Farms near Liverpool with kids: three we’ve actually visited

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If you’re looking for farms and farm parks to visit with kids near Liverpool, there are some good options across Merseyside and Lancashire. Some are full day adventure farms with packed timetables, and others are small community farms where you get close to the animals without the crowds or high prices.

We’ve visited all of the farms below as a Liverpool family. We come at different times of the year, too. All the detail here comes from real visits.

If you’re looking for more days out in the North West, head over to our UK travel guide page for more ideas.

Quick comparison guide

Here’s a quick comparison of the best farms near Liverpool for families.

Farm

Location

Best for

Pram friendly

Price range

Farmer Ted’s

Ormskirk

Full day out with play areas and shows

Yes

Higher

Acorn Farm

Kirkby

Budget friendly petting farm

Mostly

Cheap

Windmill Farm

Burscough

Animal encounters and soft play

Mostly

Good value

Croxteth Park Farm

Liverpool

City farm with rare breeds

Yes

Cheap

Farmer Ted’s Adventure Farm – Ormskirk / Lancashire

Farmer Teds, Ormskirk

Farmer Ted’s is the biggest farm near Liverpool and is one of the best days out in the North West for families with young children. It’s just 10 minutes from where I live, and so we’ve been a number of times across different ages, and the thing that keeps bringing us back is the timetable. There is something happening nearly every hour of the day.

In the summer holidays, it steps up a gear. Sheep racing is on the schedule, which is actually so much fun to watch. Then the dinosaurs come out, which are life-size roaming characters that are equal parts terrifying and hilarious for small children. There was even a foam party disco on one visit, which I wish I’d have known about before putting nice clothes on our daughter, but she had fun.

The sandpit is worth a specific mention. It’s a large covered area with sit-on tracker-style machines that children can use to scoop and move sand, and it kept our daughter occupied for ages, and much longer than most of the more obvious attractions.

It’s one of the more expensive farms in the local area, but the activity schedule definitely justifies it. Plus, you get a full programme which you can plan your day around, so you get a good value day out.

Farmer Ted’s also does a Christmas experience, which we’ve covered separately – the full guide is here. In my opinion, it’s the nicest Grotto we have been to in Liverpool.

Expand below for more detailed visitor information.

Animals you can see

Farmer Ted’s has a good range of traditional farm animals, including sheep and lambs, goats, pigs, donkeys and ponies, chickens, and rabbits. There are scheduled animal encounters throughout the day, including sheep racing, pony grooming sessions, ferret meets, and barn animal encounters. It’s worth picking up the day’s timetable when you arrive and working out what you want to see and do.

Play areas and activities

This is where Farmer Ted’s earns its price. As well as the animals, there’s an adventure maze, indoor and outdoor play areas, and an ED Shed with educational experiences. There’s also a cinema on site, which is useful on a wet day. Our daughter loves the giant sandpit with sit-on digger machine, which is great for smaller children; mine tend to play here for longer than anything else. Farmer Ted’s has also partnered with Aardman to create a Shaun the Sheep Adventure on site, which is a nice addition if you have Shaun fans in tow. The diggers and pedal tractors require £1 coins, so I’d bring some along.

Most activities are included in the admission price, which is worth knowing going in, as it’s one of the reasons the price feels more justified once you’re in there.

Prams and accessibility

The farm is well set up for prams with good pathways between most areas. It’s mainly an outdoor attraction which can be cold and windy even on a good day, so I’d pack layers whatever the weather forecast.

Food and facilities

There’s a café on site serving hot food, snacks and drinks, with food made from locally produced ingredients. Facilities include toilets, baby changing, and picnic areas.

Prices and booking

Prices vary by season and during special events. Season passes are available for unlimited visits. Check the Farmer Ted’s website for current prices and to book in advance.

