Located inland between Scarborough and Filey, in Cayton, Playdale Farm Park is hidden off the beaten track but is a wonderful way to spend a day in the area. We went when Heidi was 3 and had a lovely time, but now she is 6, she could enjoy it even more!
We spent 3 hours at Playdale Farm Park and only saw half of the animals and missed out on 2 of the play areas. It’s safe to say that it is a day-long attraction!!
Animals
As Playdale Farm Park is, well, a farm, there are the usual animals to see. In the main barn, there are goats, pigs, alpacas and chicks to see, amongst others. In the other barn and dotted around outside are donkeys, chipmunks, sheep and loads of birds.
Perhaps the best part of this is the handling activities that are set up during the day. Times can vary so check before you set off, but we got to hold guinea pigs and chicks that were only a couple of days old. Whilst it was busy, we didn’t real rushed and had long enough to hold the animals, before both they and the children got bored!!
The staff looking after the animals were more than happy to talk to the children about the animals. They also encouraged children to wash their hands after holding the animals, to make sure the risk of catching a bug was reduced,
Play Areas
Even if you are not into the animals, there are loads of play areas for the children to run about and, well, be children. There are 2 outdoor climbing play frames, as seen below, which are more than adequate for most children aged 2 to 12.
There is also an indoor barn full of hay bales, which the children absolutely loved. Because of this, it might be a good idea to pack a spare set of clothes for the children because hay can get EVERYWHERE!!
There is also an indoor play area with 2 soft play areas – one for under 4’s, and one for over 4’s, although the children can play in either quite easily. Inside the indoor play area are ride on tractors as well.
However, as it was a lovely early September day, we had great fun on the zipline, dry sledging and the cycle go-karts. As you can see in the video at the start, the zipline and dry sledging isn’t for toddlers, but children 4 and over should be ok with it. Once we got over some nerves, Heidi absolutely loved it and it was difficult to pull ourselves away from it!
We didn’t even make it to the sand play area or the Frisbee golf, but I suggest the latter is more for adults. It can get a bit windy and the children may get a bit bored chasing the Frisbee!
Facilities
To make the most of Playdale Farm Park, you do need dry weather, as some of the activities are outside. If you have bad weather, there is enough to entertain, but you will miss out on the dry sledging, which was our highlight!
There are plenty of picnic tables for you to bring your picnic, as we did. However, there is also a lovely looking cafe, with some amazing looking cakes, which I really should have taken a photo, as well as bought!!
The toilets are of decent quality and the cubicles are quite large, which helps when you’re with children. There are plenty of hand washing stations, which is always good to see.
Cost
For 2 adults and 2 children, it cost just over £30 (2019 prices), with free parking. This didn’t feel too bad given that we took our own food and could have had a full day of entertainment. The children absolutely loved it and I am sure that we will be back on a future trip to the North Yorkshire Coast.
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