Best Kid Friendly Farms, Markets, and Farm Summer Camps in New Jersey
Photo courtesy Derek Owens on Unsplash
Features New Jersey farms with a welcoming atmosphere and programs for kids and their families.
The Best Kid Friendly Farms, farm markets, and farm summer camps feature New Jersey working farms and living history farms that provide locally grown farm fruits, vegetables, and grass fed, free range animals that welcome kids and their families.
Many of these farms offer fun and educational activities for kids, including pick your own produce, farm animals, events, school trips, birthday parties, and summer camp farms for kids.
Please call ahead to confirm activity schedules and get your travel directions
Northern Jersey Kid Friendly Farms
and Summer Camps
Abma's Farm 700 Lawlins Road
Wyckoff
(201) 891-0278
A 30-acre farm dates back to the 1790s. The out-buildings have been well-preserved, kept in their original state, and the Dutch-style barn, one of the few 200-year-old barns still standing in Bergen County, converted into a thriving retail market with a "scratch" bakery and a gourmet kitchen. They have a roadside farm market that sells Fruits & vegetables, preservative free bakery items. They also sell Jersey fresh free range eggs and chickens, Homegrown Pork, smoked bacon, pork chops, ribs, loins with whole pigs, either in parts to order or for roasting. Hormone and antibiotic free homegrown turkeys are available, fresh-killed, throughout the year For kids, farm means farm animals, so while parents shop in our greenhouses or market, children can go over to the barnyard and pet and feed our animals. From May to September they offer pony rides on Saturdays and host Kids birthday parties with pony rides. Kids (and moms and dads, too) love to visit our petting zoo, pet the sheep or cow, feed carrot greens to the rabbits (supervised by our staff, of course),there are baby chicks, fancy birds, goats, ponies, donkey, calf, alpaca, and their llama.
Website
Alstede Farms
84 Route 513 (Old Route 24)
Chester
Phone: 908-879-7189
Pick your own strawberries, black raspberries, purple raspberries, Green and Pink Gooseberries, Currants, Blackberries, Yellow raspberries, Red Raspberries, Peaches, eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, Pumpkins, Indian corn, Gourds, and Apples.
They also have a year round retail farm market that sells fruits and vegetables, bakery products, milk, eggs, breads, ice cream, and local wine.For kids they have pony rides and moonwalks, birthday parties and summer day camps. This is a great opportunity to experience life on a working farm!
Website
Bobolink Dairy
369 Stamets Road
Milford, NJ 08848
973-764-4888
[email protected]
Take a one hour walk through the milking parlor, creamery, bakery, cheese cave, and a hike up the hill to see the cows and our beautiful land. Please wear sturdy shoes--this is a bit of a climb. The pasture walk is not recommended for strollers or people with mobility issues, but there's lots to see down below, too. Full tour takes about an hour, plus cheese tasting. At the end of the tour you will be given a coupon for a nice discount at our local brewery, The Ship Inn, with authentic British ales, including a Farmhouse Ale inspired by our cheeses. The food at the Ship is decidedly unauthentic for a British pub, as it is really, really good: the burgers are made from my neighbor's grass-fed beef. Tours are limited to twenty, and are guided by either a family member or one of our interns. Well-behaved dogs on leashes are welcome to join the tour. Reservations are required, and a $5 fee is charged for all humans over 3 years. If there is space, last-minute attendance may be possible--please ask in the farm market.
During the summer months they offer many family entertainment shows
Website
Brookhollow's Barnyard
301 Rockaway Valley Rd
Boonton, NJ 07005
They are a farm with plenty of farm animals including alpacas, goats and bunnies.
They offer summer camps, field trips, and tractor & train rides.