Acorn Farm – Kirkby / Knowsley

Feeding animals at Acorn Farm, Kirkby

Acorn Farm is as different from Farmer Ted’s as it is possible to get. This is a small, charity-run farm in Kirkby where the focus is all on the animals. There’s no activity timetable or parties. It’s a small, friendly farm where children can get close to animals such as goats, sheep, donkeys, rabbits, and guinea pigs. Plus, you can buy feed to give them.

We noticed on our visit that a number of the staff have additional needs, which gives it a real community feel. It’s clearly more than just a farm.

We visited in spring and got lucky, as Lambs had been born just two days before we arrived. Because they were born during the day, visitors had actually been able to watch the birth. By the time we got there, the lambs were tiny and still being fussed over. The animals were all out in the fields and lively and happy, too.

At £4 for adults and £3 for children, it’s also one of the cheapest farms near Liverpool.

Expand below for more detailed visitor information.

Animals you can see

The animal list at Acorn Farm is longer than you might expect for a small farm. As well as sheep, goats, pigs, donkeys, rabbits, and guinea pigs, there are also meerkats, which we really enjoyed watching. Also, it’s a working farm, meaning there’s often baby animals to see, including lambs, goat kids, piglets, and chicks, and so spring is particularly good for this, as our visit proved.

You can buy animal feed on arrival to feed many of the animals directly, which younger children tend to love.

Play areas and activities

There are two outdoor play areas on site, as well as a woodland walk, which makes it easy to fill a couple of hours. On weekends and school holidays, small animal petting sessions run at £2 per person, and there are horse rides at £3 per person.

Prams and accessibility

The farm is mostly flat and easily manageable with a pram. Everything is close together which works well with younger children who tire quickly.

Food and facilities

The on-site café serves daily specials, homemade meals, snacks, and drinks. There’s also a farm shop selling home-produced free-range meat, eggs, and goat’s milk ice cream, which is worth a look on the way out. Facilities include toilets, baby changing and hand washing stations around the animal areas.

Prices and booking

Open seven days a week, 10am to 4pm. Adults £4, children £3, babies under one free. No pre-booking needed. Check Acorn Farm’s website for any seasonal events.

  • Petting times at Acorn Farm, Kirkby
  • Acorn Farm,Kirkby, Petting area
  • Feeding animals at Acorn Farm, Kirkby
  • A goat at Acorn Farm Kirkby
  • Play area at Acorn farm, Kirkby
  • New lambs at Acorn Farm, Kirkby
  • Meercat at Acorn farm Kirkby

Windmill Animal Farm – Burscough / Lancashire

Goat at Windmill Farm, Burscough

Windmill Animal Farm is bigger than Acorn Farm and has more going on, but it doesn’t have the full-day timetable of Farmer Ted’s. But it does have a genuinely good mix of animals and a train ride that runs on a schedule. It also has one of the best soft play options near Liverpool inside, that is much larger than it looks from the outside.

We visited with a friend and her two year old, and my youngest, who slept through most of it. But the highlight for my friend’s son was the mini tractors. The bottle feeding was another highlight. He got to feed the lambs, which he has been talking about since.

The indoor soft play is fantastic and worth the visit alone. It’s a good size with a separate toddler area, so younger children aren’t competing with bigger kids for space.

The train runs at set times. It’s at 11 am, 1 pm, and 3 pm, and so it’s worth checking when you arrive and working your day around it if that’s something your child will want to do.

Expand below for more detailed visitor information.

Animals encounters

Windmill has a lot of variety when it comes to the animals. As well as traditional farm animals, such as sheep, cows, pigs, and chickens, there are also alpacas, wallabies, and meerkats, and rare breeds including the Valais Blacknose sheep. Lambs are available to bottle feed, depending on the time of year, which was the highlight of our visit for the little ones.

The Critters2You reptile experience runs daily and gives children the chance to hold some of the reptiles. There are bearded dragons, geckos, pythons, and a Yemen chameleon, which is quite different from what you’d expect at a farm, but definitely a highlight for my daughter, and something I’d recommend factoring into your day.

