Illustrated Teddy Bear Hunt activity map showing Pencarrow House and Gardens — Teddy Bear Hunt Map Design An illustrated map guides families around the estate while the numbered Teddy Bear Hunt turns the visit into an interactive activity.

Illustrated Family Trail Design for Pencarrow House and Gardens

Turning a walk through the gardens into an activity

Pencarrow House and Gardens is a family-friendly visitor attraction near Wadebridge in Cornwall. As part of our wider work for the estate, we have designed illustrated family trails that give younger visitors something to discover as they explore the grounds.

The Teddy Bear Hunt combines a hand-drawn map with illustrated characters, clues and numbered spaces to complete along the way. The aim is to make the activity enjoyable in its own right without losing sight of its practical purpose: helping families find their way around the estate and encouraging children to look more closely at their surroundings.

Illustration, mapping and print working together

The Teddy Bear Hunt develops an idea we had explored with an earlier Pencarrow garden trail. For that piece, letters were hidden among the illustrations throughout the map, turning a walk through the gardens into a simple puzzle for children to complete as they went.

That original trail was produced as a four-page A5 leaflet, printed in full colour on uncoated stock. The softer finish suited the natural setting and, importantly for an activity piece, meant children could write on it easily.

Across both trails, the challenge is to balance illustration and playfulness with clear information. Maps still need to be easy to follow, activities need to make sense as visitors move around the grounds, and the finished piece needs to feel part of Pencarrow’s wider visual identity.