The 12 best animal experiences for kids in Kent
Get up close to the creatures you love.
Kids love animals. From bears and wolves to rabbits and lambs, there are plenty of opportunities to give the children an animal experience they will never forget. Here’s our run down of the best animal experiences in Kent.
1. Go seal spotting
Jump aboard a boat. Head out to sea. And spot seals. In Kent. Yes, really.
Dover Sea Safari’s Secret Seals tour really is an adventure of a lifetime. Out of Dover, heading north, the boat passes Deal and onwards through to Sandwich Bay. As you enter the mouth of the River Stour through Pegwell Bay, it’s engines off. For here, in the large nature reserve is a world of migrating wading birds and wildfowl. And, of course, a colony of ‘secret’ common harbour seals, who not only bask on the river bank, but also pop their heads up inquisitively to see who is onboard the boat.
After 20 minutes of seal spotting, it’s a blast back to Dover with the stunning White Cliffs as a backdrop. The journey lasts around 2 hours, and full boat-safety equipment is given.
2. Go lambing
Is there anything more adorable than witnessing the first few hours or days for a new born lamb? Hadlow College’s annual Lambing Weekend is one of Kent’s most popular options when it comes to celebrating the arrival of Spring in the most traditional way possible: taking a peek at baby lambs as they hunker down, sheltering from the elements in the warm protective shadow of their mothers.
Each year, more than 10,000 people descend on the campus to take a look not only at the farmyard’s cutest but to meet an array of animals, including llamas, pigs and goats. There’s commentary in the lambing sheds as the agricultural lecturers welcome the stars of the show, plus a host of other activities on offer like archery, and a mini food market of Kent Produced goodies.
If you’re lucky: You’ll time it right to see a real, live, actual birth.
Check the weather: If it’s nice, you can jump on board for a tractor ride across the fields.
3. Be a zoo keeper for the day
Bison, owls, badgers, wild boar, wolves and bears – there’s plenty to see at Kent’s rather unique Wildwood Discovery Park. But imagine finding out exactly what it's like to look after the wild animals on show?
Well, the park’s zoo keeper experiences let you do just that. Whether your little one has a keen interest in becoming a zoo keeper, working with animals for a job later on, or just loves, loves, loves the furry little cuddlies, they can go behind the scenes to experience what it’s like working at the charity-run wildlife park.
Learn how the animals are fed and cared for, prepare their food and even meet one of the animals from the inside of their enclosures. You’ll also learn how the zoo keepers make an animal’s life more exciting and what tools they use.
Plan ahead: Junior Zoo Keeper Experiences get booked up quickly. Get planning: There are dates available from Spring through to Autumn
Grown-ups rejoice: Don’t let the kids have all the fun, there is also an adult zookeeper experience on offer
4. Hang out with lemurs in their own leafy home
We all love a zoo. But one of the frustrations for kids is not being able to quite get close enough to the animals they love.
Well, one of the highlights of Howletts Wild Animal Park (and there’s many) is a chance to get up close and person with critically endangered lemurs. Step inside the Walking With Lemurs enclosure and you will see the black and white ruffed, crowned and red-bellied beauties in their own environment, skipping between the trees, walking the ropes, having some food and grooming each other.
Howletts has a host of opportunities to get up close and personal with animals as part of booked experiences. As well as the lemur, you can meet tapirs, anteaters and honey badgers.
Remember: You can’t take food or drink into the lemur enclosure, and buggies have to stay outside too.
Feel proud: Howletts is part of the Aspinall Foundation, a great conservation charity so your visit truly helps to keep the animals safe and secure.
Insider knowledge: You can buy a season ticket, and also get deals on entry into sister site Port Lympne Reserve.
5. Meet Kent’s majestic bears
There’s plenty of reasons to head to Wildwood Discovery Park. Spotting bison, deer and elks in the woods is always a surprising thrill. But the real stars of the show at the Canterbury site are the gorgeous and rather majestic bears.
Wildwood has worked diligently with bear-rescue charities over the years to set up a home for bears at risk of being hunted.
Today, you get to wow at their gentle and inquisitive nature, and lively characters, as they roam around their woodland playground. And for those of you keen to get more up close and personal, the park runs special experience days, giving you a unique chance to give the bears a breakfast treat ahead of letting them out into their enclosure for the day.
Fun fact: European brown bears were once UK natives, but were hunted to extinction in 500AD.
Get in quick: With only one Bear Experience a day, it can be tough to get tickets.
6. Go on safari
Something of a jewel in the crown of Kent’s tourist armoury, Port Lympne Reserve is a wild animal park like few others. On a patch of land overlooking the marshes of Hythe and Dymchurch, visitors are taken far, far away, to the plains of South America and the savannahs of Africa.