Play areas and activities

There are three play areas in total. The indoor soft play barn is larger than it looks from the outside. It has a ball pool, climbing frame, rope bridge, and a separate under-fours area, which means younger children aren’t competing for space with bigger kids. The two outdoor play areas include pedal tractors, roller racers, and go-karts.

The miniature train runs on the hour at weekends and school holidays and crosses the farm to reach the second outdoor play area by the lake. So it’s a practical way to get around as much as it is an activity in itself. I’d check the train times when you arrive and build your day around them.

Prams and accessibility

Most areas are pram friendly. Some of the outdoor animal paths are stony or grassy which can be harder going with a buggy, but the main areas are manageable.

Food and facilities

There’s a café on site serving homemade and locally sourced food. There’s 22 flavours of ice cream which tends to be a significant draw at the end of the visit. You’re also welcome to bring your own picnic and eat inside or outside. Facilities include toilets, baby changing and a craft and gift shop.

Prices and booking

Children (1-15): £15.95. Adults: £14.95. Under ones free. Booking in advance via the website is essential. Check Windmill Farm’s website for availability and current prices.

  • Petting animals in Windmill Farm, Burscough
  • Play area tractors in Windmill Farm, Burscough
  • Tortoise at Windmill Farm, Burscough
  • Train ride at Windmill Farm, Burscough
  • Windmill Farm, Burscough
  • Play area at Windmill Farm, Burscough
  • Quad bikes at Windmill Farm, Burscough
  • Goat at Windmill Farm, Burscough

Croxteth Park Farm – Liverpool

Croxteth Park Farm is right at the heart of Liverpool, and so many locals don’t realise quite how good it is. It sits within the grounds of Croxteth Hall and Country Park, which means you can make the day go further if you want to, though we didn’t on our visit. It’s also one of the most affordable things to do in Liverpool with kids, and one of the best kept secrets in the city.

We went on a Sunday, and it wasn’t busy at all. We paid around £20 for the three of us, plus the baby, which included a bucket of chopped vegetables to feed the animals, which is great value for a family day out.

The animal list there is pretty impressive. They have highland cows, alpacas, pygmy goats, regular goats, sheep, pigs, cows, rabbits, and guinea pigs. You buy your feed bucket on arrival and then work your way around the enclosures. Our eldest absolutely loved feeding the animals directly to the animals herself by hand.

The petting area for small animals, which has rabbits and guinea pigs, is a separate station and works well for younger children who want to get closer rather than just feed through a fence.

Inside, there’s a play barn with bouncy castles and ball pits, which is much more compact than the soft play at Windmill but fine for younger children. There are also picnic benches outside if you’d rather bring your own food, as well as two eating options on site. There’s a barn snacks area with a proper coffee machine, toast, teacakes, and children’s lunch boxes, and a separate Dairy café serving full cooked breakfasts, toasties, and more substantial meals.

Everything we encountered was pram friendly, which is not always a given in a Victorian working farm.

Expand below for more detailed visitor information.

Animals encounters

Croxteth is a rare breeds conservation centre and one of the largest of its kind in the North West, which is why the animal variety goes well beyond a typical farm visit. On our visit, we saw highland cows, alpacas, pygmy goats, goats, sheep, pigs, cows, rabbits, and guinea pigs. Small animal handling runs daily from 10 am at no extra cost, and a daily activity timetable includes pony grooming sessions and other encounters throughout the day.

Play areas and activities

There is an indoor play barn with bouncy castles and ball pits. It’s more suitable for younger children than a full soft play, but it’s good for letting off steam between animal encounters. We couldn’t find an outdoor play area on our visit, so we can’t confirm whether one exists.

Prams and accessibility

We found the farm pram friendly throughout our visit, which was good given the Victorian farm setting. No booking required for general visits.