Website
Fosterfields Living Historical Farm
73 Kahdena Road
Morristown, NJ 07960
(973) 326-7645
(973) 631-5343 (groups)
This living history farm has been under cultivation since the eighteenth century. As part of the Morris County Park Commission, the 200-acre farm offers educational activities and demonstrations of turn-of-the-century - 1920s farming methods and life. Visitors are encouraged to participate in various farm-related activities whenever appropriate at this National Register Site. They can churn butter, crack corn and feed it to the chickens, and tend the garden. Staff are dressed in period attire and interpret the lives and roles of Foster family members, domestics, and farm laborers. They perform a daily regimen of farming and domestic chores and raise livestock and crops by historical methods.
Website
Ort Farms
25 Bartley Road
Long Valley, NJ
908-876-3351
They are a 400 acre working farm that work through all four seasons to give our customers fresh fruit and vegetables, blooming annuals and perennials, delicious baked goods, giant pumpkins and family fun in our corn maze, and handmade holiday decorations.
They offer a Farm Camp for Future Farmers
This program provides your child wirh an opportunity to explore the outdoors and life on a working farm! Throughout the week, children will have the opportunity to plant and harvest crops, care for our farm animals, participate in crafts and activities with other children, and enjoy the outdoors! They learn the connection between the farmer and consumer, healthy eating habits, and the daily life and struggles of working on a farm. Farm camp kids will get a chance to pick items to bring home, create projects and make memories!
Website
Sun High Orchard
19 Canfield Avenue
Randolph
(973) 584-4734
Open: Daily, May - Dec., 9 am to 6 pm.
The whole family will enjoy visiting their friendly animals. Their alpaca "Jersey Gold" and mini donkey "Jessica" are always looking to make new friends. In the market, you can play a game of checkers or Candyland in front of our reconsturcted historic bee hive oven and fireplace. Why not celebrate your child's special day on the farm. They also love to host birthday parties that include bouncers and hayrides! Get down to basics and bring home a harvest that you picked yourself!
Thy open the orchard for pick your own apples in mid September. The pumpkin patch opens the last weekend in September with continuous hayrides on the weekends (weather permittin
Website
Valley Shepherd Creamery
50 Fairmount Rd
Long Valley, NJ 07853
908-876-3200
They are a unique creamery, giving the visitor an insight into sheep dairy farming as practiced in Europe for the last 4,000 years. It takes you through years of cheesemaking expertise and modern equipment from all over the world to build a facility allowing full public access to all farm activities. They educate and involve the visitor in daily life on a real working sheep dairy. They offer many educational public and school tours for children throughout the year and includes; On the Spring Lambing Tour ... see hundreds of fluffy white little lambs.Lambing tours April and May; Milk and Cheese tours on Saturdays and Sundays in the spring and summer; Fall Harvest Tours from late August through October.
Central New Jersey Kid Friendly Farms
and Summer Camps
Argos Farm1250 Lacey Road
Forked River, NJ
They offer a Farm Camp offers a unique opportunity for children to learn about farm life while having a great time in the great outdoors!
The campers will experience the farm in most of its aspects, getting their hands dirty, pitching in on chores, and learning alongside our farm staff. Activities include planting, weeding, and harvesting. They will interact with all the animals, feed them, groom the ponies, hold baby chicks, visit Bessie the cow, & more!
Website
Fulper Farms
281 Rocktown Lambertville Rd.
Lambertville, NJ 08530
A 5th generation family farm featuring high quality raw milk from generations of cow families. Join their family farm for the week and make memories that last a lifetime! They have provided the ultimate, unique "fun on the farm" experience for the 18th year in a row.
They have a strong passion for youth and strive to provide an unforgettable, rewarding, and refreshing hands-on farm experience for each child. They will learn where dairy products come from, the daily activities that take place on a family farm, and how to take care of their own calf while having a blast! Designed for ages 8-13.
Website
Howell Living History Farm
70 Woodens Lane
Hopewell Twp., NJ 08530
609-737-3299
A popular living history farm for kids, especially on Saturday's when most of the events occur. The farm offer's many activities for kids to get involved. Since the 1730s, just about every type of farming situation has occurred here. The farm has evolved from a grain producing farm to a dairy farm and over the years various crops have been grown, animals raised, products produced, etc.
