Little animal lovers discover the children’s barn

We know, as hosts, that guests expect animals on a farm holiday. I’ve seen with our children and our guests’ children how important contact with animals is—how much joy they can bring us, how calming they are, and how they make souls happy. Many of our guests come from the city or from regions where agriculture no longer plays a major role, and they don’t really know how life with—and from—nature is actually possible. What kinds of animals there are, what they like and eat, how long they are pregnant, and so on.

And so last spring we had the idea of creating a unique “children’s barn” that is to become the home of our small animals. But where do you start? What do you need to consider? And what exactly did we even want? To clarify these questions, we worked with Lisa, an educational specialist, our loyal long-time guest Sabine, my husband, and the idea-rich Grandpa Hias to create a concept for the new project.

The children’s barn that emerged from this offers a great, playful introduction to the world of animals and is accessible exclusively to our in-house guests. There’s lots of interesting information to discover, and some animals can be fed and cared for independently. However, this is not an ordinary petting zoo—real barn life is experienced up close. Whether feeding the goat, caring for the rabbits, or joining the mini pigs on their walk across the farmyard, fun and new experiences are guaranteed in the children’s barn! My husband also thought of viewing windows for children who still need some distance from the animals and want to watch from afar. All the work, the costs involved, and the time we needed to build it have paid off.

But life with the animals doesn’t only take place in the barn! During the day, you can experience animals and nature all around the farm. For example, you can watch and explore the goats’ acrobatics on their very own goat playground, or accompany the hardworking runner ducks on their daily rounds across the farmyard. You can see Nelly helping Grandpa bring the cows in, or a calf being bottle-fed. And if you’re lucky, you might even witness a new farm resident coming into the world.