Children’s Activities for Royal Ascot 2022

Giddy up, it’s Royal Ascot! One of Britain’s most prestigious horse races, Royal Ascot sees some of the world’s finest race horses compete for big cash prizes. Keep your little horse lover occupied with our fun activities to celebrate Royal Ascot 2022!

Race Your CollectA Toy Horses

Photo by AV PHOTOGRAPHY

Want to win your horse toy race? Pick your favourite CollectA horse contender! Some very good racehorse breeds include…

Thoroughbred Mare Chestnut

Thoroughbred horses are one of the most popular racing horses as they are “hot-blooded”, renowned for their agility, speed and spirit. Thoroughbreds are known for being distance runners or sprinters. Distance runners are smaller and thinner whereas sprinters are well muscled.

Appaloosa Stallion

Appaloosas are an American horse breed that are used for middle-distance racing, particularly for distances between 350 yards (320 m) and 0.5 miles (0.8 km). They have a distinctive spotted coat that make it stand out from other breeds. They are also used for eventing and show jumping.

Arabian Mare

Arabian horses come from the Arabian Peninsula and are one of the planet’s most recognisable horse breeds. An extremely versatile breed, it is great for endurance riding. Arabian horses have high intelligence as well as good stamina and beauty. Their gentle nature makes them ideal for training.

Have a Hobby Horse Furlong Race

What’s a horse race without a horse? Grab your Hobby Horse from the “stable” and get ready to race. Royal Ascot measures the length of their races in furlongs.

A furlong is the distance of measurement used to work out how long races are and there are eight furlongs in a mile; one furlong is around 200 metres.

Before you begin racing, find a safe space to run, measure out 20 metres, and see how quickly you can run it with your hobby horse. The first person to cross the finish line is the winner!

If you want to ride your hobby horse like a pro, you can get someone to write down your time and multiply it by ten to compare the result to some of Royal Ascot’s famous racehorses below!

Make a Top Hat

Photo by Andy Newton on Unsplash

Crafty young gentlemen can make their top hats for Royal Ascot. You will need…

• String
• A large piece of paper
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Cardboard
• Sellotape
• Poster board

Step 1

To work out how big to make the hat, wrap a string around your child’s head (about an inch above their eyebrows). Then, form the string into an oval and trace it on the piece of paper.

Step 2

Using a ruler as a guide, measure two inches from the first oval and make little marks. Once connected, the mark makes a larger outer oval.

Step 3

Fold the paper through the centre of the long length of the ovals. Cut away the area outside the larger oval and the area inside the smaller oval.

Next, place the oval doughnut shape onto your little one’s head to see how the brim of the hat fits. If it's a little snug, you can trim a bit off the inside of the doughnut shape. Likewise, if the brim is super loose it can be adjusted.

Step 4

Position the paper template you’ve just cut out and carefully position it onto the poster board. Ensure the top of the hat is an inch larger than the inside of the brim. If your child has a larger head or wants a tall hat, the second brim may not fit on the poster board. If so, cut out the pieces.

Step 5

Next, roll the crown piece into a cylinder. Don’t forget to insert it into the brim to check if the size needs adjusting. Glue the seams together and hold them in place with either staples or a quick-drying glue. Then, trim the top and bottom edges so they are even, making ½ inch notches along the top and bottom edges.

Step 6

When the hat has dried, fold out the notches on the brim end of the crown cylinder. Then slip the hat brim over it. Glue the inside brim and fold notches into the glue. Turn the hat over, then fold in the notches along the top end of the crown cylinder. Hold in place with a light book. Voila, you have a top hat!

Take Your (Toy) Pony to Royal Ascot

If you happen to be heading to Ascot for a Family Day, let your little one take along one of their Lottie Doll pony companions. The Lottie Pony Pal Adventure Set features Lottie dressed in a tweed riding outfit as well as her Welsh pony, Shelby. Lottie and Shelby are training to win a Silver Cup at their next horse show. Pony Pals Lottie features Sophia in her riding gear and Seren, the Welsh mountain pony.