A perfect spring day calls for a spring like visit, which must of course include lambs! We’ve visited Bucklebury Farm Park several times before and always enjoyed our visit so decided to venture out to see their newborn animals.
The farm park has a variety of farmyard animals, several outdoor play areas and a large deer park. Our arrival coincided with one of the lamb bottle feeding sessions so we headed straight over to feed the lambs. The park takes in orphan lambs from local farms, and offers several feeding opportunities each day. In addition to the lambs there were also some very young piglets and an incredibly cute black and white kid goat.
After the lambs, my son had some energy to burn off (as usual) so our next stop was the obstacle course. There’s lots to climb over and the kids can race each other. At the top there’s also a den building area which gets used for birthday parties and bushcraft courses.
The pedal go-karts are always very popular with the older children. Later in the season there is usually a staff member on hand to ensure everyone gets a fair turn. However it was quiet whilst we were there so the kids spent quite a while on them. There are also some smaller tricycles for toddlers.
We first came across jumping pillows when we took our kids on a trip to New Zealand. Every campsite would have a jumping pillow as part of its play area so we have fond memories of these. When you’ve finished on the jumping pillow (or bounce mat as they call it) there’s a long zip wire nearby for more fun.
We had been disappointed on arrival to find that the trailer rides to see and feed the deer weren’t running due to field conditions. This is usually one of the highlights and I thought the park could have made this clear on their website or Twitter feed so we’d have known before arrival. This time round we had to content ourselves with viewing the deer from afar.
We’d been given a free bag of animal food to make up for the lack of tractor rides (although a discount on admission would have been preferred). Most of the animals weren’t interested as I think they’d had a lot of extra food already but the donkeys and goats were happy to take advantage. I saw a couple of goats devouring the paper bags as well as the food!
It’s only when I visit places like this that I realise how much our two have grown. This was definitely noticeable in the pat-a-pet session when all the others were toddlers. You’re never too old to cuddle a guinea pig though.
Throughout the day we had a couple of visits to the indoor slides. My son really enjoyed the highest drop slide (which big sister wouldn’t go on) and they both had fun racing against each other on the yellow slide.
Bucklebury Farm Park has a cafe which is open to both visitors and passers by. I couldn’t fault our food but there were some strangely expensive options, particularly jacket potatoes for £8.50! I didn’t see anyone eating them so cannot confirm if they were gold plated. Fortunately there are plenty of picnic tables around the park too.
More info:
- A family ticket for two adults and two children costs £30. Children under 2 are free. Full details on the Bucklebury Farm website.
- The website states it’s a great day out whatever the weather but you’d definitely miss out on a lot of the activities if it was pouring with rain. I would only visit on dry(ish) days.
- Bucklebury Farm Park primarily caters to the younger visitor with lots to do for toddlers. Whilst we had an enjoyable day I think my eldest is outgrowing this kind of attraction, although she’d be the first to deny this!
So much fun in the farm. My girls loves visiting farms. I am sure kids had loads of fun. 🙂
Thank you, yes they did.
That looks like a fun day out!
Thanks Rosie, it was!
My toddler would love to see this! Its a bit pricey for our budget tho.
#Letkidsbekids
Thanks Merlinda. I think that when all attractions are operating it’s good value as you can easily spend the whole day there. However I did feel a little short changed on our recent visit with the lack of deer feeding and trailer rides!
Bucklebury farm is just up the road from us. We visited when my girls were babies and my son loved the play area and the bouncing pillow. I must take them back again now they’re older. Looks like you all had fun.
Thanks for sharing #LetKidsBeKids
Thanks Karen. I do think it’s perfect for pre-schoolers, lots to do for them.
Looks like a great day out and you are never too old for a farm visit 😉
#letkidsbekids
Yes, there’s a certain appeal about small cuddly things isn’t there!
Looks like a fun day out. Anything with animals to pet and feed goes down well with my lot 🙂 #LetKidsBeKids
Thanks Sara. I fear the day when my kids grow out of these visits!
Ah we love Bucklebury too! I took my toddler and baby recently and blogged about it too 🙂
Thanks Amy – I think we both saw the same cute goat kid, but you got to hold it!
Wow great photos. So much fun to be had at farms. I can’t wait until my two are older and we can go! This place sounds great. Thanks for sharing. #PoCoLo
Thanks Jenny, don’t wait too long, I felt mine were getting to be too old!
I’d heard of this farm but never been! It looks fabulous 🙂 Thank you for sharing with PoCoLo xx
Thanks Vicky, there are a few similar places near us but this is the one our kids like the most.
That looks like a wonderful day out x
Thanks Kim x
Really glad I’ve read this. It’s been on my list of places to go for some time #CountryKids
Thanks Mary, glad it was helpful.
Looks like you had a fab time out, loving the giant jumping pillow #CountryKids
Thanks Chantelle. I’m surprised there aren’t more of them in playgrounds generally, they’re good fun.
It looks very like Coombe Mill on the farm there with many of the same attractions, we even have a rejected lamb being bottle fed on our tractor rides. I must say at £30 each perhaps we should open to the public too! Still if you have a full day of fun I guess it is not so bad and I do love those pillow trampolines. Thank you for sharing your day on country Kids.
I’m pretty sure you could open as a farm park too, maybe that should be your next venture….. The £30 is for a family ticket, I definitely wouldn’t have visited if it was £30 each!
We went a while ago when N was about 18 months old with our online mum friends as a meet up. It was a lovely day so we got to be outside. The indoor play isn’t really suitable for the younger children.
Our disappointment was the high chair provision which was shocking. We all took picnics and used the indoor tables which is a great idea, but there were only 2 high chairs in the whole place at the time (the restaurant area and the bench picnicking area. Bad for a child targetted place.
Thanks Emma, as you say, that does sound like they need some more highchairs! The slides indoors are probably for about 4+ although I did see a few parents taking very young kids down with them on the yellow slide. I have a feeling that’s because the parents wanted a go!
Oh! Aren’t lambs just the epitome of spring time! Love this post… Thanks so much for sharing with #SavouringtheSeason
Thanks Claire, yes they are, would love a pet one!