Goat Farm Fun at ‘t Geertje
Wednesdays are half days for schools in the Netherlands. With the sun out we try to take advantage of these half days to explore places closer to home. After I picked the kids up from school we loaded into the car and headed to a Goat Farm near Zoetermeer, 20 minutes from our house.
Boerdeij ‘t Geertje is a wonderful afternoon activity, and combined with local attractions, could easily fill a full day. When we arrived at the farm around 2pm (we did a little bicycle shopping for an upcoming fifth birthday) the place was packed. The parking lot in front of the farm was packed, but we found several people leaving from the overflow lot near the polder walk.
The farm was crowded but not so much that you couldn’t enjoy the fun. We headed straight to the shop to purchase bottles of milk to feed to feed the goats. Bottles and feed are €1 a piece.
In the barn adjacent to the store the little goats were all full, but the big goats were happy for some feed. They were also happy to nibble on everything from the Ergo Carrier to our little guy’s socks. They even grabbed the feed cup right out of our Big Little’s hands!
We moved away from the barn to find some little goats that wanted milk. The boys climbed right into the pen to feed the goats.
The Big Little was way into it. He is our little farmer. He was so happy. He enjoyed talking to all the goats and made sure everyone got some milk.
The Middle Little was more apprehensive. He wanted daddy to show him how to hold the bottle.
There are quite a few other animals to see on the farm as well. The piglets were just coming out of their house when we passed by. They piled up against each other for a little sunbathing. My Middle Little loved watching them all cozy up and squeal at each other.
There are cows as well. They were all laying down enjoying some hay. We took advantage of the moment to meet a few of them up close.
The farm also hosts an adventure pad. There is a €0.50 donation to head out on the course. It’s likely more stunning in summer but my kids thought it was great. We were glad to have our boots on though as we walked through the mud and crossed obstacles.
The Big Little was able to cross the bridges and hop from log to log on his own. Our Middle Little partnered up with Jeff to make it through. I wore the Little Little and only had trouble ducking through a few of the obstacles.
The farm has a playground as well. There is a small area for the littles and larger structures for the big kids. One of the play areas straddled a goat enclosure such that you can come down a fire pole and be with the goats. The big hit for our kids though was a downed tree you are allowed to climb on that sits on a large hill. They found themselves in a cycle climbing up the tree and going down the hill..
The farm has a variety of boat rentals. Although we didn’t try it out, it looked quite fun. There is a small cafe as well. We grabbed some goat ice cream to share as an afternoon treat.
At the end of our visit we popped back into the store to buy some goat cheese. We also peered at the polder walk. We didn’t have time on this trip to explore it, but it’s on our list for another sunny day.
I highly recommend ‘t Geertje for a quick outing with the kids. We could have spent much longer there but it felt like the perfect place to explore with the kids and the cheese we ended up with was delicious! This is just one of those Netherlands experiences that we will forever cherish as being a regular part of our life here.