A Viking Adventure with How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming

Earlier this month we were very lucky to be invited to the Dreamwork How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming VIP screening event in London, something we were all very excited about! How to Train Your Dragon is a real favourite of ours, set on the island of Berk and featuring Hiccup the viking and his tribe and of course, the dragons! So when we arrived at the event and the girls were handed their Viking costumes to dress in, it felt as though we had landed right in the middle of one of our favourite films!

Everywhere we turned there was something exciting to look at, from Viking weaponry to twinkly fir trees, as well as a camp fire for the Vikings to sit around and really feel as though they had stepped back in time. Dreamwork’s had literally thought of everything and the looks on each of the children’s faces were just magical the entire day!

When all of the children had arrived and were dressed in their costumes we were split into three different tribes and allocated a tribe leader. Our tribe leader was absolutely lovely and so good with the children, especially Eva who takes some time to come out of her shell.

Once we had decided on a name for our tribe we were set the first of three challenges, the first being Astrid’s Transformation Challenge where each of the children were offered the chance to have Viking face paint, hair braiding and lots of glitter!

Both of the girls jumped at the chance to have their faces painted and loved choosing the colours for their tribal markings. “Now we’ll be ready to battle!” Megan told me, taking her role as a Viking very seriously!

Next up was glitter hair braids and whilst Eva opted for two very sparkly plaits in her hair, Megan was over the moon to have lots of smaller plaits. “Why can’t I have my hair like this every day for school?” she asked me.

With their hair and face paint done it was time for our second challenge, this time to design and paint their very own shield! The setting for the painting was just beautiful, with an authentic wooden table surrounded by snowy fir trees, twinkling lights and fur throws, and as the girls ran in to sit down I thought they might burst with happiness right there and then.

As they set about designing their shield it was lovely to see how engrossed each of them was in their design, only raising their heads to shout “Mummy, look at this!” with their little faces beaming with pride.

I loved that our Viking leader stayed in character throughout, really engaging with the children during each activity, talking to them about Viking life and making them feel as though they were real Vikings for the day. It was lovely to hear them chatting and laughing together and soaking up every bit of the experience, several times I looked over and got a real lump in my throat!

  Once the shields were complete it was time for our third activity to crack the Viking code to spell out a secret message. The children had to match up the Viking symbols to the correlating letters and solve the riddle.

The girls loved this activity and whilst Eva insisted on doing it all by herself, fiercely indecently as always, Megan wanted me to help her. It felt very surreal to be sitting around the camp fire solving a Viking riddle, with the girls dressed as Vikings from head to toe,  but it was one of those lovely moments I knew we would never forget and I felt incredibly grateful, and so very lucky, to be making these memories with my children.

After cracking the code the children were all gathered around the fire pit where every child was surprised with two giant sacks filled with How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming toys and at this point I definitely couldn’t swallow that lump in my throat for any longer. It was like Christmas come early as the children dived into their goodie bags and the whole room filled with shrieks of excitement and the sound of boxes being torn open and toys being played with.

Eva was over the moon to discover the How to Train Your Dragon Hiccup and Toothless Playmobil playset and a story book too, “I’m going to share these with Harry” she whispered to me and I could have cried all over again at her kindness.

Megan’s favourite toy was her giant Light Fury Plush Toy which made dragon noises when you pushed its tummy. From the moment she opened it up it didn’t leave her arms and later that night as she fell asleep after a long journey home, she was still holding it tight. You can also get the Toothless Plush toy too which Eva got and the girls have loved acting out their favourite scenes from the movies ever since.

But the most exciting toy for both of the girls was the Hatching Toothless, an amazing interactive toy that hatches to real your very own baby dragon Toothless! With light-up eyes, movements and interactive sounds, you can teach him to fly and plasma blast, feed him, play games with him, and fall in love with his adorable purring sounds. I think this is going to be a real best seller this Christmas, I know Eva, Megan and Harry haven’t put him down since he came home!

Finally, after all of the excitement of the day we were taken downstairs to our very own private screening of How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming where popcorn, cupcakes and juice awaited us. The girls couldn’t believe that they were able to drink out of “real viking mugs” and even take them home afterwards, “I’m never drinking from a normal glass again!” Megan told me.

Inside our private cinema room every family had a gorgeous faux fur throw to snuggle up under and get nice and cosy ready for the screening and, as everyone settled down ready to watch How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming you could really sense the anticipation.

How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming is quite simply amazing, taking us on the most amazing adventure, causing the children to laugh out loud and us parents get a little misty eyed, and when it finished the room broke out into applause. How to Train Your Dragon never fails to disappoint, encapsulating everything you want from a feel good movie and leaving you feeling nothing but warm and fuzzy inside. It was the perfect way to end our day, no doubt about it.

We had the most amazing day at the How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming event and it’s certainly something we will remember for always. I know I’ve said it before but these are real pinch-me moments for us doing something we never dared to dream would be possible and I will never take that for granted. As we left the event, weighed down with our shields and goodie bags, draped in our fur throw (which came in very useful when the girls fell asleep on the train home), I think all of us knew how lucky we were and the smiles on the children’s faces spoke volumes. Thank you Dreamwork’s for making their dreams come true!

You can find all of the How to Train Your Dragon toys at The Entertainer’s Dragon Store and How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming is available now on DVD and blue ray from Amazon. 

 

** We were invited to this event in exchange for coverage and have been compensated for our time **