Food and facilities

There are two food options on site. The barn snacks area is inside the play barn and has a proper coffee machine alongside toast (70p a slice), toasted teacakes (£2), fairy cakes, biscuits, and children’s lunch boxes (£5 – sandwich, cake, crisps, and a drink). The separate Dairy café serves full cooked breakfasts (£10 for a full English), toasties from £3.50, breakfast barms and kids lunch boxes at £5.60. Picnic benches are available outside if you’d rather bring your own. The farm also sells its own honey from the on-site hives at £8 a jar.

Prices and booking

Children (1-15): £15.95. Adults: £14.95. Under one’s free. Booking in advance via the website is essential. Check Windmill Farm’s website for availability and current prices.

No pre-booking required for general visits. Entry is £6 per person, children under one go free. The animal feed bucket costs £2. Open daily 10 am to 5 pm, last entry 4 pm. Check the Croxteth Park Farm website for current prices and upcoming events.

  • Croxteth Park Farm - feeding sheep
  • Croxteth Park Farm - Cow
  • Croxteth Park Farm - animal
  • Croxteth Park Farm - feeding lamb
  • Croxteth Park Farm - cows
  • Croxteth Park Farm - play area

Pumpkin picking and pumpkin patches near Liverpool

If you’re looking for pumpkin picking near Liverpool or a pumpkin patch in Liverpool in October, there are a few good options depending on what you’re after. Whether it’s a proper pick your own, field experience, or more of a fairground day out with pumpkins on the side.

We’ve been to three different pumpkin patches near Liverpool, and they’re all quite different from each other.

Hightown Pumpkin Patch

Hightown is our favourite and the one we keep going back to. It’s a proper pick your own, pumpkin field, and over 30 acres of them, with a huge variety of colours, shapes, and sizes that you just don’t get at smaller patches. There are classic orange pumpkins, or white, warty, grey, decorative gourds, and the fields are genuinely impressive and worth the trip just to walk around them.

There are no fairground rides here, which is fine by us. Instead, the focus is entirely on the pumpkins, and it works. There are food vendors and a handful of local craft stalls at weekends, which makes it a nicer overall atmosphere than a pure pick your own pumpkin setup. One thing we really liked was the pumpkin stickers, which are sheets of eyes, noses, and mouths you can use to make faces on your pumpkin rather than carving it. We actually prefer this for younger children since a carved pumpkin collapses within a day or two anyway.

You can pay by card, which is always worth knowing. It’s free entry, no booking needed, and it opens from 1st October through to 31st October. Address is Orrell Hill Lane, Hightown L38 5DA – the postcode covers the whole road, and so look for the giant orange pumpkin bales at the Moss Lane entrance rather than relying on the sat nav alone.

Church View Farm pumpkin picking, Lydiate

Church View is a small family-run farm on Southport Road in Lydiate, and the pumpkin picking here has more of a fairground feel. There’s a bouncy castle, hook a duck, rides, a fun house, face painting, candy floss, ice cream, and burgers, which makes it a good option if your children want more of an event than just picking a pumpkin.

One thing worth knowing before you go: most of the rides and activities are cash only, and you pay for the pumpkins in cash, too, so bring enough with you. The pumpkin variety was limited when we visited – it’s not the place to go if you want an impressive array of shapes and colours, but for a fun afternoon with younger children who are more interested in the rides than the pumpkins, it does the job.

Free entry, no booking needed. Check their Facebook page for opening dates each October.

Farmer Ted’s Pumpkin Festival

I’ll be honest, I went to Farmer Ted’s for pumpkin picking near Ormskirk three years ago and didn’t think it was worth the entry price at the time. One pumpkin, a carving tent, and a little train, and it felt like a lot of money for what it was.

