25 Fantastic Yorkshire Farms to Visit with Kids
With Yorkshire’s proud farming heritage, it’s not surprising that there are so many family days out that feature farms. We have a fantastic variety of farms that offer an amazing experience for all ages. These farms offer outdoor adventure play, sheep races, petting zoos, and much more!
Top Farms to Visit in Yorkshire
To me, there's no better day out with the kids than a visit to one of many farms and petting zoos here in Yorkshire!
Playdale Farm Park has an indoor barn with farm animals including goats, pigs, sheep, ponies, donkeys, llamas and alpacas and a smaller animal barn with rabbits and guinea pigs and some birds.
Families can also enjoy the large outdoor play area.
Sewerby Hall is in gorgeous grounds near Bridlington. There you can see birds, penguins, mini donkeys and llamas. There is also an outdoor play area as well as activities for kids in the house itself.
Matlock Farm Park has a petting zoo, cattle, llamas and the brand new Enchanted Hamlet which has a play area which has a large sand area, two mud/sand kitchens and a variety of other sit-on diggers and pulleys and buckets.
- Oakmount House, Birchfield Farm, Summerbridge, Harrogate HG3 4JS
- Open daily 10 - 5
- £6.95 per person and under 2’s are free.
Birchfield Ice Cream Farm is a family run business in the picturesque Nidderdale Valley. It has a playground, farm animals and wooded area to explore and build dens in. It also has ‘pick your own’ events throughout the year, a Maize maze and a café and Ice cream parlour onsite. It is £5.95 per person and under 2’s are free.
If you want to get close to animals, Hesketh Farm Park is a fantastic place to visit. There is lots of animal interaction, including a chance to brush guinea pigs and feed calves! If outdoor play is what you're looking for, you can also enjoy the playground and covered indoor play area, as well as cycle go-karts!
Meanwood Valley Urban Farm is a bargain at just £6 for a family of 4. The farm has alpacas, goats, guinea pigs, rabbits, donkeys, and ducks as well as a petting zoo. It also runs a breeding programme for endangered animals like the Yorkshire Whitefaced Woodland sheep. There is also a small playground and some walks on site. To top it off, the café serves locally sourced food for you and your tots to enjoy!
Swithens Farm is just on the edge of Leeds and is a real working farm. Families can find a cafe, a soft play area indoors (an extra entry fee applies), and a small animal petting area. There are outdoor play areas and tractors to ride on as well as a zip wire for older kids.
For 50p you can buy carrots to feed the animals on your way around. Lily LOVED this (I did too!) We went in the morning, so we got to help bottle-feed calves. Swithens felt more like a 'proper' farm so it was less polished than some I've been to, but the animals seemed very well cared for.
Goodall's of Tong is a family-run farm that serves over 25 flavours of their own ice cream and has a small collection of ducks, donkeys, pigs, and sheep for kids to visit at their petting zoo. There is a farm-themed play area, picnic tables and an indoor tea room.
There are over 400 animals to visit at Home Farm including sheep, cattle, pigs, chickens and goats. The cobbled farmyard and historic building offer a lovely atmosphere for a farm day out. While you're there you can also visit Temple Newsam, enjoy the adventure playground, picnic areas, nature trails, café, visitor's centre and shop.
Piglets Adventure Farm Park boasts an animal barn, farmyard trail (with optional quiz), bouncing pillows, crazy farm golf, maize maze, barrel train ride and go-karts. Enough to make Piglets an adventure farm park indeed!
Big Sheep & Little Cow Farm offers a hands-on farm experience for children and adults. They have both indoor and outdoor play areas complete with go-karts and a sandpit. There are also special baby and toddler sessions.
The very highly rated Thornton Hall Farm is a traditional working farm that also has both a country tea room and play barn and is a great farm for kids. For over 6's there is quad bike trekking and there are also many events planned throughout the year.
There are around 100 animals at Monk Park Farm, including chickens, sheep, pigs, rabbits, guinea pigs, fallow deer, red deer, alpacas and even albino wallabies - along with their new babies! Monk Park Farm was given a new lease of life last year when new owners took over and invested in a major programme of improvements.
All the facilities have been refurbished, the large outdoor play and picnic area enhanced, and a huge new sandpit added. There are electric karts, barrel rides, an extended petting barn, a new mini train ride and gigantic air bouncers.
The paths are now more pram and wheelchair friendly and a nice touch is the audio information boards about the animals. On-site café The Hungry Monk offers favourites such as homemade chips and stone-baked pizzas, with vegan and vegetarian options available.
Cannon Hall Farm describes itself as being 'the perfect family day out', and indeed, it does have it all. There's a farm shop, tea room, adventure playground, many animals to visit and lots of special events. There are also exciting things to do during the day, including sheep racing and guinea pig feeding.
Boston Park Farm lets families experience life on a traditional working farm. Children can pet and feed animals or even join in with animal handling sessions. There are climbing frames, swings, slides, a go-kart track, mud kitchens, and a bale pyramid to climb outdoors. Inside you'll find a soft play area with a bouncy castle, a play kitchen and a giant sandpit.
Honeysuckle Farm is a large farm with farm animals and other farming exhibits. During your visit, you can enjoy play forts, animal viewing platforms, a maze, and a pond with fish feeding. You can try their home-made jersey ice cream!
Heel City Farm is a farm and environmental visitor centre in Sheffield where you can meet animals, enjoy the under 8's play area and grab a treat in the cafe.
More Yorkshire Farms & Animal Attractions to Visit
Farms aren’t the only place to spot animals in Yorkshire. You can also pay a visit to a wildlife park, petting farms, bird gardens and more!
Filey Bird Garden and Animal Park, Filey, North Yorkshire
ABC Wildlife Park, Askham Byram, York
Yorkshire Wildlife Park, Doncaster
Sealife, Scarborough
Tropical World, Leeds
Harewood House, Leeds
Wildlife World at Lotherton Hall, Leeds
Tropical Butterfly House, Sheffield
Beacon Hill Ice Cream Farm, Near Whitby
Flamingo Land, Malton
More Ideas for Outdoor Fun
There are plenty of outdoor activities in Yorkshire to get the family out and about, from walking and swimming to some fantastic family parks!
If you’ve been to any of these animal farms in Yorkshire, let us know how you got on in the comments below. Any tips you might have for visiting with tots are always appreciated too!
Meanwood Valley Urban Farm is open 10.00am to 4.00pm
Thank you!
Canon Hall Farm is absolutely my favourite 🙂
Personally I find Creepy Crawlies very expensive.
Murton is also worth a visit
X
Thanks, I’ve not heard about Murton! We haven’t been to Cannon Hall since they added the giant indoor play area – it looks really good!
Went to Swithens Farm today. Had a great time and loved feeding the animals! http://www.swithensfarm.co.uk
Cannon hall brill but expensive for a family
Whirlow Hall Farm is great – especially on weekend when there are free farm tours (donations welcome), farm shop and butchery, cafe, kids parties, large play area. Lots to do and see in a beautiful part of the world.
Thank you for the suggestion Kelvin. It sounds great!
OMG these animals are cute!