Few cities let kids get this close to a goat without leaving town. Berlin's Kinderbauernhöfe are neighborhood children's farms, mostly free, where kids feed donkeys, brush ponies and help in the stalls. For a bigger day, add the big zoos or a wolf-and-bison park north of the city. Here's what we checked, from a farm beside the old Wall at Mauerplatz to the wolves at Wildpark Schorfheide.
Domäne Dahlem is a working organic farm and open-air museum on an old manor estate. It breeds endangered livestock: Red Höhenvieh cattle, German Saddleback pigs, Pomeranian sheep, longhaired goats, Konik and Exmoor ponies, and rare hens and ducks.
Kids can walk the fields and orchards and visit the Culinarium museum about food and farming. A farm shop and country inn sit by the courtyard.
Berlin's first children's farm, started in 1981 by neighbors who cleared a rubble lot beside the Wall. Kids can meet sheep, goats, ponies, donkeys, rabbits, ducks, geese and chickens, and see how animal feed, herbs and vegetables are grown in the gardens.
There is also a nature trail, a community house built from clay, and open pasture for running around.
A children's farm inside Görlitzer Park, run since 1981 by a neighborhood association as a supervised youth center. Kids meet goats, donkeys, ponies, rabbits, geese and chickens, roam the yard, and toddlers get their own corner with a sandpit, play equipment and a water playground in summer.
The clay-built community house hosts clubs during the week and opens to everyone on Sundays for a family café with waffles and hot chocolate.
Kinderbauernhof Pinke-Panke is a volunteer-run children's farm and supervised adventure playground on the edge of Bürgerpark. Around 70 animals live here, including donkeys, sheep, goats, mini pigs, geese, rabbits and hens.
Staff help kids with the afternoon feeding, and there are workshops for wood, soapstone, wool and bike repairs, plus a building playground, a vegetable garden and a campfire. Expect a scrappy, hands-on farm rather than a tidy petting zoo.
Jugendfarm Moritzhof is a children's farm on the former Wall strip at the north end of Mauerpark, in Prenzlauer Berg. Kids help feed and care for goats, sheep, chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs, tend the garden beds and cook with what they harvest.
Staff also teach old crafts: felting, spinning, pottery, basket weaving and blacksmithing. The kids help decide which animals they look after and which projects come next.
Alte Fasanerie is a former pheasantry turned open farmyard on the rural northern edge of the city, run by the Elisabethstift youth charity. Kids can say hello to goats, alpacas, chickens, pheasants and horses, walk round the pond and the herb and flower garden, and browse the Bücherkuh, a courtyard box of kids' books to borrow. It suits a slow, quiet afternoon more than a big day out.
Waslala is a staffed adventure playground and children's farm in Altglienicke. Kids build their own wooden huts with real tools, light fires and climb, with educators keeping watch. The animal yard has ponies, sheep, a goat, rabbits and bees, and kids help feed and care for them.
It is a parent-free zone: parents don't stay, so it suits kids who are happy to play on their own.
Tierpark Berlin spreads across 160 hectares of parkland around the 18th-century Friedrichsfelde manor house, making it Europe's largest animal park. Kids can watch tigers in the renovated Alfred Brehm House, spot red pandas and snow leopards on a cloud-forest trail, and see giraffes and zebras on an African savanna.
Between animals there's a petting zoo with goats and ponies, a seaside-themed water play area, and the Fabelwald woodland playground.
Germany's oldest zoo, opened in 1844, keeps around 20,000 animals and more species than any other zoo in the world. Kids can watch Germany's only giant pandas, plus elephants and pygmy hippos, and pet goats at the petting zoo.
Many animals live in indoor houses, so it works on a cold day too. The aquarium by the Elefantentor gate needs a combined ticket.
Wildpark Schorfheide is a 100-hectare forest park where wolves, wisent, elk, Przewalski's horses, otters, red deer and wild boar live in large open-air enclosures, linked by 7 km of trails.
Kids can brush the goats in the petting enclosure, climb and slide on the adventure playground, and collect stamps on a stamp safari. The Wolf Information Center explains how wolves and people share the region.
