Farm parks are always a great option when you’re looking for somewhere to go with the kids on a weekend or during the school holidays. With plenty of outdoor space, cute animals to meet, play equipment to climb and swing on, there’s more than enough to keep the whole family entertained. Most places offer additional activities such as animal feeding, egg collecting, and pony grooming so it’s also a great way to teach the kids about life on a farm.
Obviously, there are countless open farms in and around Yorkshire, but we wanted to know which ones offer the best day out for kids. Here, are some of are favourite farm parks in Yorkshire…
Cannon Hall Farm
Cawthorne, Barnsley, South Yorkshire S75 4AT
Cannon Hall Farm is about 5 miles west of Barnsley and right next to Cannon Hall Museum. For hundreds of years, the farm provided high-quality food for the residents and staff of the Cannon Hall estate, but it has only been open to the public since 1989. As well as their super cute sheep, cows, pigs, pygmy goats, llamas and Shetland ponies you’ll also find a lovely farm shop, an excellent outdoor adventure playground and one of the biggest and best indoor play areas in the North of England. Fun on the farm doesn’t stop at Cannon Hall when the rain comes down. Their indoor play area – The Hungry Llama – has not one, but NINE fun slides. All in all, it’s a great day out for the whole family with plenty of activities that will enable the kids to burn off some excess energy!
The admission price for both adults and children is £7.95 on weekdays and £9.95 at weekends. A family ticket for four people will cost you just £30 on a weekday and £38 at weekends. Children under the age of two can enter for free.
Hesketh Farm Park
Bolton Abbey, Skipton, North Yorkshire BD23 6HA
Hesketh Farm Park is just a mile from picturesque Bolton Abbey and 5 miles from Skipton. Here, you’ll find a lovely variety of farmyard activities such as animal feeding, egg collecting, and pony brushing, as well as indoor and outdoor play areas. They have great play equipment for the kids like climbing frames, slides, mini tractors, and even a sandpit. If you want to bring a picnic, there are picnic tables both inside and out and there’s plenty of space to lay down a blanket. If you’d rather purchase food on-site, then their cafe serves a selection of sandwiches, light bites, homemade cakes, and ice-cream.
At Hesketh Farm Park, admission costs £6 for adults, £6.50 for children (over 2) and £3.50 for children under 2. Babies under 12 months can enter free of charge.
Thornton Hall Country Park
Thornton-in-Craven, near Skipton, North Yorkshire, BD23 3TS
Another one in close proximity to Skipton is Thornton Hall Country Park. This place has no shortage of things to do. There’s an adventure playground, indoor rope swings, a caterpillar ride, quad biking, a giant indoor slide, and a hay maze. Animal wise, you’ll find the usual suspects like sheep, cows, and goats as well as llamas, ponies and small mammals. They offer animal feeding opportunities at various times throughout the day and run regular events, such as “mini farmers”, “mini beasts” and “messy play” which attract lots of loyal locals.
Entry to Thornton Hall Country Park is £7 for children, £6.50 for adults, £6 for seniors and £3.50 for under 2’s. Babies under 1 can enter free. Prices for extra activities like pony rides, the caterpillar ride, quad biking, and the 25-minute farm safari all vary.
Big Sheep Little Cow Farm
Bedale, North Yorkshire, DL8 1AW
The Big Sheep Little Cow Farm near Bedale is a family-friendly attraction with animal enclosures, play barn, and on-site cafe facilities. They offer a great interactive guided tour of the farm which allows you and the little ones to gets hands-on with the animals. Feed, hold and learn all about the various animals in residence on Big Sheep and Little Cow Farm before burning off some energy in their excellent play barn.
For the Farm Tour with play barn entry, it costs £8.50 for adults, £8.50 for children and concessions are £8. Family tickets are available and children under the age of 1 can enter for free.
Piglets Adventure Farm Park
Towthorpe Grange, Towthorpe Moor Lane, York, YO32 9ST
Piglets Adventure Farm Park is just 15 minutes from the centre of York. The fun here can easily last for the whole day as there’s much to see and do including a Fairy Trail, pedal go-karts, Bouncing Pillows, the Olym-Pig Assault Course, Kidbine Tractor and Crazy Golf. They have lots of animals to see up close but the star of the attraction has to be the Piglet Maternity Ward, where you’ll find lots of expectant mothers and brand new baby piglets. Unbelievably cute!
Ticket prices vary depending on the time of year and the day of the week. If you’re visiting on a weekend, you can expect to pay £9.95 for children and £8.95 for adults. Children under 1 get free admission.
Playdale Farm Park
Carr Lane, Cayton, Scarborough YO11 3AT
Playdale Farm Park near Scarborough is an award-winning farm park with an animal barn, interactive paddocks, huge indoor play area, soft play area, tractor zone, and adventure trail. As well as all their indoor activities, there’s a super playground area outside with tunnel slides, zip wires, and pedal go-kart track. They’ve got all kinds of wonderful animals for the kids to see and feed such as alpacas, llamas, goats, sheep, ponies, donkeys, and chinchillas. The on-site cafe serves both hot and cold food and during the summer months, they have a kiosk where you can purchase snacks and drinks.
Admission charges at Playdale Farm Park are £7.75 for adults, £7.25 for children and £6.75 for senior citizens. Children under 2 enter for free.
Monk Park Farm
Green Lane, Bagby, Thirsk YO7 2AG
Monk Park Farm near Thirsk is a wonderful family attraction that has hundreds of cute animals for you to meet and lots of fun farm activities for you to enjoy. Feed calves and lambs, stroke guinea pigs and take a ride through the fields for encounters with deer, alpacas, and even wallabies! In addition to their great barrel ride, you’ll also find zip wires, go-karts, pedal tractors and lots of swings and slides. They also have a great little cafe and a gift shop so you can purchase souvenirs before you leave.
To enter Monk Park Farm, it costs £7.50 for adults, £6.50 for children, £6.50 for senior citizens and students. Children under 2 go free.
Swithens Farm
Swithen’s Lane, Rothwell, Leeds LS26 0BT
Swithens Farm is a family-run working farm with a farm shop and butchers shop, not far from Leeds. They have a large range of animals for you to see and interact with including pigs, sheep, goats, cows, chickens, donkeys, llamas, alpacas, emu, turtles, and guinea pigs. They even have meerkats which are obviously a firm favourite with visitors of all ages. Once you’ve seen all the animals, there’s a great indoor play area for kids from toddler age up to the age of 10. Inside the play barn, you’ll find all sorts of colourful play equipment, ball pools and soft play fun for toddlers.
Entrance to the Play Barn is charged at £3 on Saturday, Sunday and school holidays, £2 Tuesday to Friday term time. Farm admission is £4 per person and children 2 or under go free
READ MORE FROM THE YORKSHIRE PRESS:
