Family day out: the Rare Breeds Centre, Kent

Giant rabbits, ice cream and sunshine. Harder to prescribe than Calpol but just as effective at cheering an under-the-weather toddler right up. Visiting friends for the weekend, with the sun shining, we decided on a family day out near Ashford at the Rare Breeds Centre, Kent.

With a farm, the chance to pet some of the animals, a butterfly house, a couple of big playgrounds, a picnic spot, a cafe, soft play, pig racing and tractor trailer rides, the centre is pretty much as good as it gets for a day out with kids.

Even when one isn’t feeling too well. Because after a grumpy start, Minnie was running round begging to be able to stroke the rabbits.

Our arrival coincided nicely with the ‘meet the animals’ in the children’s barn, from a sizeable but gentle Shire horse to goats, pigs, sheep and smaller animals.

Giant rabbits and Rex rabbits with unfeasibly soft fur, plus guinea pigs all curled up in a fuzzy heap, are always a winner with toddlers, especially when you get to be hands on.

All seemed very happy with the attention, although there were signs asking not to pick the animals up.

And outside, more to discover including ferrets, and some fascinating birds of prey on perches, from hawks to falcons.

One eagle owl was out for a walk, another snapping its beak (and bringing to life the peril of the mouse in the Gruffalo books…) while a stunning snowy owl, a barn owl and another enormously fluffy fast asleep owl completed the set.

The centre also runs falconry displays in the afternoon, although we didn’t get chance to watch.

Behind more enclosures for larger animals including some of the rare breeds, there’s a butterfly house and discovery garden, an incredibly peaceful spot where the adults lounged on the grass as the two girls roamed between the wild flowers and fruit and vegetable patches.

Intended to help inspire a love of gardening and conservation as well, it’s something of an oasis on a sunny afternoon.

You can see a bit more of the site on a trailer ride, sitting on a hay bale, or keep walking towards the ‘Secret Lake’, home to great crested newts and to the ‘Mysterious Marsh’ , a kids’ assault course with hanging bridges and tyre swings.

There are also woodland walks, an aviary and the centre’s beehives, not to mention the Creepy Crawly World with snakes, spiders and lizards.

Or you can do what we did – head over to the play parks (there’s one with slides, swings and climbing frames, a second with a giant tube maze, aerial runway and wooden hill fort) and sit at a picnic table with an ice cream.

It always feels like something of a cliche when attractions claim there’s so much to do that you’ll need more than one day. But after nearly five hours, a decimated picnic, and two small girls who needed their tea, we had only seen a fraction.

And with activities to suit different ages, it’s a prescription I may well be trying again in the future.

Need to know: The Rare Breeds Centre, Kent

Tickets cost £15.75 for adults and £13.50 for children aged three to 15 (if booked online, without gift aid). A family day ticket costs £50.

Opening times at the Rare Breeds centre are 10.30-5 daily. For more details about what’s on and a map of the farm, visit the website.

For more ideas of days out in Kent with kids, check out my reviews of our visits to Hever Castle, Dover Castle, Scotney Castle, Leeds Castle, Diggerland and Port Lympne safari park

All images copyright MummyTravels

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