Summer Holiday Fun at Cockfields Farm

A few months ago we visited Cockfields Farm in Ashton Under Lyne and had a fantastic family day out. Ever since my son has been asking to visit again so we decided to meet some of our friends there this summer holidays.

My friends checked out the Cockfields Farm website the night before to pre-book tickets. Each person can save money when you book online which is fab, especially when your a larger family! When they were booking, we saw that on the day we were visiting, Trixy the T-Rex would also be visiting! We decided to dress for the occasion!

We met at 10am, just as the farm was opening. Anyone that knows me, knows I like to get to places nice and early, before it gets busy. There was plenty of people arriving at 10 too, lots of excited little children, but it wasn’t too busy first thing which was great!

Some of my friends hadn’t visited Cockfield Farm for many years so we decided to have a look around. One of the first things I did was take a photo of the activities on that day so the kids could decided what they wanted to do!

One of the first things they wanted to do was wash a tortoise. Joshua my eldest soon got bored as he did this last and he ran off looking for a tractor. But Oscar and Isla, my 2 year old twins absolutely loved washing Percy with toothbrushes!

We caught up with everyone else (my two wanted to wash Percy for a long time) and decided whilst it was dry we should let the kids run around outside. We made our way over to the giant bouncy pillow!

Last time we came, my twins weren’t interested in the bouncy pillow, but not this time! They loved it. I’ve only even seen one of these pillows at Cockfields Farm, I suppose it’s a little like a trampoline and a bouncy castle. All the children were having lots of fun.

Especially Oscar, he was having lots of fun! To be honest, I couldn’t get him off! There was a few tears as I had to bring him away so we could go and wash a pig. He soon stopped crying though.

We queued up to wash a pig. 4 or 5 children took turns to go inside the pen and gently wash the pigs, the kids loved that one was called Peppa. It was lovely to watch the kids running around trying to wash the pigs!

We headed back into the barn to see the animals in there.

My three were drawn to the goats and decided to feed them. There was some little baby goats that were really cute. The goats were very excited to be fed and seemed very happy to have the children near which was great. My three weren’t scared at all.

The children were also drawn to the guinea pigs and their cute little house. We asked were they able to hold one, we were reminded about the Pets Corner building outside. All the children wanted to head there!

We got distracted on the way to the Pets Corner by the Forest School field. A member of staff asked are children would they like to make their very own fossil! Well they were very excited and off they went!

Isla have a little explore of the field, she found this cute bug hotel. Last time we visited Cockfield Farm, Joshua spent ages playing with the mud kitchen which was so much fun.

Whilst we waited for the older ones to make their fossil, my two were happy to have a go on the swing. There’s also a fab little toddler climbing frame and slide in this area and swings for older children too.

We were soon heading into the Pets Corner and again they had the activities on that day listed. The kids said they wanted to do everything!

They took turns to cuddle a guinea pig, they waited patiently and were really gentle with the animals.

Some of the kids would have easily sat there all day just stroking the little animals.

Joshua even held a chicken!

The kids decided they were hungry, so after everyone washed their hands, we headed back outside towards the Main Barn. On the way into the barn, we bumped into Trixy the T-Rex! The younger children were very wary at first but as you can see they did warm to her and by the end of the day Oscar even stroked her!

The older kids loved her and she did have a little crowd around her for most of the day. This was great for dinosaur lovers!

Back inside we a picnic bench for all the kids and set up camp! To save money, we tend to always bring food with us wherever we go. We decided on a picnic today for ease as between us there was 8 children ranging between 6 months old and 9 years old.

The cafe offers a fantastic range of hot and cold food at a reasonable price. Whilst the kids were playing, the mummy’s enjoyed a nice hot coffee.

Whilst we enjoyed our coffees, the kids played in the play areas. There is a car area that the kids loved!

There’s also a role play area with a shop, cafe, garage etc……..

and even a stage!

Once everyone had finished eating and drinking, and the kids had finished playing, we headed back outdoors they wanted to play in the sand.

There’s a large ‘beach’ area full of buckets and spades and a giant climbing frame with slides.

There’s even a large plastic cow for the children to milk!

Oscar was drawn to this tractor and just had to have a ride. I couldn’t get him to pose for a photo, he was having too much fun sat on it!

The kids wanted to head back into the Pets Corner as they wanted to groom a rabbit and feed the meerkats. Just look how cute some of these photos are!

Overall we had a fantastic day out. Cockfield Farm opens at 10am and closes at 4.30pm. I parked up at five to 10am and we finally left at 20 past 4pm! You definitely can spend an entire day there! There is so much to do!