Are they big enough, are they strong enough and will you stay dry and survive our waterproofing test?

  • Trust Walk

    Starting with simple challenges, you will then progress onto our Trust Walk trail where your team will have the opportunity to navigate a series of obstacles, tackling each of the different challenges that lay ahead and each taking it in turns to take a leadership role.

    Trust Walk is a great session for team development. You will need good communication, teamwork and above all else…Trust! Starting with simple challenges, you will then progress onto our Trust Walk trail where your team will have the opportunity to navigate a series of obstacles, tackling each of the different challenges that lay ahead and each taking it in turns to take a leadership role.


Develop Activities

  • Adventure Trail

    Grab your trail map and riddle sheet and use your mind to work your way towards the finish. Solving riddles and clues to find different posts around the site that hold the clues you need to make it all the way.

  • Bottle Rockets

    Bottle Rockets is an exciting activity where you will have a go at designing and making a water rocket to launch as you compete various challenges against other teams. See how high your rocket can soar.

  • Campfire

    What better way to end your day with us than sitting around a campfire. Enjoy the warmth as you toast marshmallows, tell stories and sing songs.

    Either led by one of our experienced staff, or self-guided a campfire allows you the opportunity to relax and spend some quality time together in the great outdoors.

  • Disco

    This activity is all about fun and is a very popular and fitting end to a great stay with us. 

    After a long week, see our enthusiastic instructors turn DJ for the night as they turn up the beats and get the music pumping.

    With a selection of old and new hits to get the party started, we hope there is something for all tastes.

  • Egg Drop

    Take on a range of mini challenges to earn as many points as possible to protect your egg in the final task. You will be rewarded for your efforts with items of scrap materials that you will need to create a protective case with in order to survive the drop…

    Will your egg end up in bits as it’s put through its paces in a battle against gravity?

  • Geocaching

    During your guided session – explore the grounds at Avon Tyrrell using a tablet which will act as your GPS system. Enter each code one by one to be lead around site on a giant hide and seek in search of our hidden containers. Once you have found each container see if you can crack the code from the numbers you have collected to reveal the answer.

  • Night Orienteering

    Adjust your eyesight and explore the centre at night. Evening orienteering will introduce and practice your basic navigation skills of using a compass, following a bearing and using pacing’s which you will then perfect as you make your way around our course under moon light

  • Night Walk

    An opportunity to explore Avon Tyrrell during dusk or darkness and discover the nocturnal creatures that live here. It is a great time to see new things, listen to stories connected with the house and test your night vision with some of our night tricks.  You will be amazed what there is to see.

  • Orienteering

    Orienteering will introduce some practical map reading skills so you can locate various points within the grounds. It is a great way to explore the grounds and discover new things. You will need to interpret your map and communicate well together to make decisions in order to find all points as quickly as possible.

  • Quiz Night

    Get together for some friendly competition after a day of adventure. Show off what you know about various topics and see if your team come out on top.


Self-Guided Activities

  • Art in the Environment

    A hand’s on fun session of creativity using nature as both an inspiration and material resource where you will gain knowledge of the environment and design your own piece of art. 

    Gain confidence in using a wide range of materials an develop understanding of colour, line, texture, shape, pattern and form. 

  • Campfire

    What better way to end your day with us than sitting around a campfire. Enjoy the warmth as you toast marshmallows, tell stories and sing songs.

    Either led by one of our experienced staff, or self-guided a campfire allows you the opportunity to relax and spend some quality time together in the great outdoors.

  • Challenge Course

    Think fast, play hard and your team will conquer our Challenge Course. A great team building activity, our Challenge Course has all the basics you would find on a traditional assault course, but our focus is on your ability to work as a team.

    The better you work together the faster it all gets.

  • Geocaching

    During your guided session – explore the grounds at Avon Tyrrell using a tablet which will act as your GPS system. Enter each code one by one to be lead around site on a giant hide and seek in search of our hidden containers. Once you have found each container see if you can crack the code from the numbers you have collected to reveal the answer.

  • Orienteering

    Orienteering will introduce some practical map reading skills so you can locate various points within the grounds. It is a great way to explore the grounds and discover new things. You will need to interpret your map and communicate well together to make decisions in order to find all points as quickly as possible.


Avon Tyrrell Outdoor Centre

As well as our standard packages and individual activities, we also offer various specialised programmes from scenario days to leadership and environmental programmes.