Originally a dairy farm, Tapnell has become the Isle of Wight’s leading eco-tourism business where sustainability is at the heart of everything they do. It’s been top of our list of family-friendly places to visit for a while and we finally managed it last week. Tapnell Farm is on the west side of the island, near Yarmouth. They are open all year and it’s a fun place to visit whatever the weather. We love a maize maze and couldn’t wait to walk through the sunflower meadow and maize maze at Tapnell Farm.

Sunflower Meadow and Maize Maze at Tapnell Farm

We try to visit a sunflower meadow with the kids and this year we discovered there was one at Tapnell Farm. We are always on the lookout for fun activities to do with the kids and thought we would visit on our recent camping trip at Thorness Bay.

A maize maze is simply a cereal plant that yields large grains (corn or sweetcorn) set in rows on a cob. It is planted in rows and grows to around 2 metres in height, making it the perfect crop to grow as a maze for people to explore. We previously visited the maize maze at Dart’s Farm and loved it.

The maize maze cost £5 per person and we were able to take our dog. The children were given a Maze card and lookout for the 9 different signs around the maze. We were told a walk around the maze would take about 20 minutes, or up to 45 minutes to find all 9 maze card signs. We were also given a cheat map – just in case!

It was fun to walk though the huge Maize Maze. The maize was really tall in places (about 2 metres in height) which meant you couldn’t see over the top. My daughter loved running around looking for the Maze signs and was able to find all 9 of them. When you get to the middle of the Maze you can take in the stunning views across the countryside and see the sea!

It was quite windy on the day of our visit and we loved listening to the wind whistling through the maize. You can also ‘pick your own’ sunflowers from the Sunflower Meadow or choose freshly cut sunflowers to take away. Unfortunately the sunflowers were over by the time we visited but we still cut a head off a huge sunflower so we could harvest our own sunflower seeds for next year. Fingers crossed we will be able to grow such gigantic sunflowers ourselves!

Tapnell Park Farm was originally a dairy farm but now hosts the Isle of Wight Aqua Park, archery and axe throwing, clay pigeon shooting, Isle of Wight football golf, the seasonal Sunflower Meadow and Maize Maze and much more.

Tapnell Park Farm, Newport Road, Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, PO41 0YJ