Howell Farm's calendar reflects the cycles of a fully functioning, working farm in Pleasant Valley, New Jersey during the years 1890 – 1910. Programs enable visitors to see real farming operations up close, speak with farmers and interpreters, and in many instances lend a hand. Factors such as weather, soil conditions and animal needs can impact operations at any time, resulting in program changes that reflect the realities faced by farmers then and now.
Website
Terhune Orchards
330 Cold Soil Road
Princeton
609-924-2310
Experience life on the farm! Terhune Orchards welcomes children to enjoy a unique, fun-filled week of summer camp on a picturesque, 250-acre working family farm. Campers discover how a farm operates through fun, interactive and educational activities. Campers will take advantage of our beautiful surroundings, streams, nature trail and fields, and get a closer look at our resident wildlife and barnyard friends. In addition, campers cultivate a children's garden, enjoy wagon rides, experience the harvest and sample the crops in season. Daily activities and crafts projects blend learning, doing and, of course, fun! Campers spend time both outside exploring the farm and nature, as well as inside engaged in activities in our lovely Amish-built barn.
Website
Von Thun's Country Farm - Barnyard Buddies Kids Program
519 Ridge Road (Route 522)
Monmouth Junction
(732) 329-8656
A 90 acre farm with with pick your own strawberries, raspberries, pumpkins and peas.
They offer a special Barnyard Buddies Kids Program. This fun hour-long program was designed for kids ages 2 & up who have an interest in farm life and love to spend time outside. Each week has it’s own farm theme. They start each session playing in the Activity Area, then have a quick lesson on the topic of the week, followed by a visit to our barnyard or enjoy a short hands-on activity.
Website
Southern New Jersey Kid Friendly Farms
and Summer Camps
Duffield's Farm Market Greentree & Chapel Heights Rds
Sewell
(856) 589-7090
A farm with over 130 acres that grows over 35 varieties of vegetables and fruits, including peaches, strawberries, nectarines, Jersey sweet corn and tomatoes. They have a farm market that sells their crops, deli, and bakery products. They have pick your own peas, strawberries, and pumpkins. For Kids they have farm animals where children can feed our animals through tubes, but never come in direct contact with them.
In the Spring and fall they have field trips where their educational Learning Barn is always a great time for students to participate in hands on activities that will teach them about farming. They also have Kids birthday parties, for a minimum of 10 children, that includes a hay ride around the farm, hot dog or pizza and drink, time to feed the animals, and a visit from their mascot, Rudy the Rooster, who gathers the children for a chicken dance! Depending on the season, you can stop off and pick Easter eggs and visit with the Bunny, or pick a pumpkin in the patch to take home.
Website
Fernbrook Farms Education Center
142 Bordentown-Georgetown Road
Chesterfield, NJ 08515
( 609) 298-4028
A 230-acre working farm with over 60 acres of woods, two streams and two ponds is an educational farm providing hands-on educational experiences for people of all ages by exploring the complex interconnectedness of our natural world. Their purpose is to educate about agriculture, the sources of our food and the importance of nutrition for healthy lifestyles. They believe people should make meaningful connections with our natural world in order to become responsible steward of local and global sustainability.
They provide year-round programs for families, kids summer camps, public and private schools, home-schooled, children and scouting groups.
Website
Johnson's Corner Farm
133 Church Road
Medford
(609) 654-8643
A pick your own farm with an animal barnyard. They have hay rides that take you out to the fields to pick blueberries, strawberries, sweet corn, peaches, nectarines, sweet cherries, apples, and pumpkins. They also have a farm market that sells farm-baked pies, pot pies, sandwiches, salad, dips, ice cream, Italian ice, donuts, cookie, candy, quiches, and soups. In June they have a Blueberry Fest with live music, moon bounce, and burgers on the Grill.
They offer fun, Fun family activities, educational programs for kids for summer schools, camps, churches, day cares,and neighborhood moms with playgroups.
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