We found the most adorable animal farm/yard, Tarhalehdon eläinpiha, in Lievestuore, some 30 kms East of Jyväskylä (central Finland). A couple wants to create opportunities for city kids to get a feel for farm animals. My absolute favourite said hi to us immediately when we parked:
There are bunnies, goats, ponies, sheep, cats, dogs, ducks, chooks, a pig, a chinchilla, a fret, a tortoise and a reindeer. They are all friendly and most like to be patted. Kids can help feed the animals, and one can book a pony ride there too. My daughter was exalted to get to ride for the first time. Of course, of all the animals my kids loved the cats most!
My kids also loved playing on the farm. My boy loved most a pedal tractor, a rusty old digger and a kiosk built under a slide. My girl loved riding the pony, feeding the animals, jumping on the trampoline and just exploring it all. I loved the little details, on top of the friendly people and animals, that in my opinion made the yard unique and inviting. I liked the way old farming equipment had been turned into something cute and usable.
The fee for the farm was 5e/person, and the little kiosk had very moderate prices. I think one can even book a farm stay there but I didn’t check the details. I am sure you can find more information on their website on Karvaturrit.fi. But if you are in the area, this farm is definitively worth visiting!
Free But Fun 
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[…] highlights were the camping ground Metsäranta, Lievestuore animal farm, the crafts workshop in the handicrafts museum in Jyväskylä. The males still talk about aviation […]
I have no idea what a chook or a fret is. 🙂
Looks like your kids had so much fun!
So ‘chook’ is not American then? (Flash back to mandatory English at school: we used to have these horrible lists with British vs American English vocabulary, like lift vs elevator, and I always failed those tests as I thought it’s enough I’m actually using a foreign language. What a rebell I was 😉 ) our popa (grandfather) has chooks, chicken that is. Fret is a typo, should be ferret (where did the ‘er’ go??!). I’ll edit that one.
Ahh chooks are chickens! Awesome!
These places are great for kids. They are just so drawn to animals and the outdoors.
This looks like so much fun! I love visiting the country and getting to pet cute animals… Zoë does too haha 🙂
Good for her you let her tag along 😀
I am such a nice mommy haha