Farmer Palmer's Farm Park, Poole

Remembering our holiday in Bournemouth and all the places we visited, Farmer Palmers comes out top of our list for the best day out. Our two pre-school children had a fabulous time here that they forgot to pester us for ice creams or moan about a little rain on the day. Farmer Palmer and his crew know their crop of primary school aged children - they have absolutely everything catered for them and their parents/carers. This place is a breath of fresh air in relation to children’s amusement parks. The range of novel attractions are all closely located to each other, meaning you’re always close to one of the daily programme of events such as a cow milking demonstration, sheep race and guinea pig holding. A variety of barns are home to an assortment of attractions. In one there are bales of hay to climb with various slides at different heights. Opposite this is a large inflatable tractor as well as countless children mini-tractors to ride on all overlooked by picnic benches. Adjacent to this is where you can see the cows at home and the demonstration space. The final indoor area is home to the café, toilets and the soft play area that is equivalent in size to many standalone play centres. The outdoor facilities include the play ground that is far more than your traditional park. All the swings and climbing frames are made from wood and there are also three wooden play houses each with their own upstairs room. In addition to this play area they also have a fabulous splash area. The wet play apparatus is a serious of large wooden sinks and plugs that challenge the children mentally and physically. Be sure to bring a towels, swim costumes and a change of clothes as no child was able to resist getting wet when we where there. My two children spent ages here and I would probably say this was their favourite attraction. Just when you feel that you (the adult) have become nonexistent to your children as we did, take them to the go karts. Dual seated go karts means that mum and dad are once again needed to pedal, and fast, round the track. This is lots of fun for all the family, and exhausting. When your legs give way from all the cycling take them to the maize maze via the small animal pens. Usually I hate mazes and thought the children would be scared and bored within minutes. Needless to say I was wrong – they loved it. The maze leads to the woodland walk that once again is far more than the titles implies. The 20 minute pushchair friendly stroll includes bridges, interpretation boards, fairy toad stools and a gingerbread house. There are loads of reasons why we loved this place and not just for the children’s enjoyment. Farmer Palmers has heaps of picnic benches everywhere, buggy parks, sinks in the toilets at a child’s height, homemade food, friendly staff that didn’t rush you out the building at closing time and free cake boxes for uneaten baked sweets to take home. It’s now over a week since our break in Dorset, and although we haven’t got the holiday blues we’d love to harvest a Farmer Palmers where we live.

After a rainy week spent in a cottage in Dorset we were glad to see the first rays of sun peeking through the clouds and very quickly made a dive for the door. We ended up at Farmer Palmers Farm Park in Poole and we were so glad Mr. Sunshine decided to make an appearance as we had such a fabulous day! The park is very large and caters for children under 10. On entry we were handed a programme for the day. The list of activities were endless and our first stop was the sheep racing. We also fed the baby goats, took a walk around the petting zoo and took a woodland walk. The cafe is well sourced with plenty of choice for children and loads of highchairs. There are tons of play areas both inside and out so you don't feel as though the children are shoved into a chicken coup. Overall this is a fantastic day out which was well worth the money. Tip - make sure you allow quite a long time to spend at the park as there is so much to do.

Falmer palmers is a brilliant day out for both young and older children (and adults too). There are lots of activities and things to do, including petting guniea pigs and feeding the lambs, no one is left out even when its busy. The staff are so polite and helpful and all the amenties are brilliant. A superb place to go what ever the weather. I cannot recommend it enough. A brilliant day out ( and good value for money)