St Paul's pupils get their first look at Lilidorei play village at The Alnwick Garden

Pupils from St Paul’s RC Primary School in Alnwick were invited along on Wednesday to ‘help’ plant 1,000 fully grown Christmas trees which form part of the landscaping plan.

TV psychologist Emma Kenny, who appears regularly on ITV’s This Morning, also hosted a discussion with the children focused on play, being creative and being outdoors.

She said: “Play is an essential ingredient of a child’s development; it is the very foundation of imagination, curiosity, and divergent thinking.

"When children indulge in unstructured activities and allow their imaginations to run wild, research suggests they become more resilient and able to self-soothe and self-regulate their emotions, contributing to future success in life.

"The last few years created a unique scenario where children were forced into long periods of time online, for both their educational needs and to stay in touch with their friends.

"Sadly, as the dire statistics demonstrate, this has contributed to the current climate of poor mental health in our children. This is why Lilidorei is so important; it will help to heal the fractures caused by Covid.”

Lilidorei, set to open in the spring with the creation of 50 new jobs, is the vision of The Duchess of Northumberland.

She said: “Lilidorei has lived in my imagination for the past 12 years and I am delighted to bring my creative vision to life.

"We want to encourage children away from screens and into this magical giant playground where their imaginations can run wild.

"Our ambition is for Lilidorei to be accessible to all children regardless of their background which is why we have committed to Free Fridays ensuring that every schoolchild has the chance to visit the attraction for free during their primary years’ education and enjoy all that Lilidorei has to offer.

"We cannot wait to open the doors to Lilidorei and release the magic.”

Tomas Lau Knudsen, lead designer and senior project manager at Monstrum, explained: “At Lilidorei you should simply expect to see something magical that would blow your mind and that is out of this world, taller and bigger than anything you have ever experienced before. A world ruled by Christmas.”