In what is a fantastically recreated safari experience aboard one of the venue’s authentic trucks, the kids will love roaming among the more than 90 species and almost 800 animals that call the 600-acre site home. The giraffes, rhino, wildebeest and zebra are the stars of the show, with the tour guides stopping every so often to offer interesting facts and give pointers as to where to spot Port Lympne’s safari stars.
If you want more from the safari experience, you can treat the family to an overnight stay so that you can wake up to the sound of the wildlife as you enjoy your breakfast.
Stay a while: It’s not just about the safari; Port Lympne is home to a wealth of wonderful animals, including gorillas, tigers, lions and leopards.
Time check: Tours can be booked for 90 minutes or 2.5 hours depending on your child’s attention span.
7. Watch birds of prey take flight
Raptors are the absolute stars of the avian world. They can do it all: build nests, display great acts of aerial prowess, and carry out high-speed ambush. Birds of prey are truly spectacular, especially up close and personal.
The Eagle Heights Wildlife Foundation, located on the outskirts of Dartford, is home to 100 raptors, including around 50 species, many of which are now breeding at the centre. While it has primarily run as a conservation centre since the early 1990s, the family-run centre is also an attraction venue which stages a number of experiences for anybody interested in its magnificent birds.
Displays are held every day. But if you want to go further, a weekend VIP experience includes a front-row arena seat for the birds of prey display, as well as a chance to handle and ‘fly’ the birds.
Willow’s Bird of Prey Centre in Knockholt runs a similar kids falconry experience giving you a chance to meet and feed owls, hawks and vultures. Also, check out Leeds Castle’s Bird of Prey Centre, located behind the maze, which hosts a variety of species, from the smallest American Kestrel to the largest Russian Steppe Eagle.
8. Meet Knole Park’s majestic wild deer
There is more than 600 years of history attached to the National Trust-owned house at Knole Park in Sevenoaks. The elegantly restored palace certainly wears its age well.
But it is outside that children find the real attraction of Knole, for the estate is home to 350 deer which roam fearlessly and free across the 1,000-acre site. In fact, deer have been on the site for as long as anybody has lived here.
Go for a walk, take the dog (although they must be kept on leads at all times), or get the bikes out, and you will catch a glimpse of these most graceful and attractive of wild animals, in their own habitat.
If you visit in Autumn, you might catch The Rut, when bucks (the male deer), full of testosterone, mark their territory in dramatic fashion. Expect plenty of strutting, scraping of antlers, and rolling around in their own urine.
Remember: while deer might appear to be friendly, they can be unpredictable and aggressive. After all, they are wild animals and shouldn’t be approached, touched or fed.
9. Pet goats
In 1989, Bob Hitch took in two goats from the RSPCA. Ever since, he’s continued to offer sanctuary for goats that have suffered from cruelty, neglect and starvation, or simply abandoned by the roadside. He now has so many goats (more than 100 now call Bob’s place home) that he sought charitable status in 2003, encouraging our donations to keep up the good work.
Set in ancient parkland, Buttercups Sanctuary for Goats is a chance to stroll among the throng of enclosures, and get up close to animals normally only witnessed from afar.
The loving creatures have suffered a tough start in life. Many arrive at Buttercups with malnutrition, skin conditions or foot rot, their relationship with humans understandably full of mistrust. Yet, as a visit will attest, many recover – not only in reaching full health once more, but in building their confidence around their fellow earthlings. As the Sanctuary’s website says, “here their ‘hurts’ can be treated, and their experience of cruelty is replaced with understanding and trust.”
Get your wallets out: The charity relies entirely on our generosity so encourage the kids to donate some of their pocket money.
10. Cuddle your farm favourites at Kent Life
One of the highlights of a visit to Kent Life, the charming 28-acre park nestled alongside the M20 on the outskirts of Maidstone, is the chance to cuddle up to some of your farmyard favourites. The venue actually breeds a range of animals, from sheep, pigs and rabbits to horses, guinea pigs and ducks.
They all live in historic outhouses dotted around the site. That means you get to experience a real working farm and get really close to the animals you love. As part of a daily activity schedule, visitors can go to Cuddle Corner to feed and groom the animals and learn more about what they get up to every day.
While you’re there, check out the Vintage Village where Kent’s agricultural history is brought to life through a series of reconstructed buildings that transport visitors back in time.
After, work your way back to the car park via the impressive children’s play area.
Go online: Kent Life runs a series of special events during the holidays. Plan ahead and check the schedule.
For more great ideas for spending better time with the kids in Kent, buy a copy of 237 Ideas for Stuff to Do and Places to Go in Kent with Kids.