Few cities let kids get this close to a goat without leaving town. Berlin's Kinderbauernhöfe are neighborhood children's farms, mostly free, where kids feed donkeys, brush ponies and help in the stalls. For a bigger day, add the big zoos or a wolf-and-bison park north of the city. Here's what we checked, from a farm beside the old Wall at Mauerplatz to the wolves at Wildpark Schorfheide.
Domäne Dahlem is a working organic farm and open-air museum on an old manor estate. It breeds endangered livestock: Red Höhenvieh cattle, German Saddleback pigs, Pomeranian sheep, longhaired goats, Konik and Exmoor ponies, and rare hens and ducks.
Kids can walk the fields and orchards and visit the Culinarium museum about food and farming. A farm shop and country inn sit by the courtyard.
Berlin's first children's farm, started in 1981 by neighbors who cleared a rubble lot beside the Wall. Kids can meet sheep, goats, ponies, donkeys, rabbits, ducks, geese and chickens, and see how animal feed, herbs and vegetables are grown in the gardens.
There is also a nature trail, a community house built from clay, and open pasture for running around.
A children's farm inside Görlitzer Park, run since 1981 by a neighborhood association as a supervised youth center. Kids meet goats, donkeys, ponies, rabbits, geese and chickens, roam the yard, and toddlers get their own corner with a sandpit, play equipment and a water playground in summer.
The clay-built community house hosts clubs during the week and opens to everyone on Sundays for a family café with waffles and hot chocolate.
Kinderbauernhof Pinke-Panke is a volunteer-run children's farm and supervised adventure playground on the edge of Bürgerpark. Around 70 animals live here, including donkeys, sheep, goats, mini pigs, geese, rabbits and hens.
Staff help kids with the afternoon feeding, and there are workshops for wood, soapstone, wool and bike repairs, plus a building playground, a vegetable garden and a campfire. Expect a scrappy, hands-on farm rather than a tidy petting zoo.
Jugendfarm Moritzhof is a children's farm on the former Wall strip at the north end of Mauerpark, in Prenzlauer Berg. Kids help feed and care for goats, sheep, chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs, tend the garden beds and cook with what they harvest.
Staff also teach old crafts: felting, spinning, pottery, basket weaving and blacksmithing. The kids help decide which animals they look after and which projects come next.
Alte Fasanerie is a former pheasantry turned open farmyard on the rural northern edge of the city, run by the Elisabethstift youth charity. Kids can say hello to goats, alpacas, chickens, pheasants and horses, walk round the pond and the herb and flower garden, and browse the Bücherkuh, a courtyard box of kids' books to borrow. It suits a slow, quiet afternoon more than a big day out.
Waslala is a staffed adventure playground and children's farm in Altglienicke. Kids build their own wooden huts with real tools, light fires and climb, with educators keeping watch. The animal yard has ponies, sheep, a goat, rabbits and bees, and kids help feed and care for them.
It is a parent-free zone: parents don't stay, so it suits kids who are happy to play on their own.
Tierpark Berlin spreads across 160 hectares of parkland around the 18th-century Friedrichsfelde manor house, making it Europe's largest animal park. Kids can watch tigers in the renovated Alfred Brehm House, spot red pandas and snow leopards on a cloud-forest trail, and see giraffes and zebras on an African savanna.
Between animals there's a petting zoo with goats and ponies, a seaside-themed water play area, and the Fabelwald woodland playground.
Germany's oldest zoo, opened in 1844, keeps around 20,000 animals and more species than any other zoo in the world. Kids can watch Germany's only giant pandas, plus elephants and pygmy hippos, and pet goats at the petting zoo.
Many animals live in indoor houses, so it works on a cold day too. The aquarium by the Elefantentor gate needs a combined ticket.
Wildpark Schorfheide is a 100-hectare forest park where wolves, wisent, elk, Przewalski's horses, otters, red deer and wild boar live in large open-air enclosures, linked by 7 km of trails.
Kids can brush the goats in the petting enclosure, climb and slide on the adventure playground, and collect stamps on a stamp safari. The Wolf Information Center explains how wolves and people share the region.