That said, it’s clearly expanded significantly since then, and I haven’t been back to test it myself. It’s now billed as a full Pumpkin Festival running throughout October, with a free pumpkin included per paying child over 2, a pumpkin carving zone, scary maize maze, dinosaur tractor ride, sorcery school, ghost stories, fancy dress competitions, and an end of day show on top of all the usual Farmer Ted’s attractions. On paper, that’s a much stronger offer than what I experienced. Check the Farmer Ted’s website for current prices before you book, and check what’s included in the ticket price since that’s what tripped me up last time.

More family days out in the North West

If you’re looking for more days out with kids in and around Liverpool, these are some of our favourites:

Formby Woods and Beach – a free day out on the Sefton coast with red squirrels, pine woods, and one of the best beaches in the North West. Good for all ages and very pram friendly.

Lyme Park with kids – a National Trust estate in Cheshire with a deer park, woodland walks, and a grand house. A longer drive but a good full day out.

Farmer Ted’s Christmas Experience – if you’re planning a visit to Farmer Ted’s in winter, the Christmas grotto is worth knowing about separately. We’ve covered it in full here.

For more ideas across the UK, head to our UK travel guide.

FAQs: Visiting farms near Liverpool with kids

Some of the best farms near Liverpool for families include Farmer Ted’s Adventure Farm in Ormskirk, Acorn Farm in Kirkby, Windmill Farm in Burscough and Croxteth Park Farm in Liverpool itself. Each offers something different, from large adventure farm parks with full activity timetables to smaller petting farms and a Victorian rare breeds centre right in the city.

Yes. Acorn Farm in Kirkby and Windmill Farm in Burscough both have dedicated petting areas where children can get close to rabbits, guinea pigs and other small animals. Croxteth Park Farm also has small animal handling available daily from 10am at no extra cost, and you can buy animal feed on arrival at both Acorn Farm and Croxteth to feed the animals directly.

Acorn Farm is particularly good for toddlers – it’s compact and so easy to navigate. Croxteth Park Farm is another strong option, especially for families in the city who want something close by. Larger farms like Farmer Ted’s and Windmill also work well for toddlers thanks to dedicated under-fours play areas and softer play options.

Croxteth Park Farm is one of the best value farms near Liverpool at £6 per person, with babies going free. It’s not free but it’s very close to it for what you get, which is a full rare breeds farm with animal feeding, small animal handling and indoor play all included. The wider Croxteth Hall Country Park surrounding it is free to walk around.

Yes, at most of them. Acorn Farm, Croxteth Park Farm and Windmill Farm all offer animal feeding, usually by purchasing a bucket of feed on arrival. At Croxteth the bucket includes chopped vegetables which children hand directly to the animals, which tends to go down particularly well with younger ones.

All four farms on this list are largely pram friendly. Farmer Ted’s has good pathways throughout. Acorn Farm is flat and compact. Windmill Farm is mostly pram friendly though some outdoor animal paths are stony or grassy. Croxteth Park Farm we found fully pram friendly throughout, which is notable given the Victorian farm setting.

Most families spend two to three hours at a smaller farm like Acorn Farm or Croxteth Park Farm. Larger farms like Farmer Ted’s and Windmill Farm can comfortably fill a full day, particularly if you factor in the activity timetables, soft play and food stops.

Comfortable clothes and sturdy shoes are best, since farm paths can be grassy, muddy or stony depending on the weather and the farm. Wellies are useful in wetter months. Most farms ask visitors to wash hands thoroughly after touching animals, so hand sanitiser is handy to have in the bag.

Yes, several of the farms on this list are open year round. Farmer Ted’s runs a Christmas experience in winter which is worth visiting separately. Acorn Farm and Croxteth Park Farm are both open daily throughout the year, making them good options for a low-cost winter day out when other activities are limited.

Acorn Farm in Kirkby is the cheapest at £4 for adults and £3 for children. Croxteth Park Farm comes in just above at £6 per person with babies going free, and is arguably the best value overall given the range of animals and activities included.

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