Prairie Farm

I had quite a bit of fun seeing these animals. It was a nice day & the animals were cooperative with all my picture taking practices. Grounds are well kept & animals seemed socialized.

Landmark Review:
This is a great place to bring your kids which rivals Lamb’s Farm up in Libertyville. In some ways it is even better. Well kept, clean, and lots of up close experience with animals. This is owned by Champaign Park district. It has a petting zoo with lambs, donkey, and small goat which you can visit from 3 – 5 pm everyday. Otherwise you can see horses, pigs, peacock, chickens, and even turtles. There is a small playground area off to the side that little ones will like. All and all fun for little kids and best of all free! Donations accepted to help feed the animal if you feel incline.
Hidden deals:
FREE

Accepts donations. Make sure you wear shoes or boots when you go into the petting portion of it. Don’t feed the animals. It’s small and has a few members of staff. Animals I saw: peacock, turkey, horse, goat, donkey, cow, sheep, duck, rabbits, emu, turtle, and pig.

I really have no idea what category to put this in. It’s kind of like a zoo but in farm form. As far as I know, this used to be an actual farm but got changed into a farm zoo of sorts when the area started to develop.
Basically this establishment is run by the Champaign Park District. They’re open in the summer for families to stop and see farm life (horses, sheep, llamas, ponies, cows, geese, goats, pigs, bulls, chicken, koi fish, turtles, bunnies). They even have a petting zoo and little playground for the kiddos. The petting zoo is only open from 3 – 5 pm though.
It’s not that big but neither is Champaign. When I went last (many, many years ago) it was free and accepted donations.
They also doa summer program for kids who learn how to run a farm and help take care of the animals. I did this for a few years when I was a child and it was really, really fun… Except for when you had to feed the bulls and you felt like you were walking to your death, clinging that hay to your chest while the volunteer leaders assured you it was okay but just make sure not to run away or make any sudden movements…
Make sure to bring close-​toed shoes, the won’t let you in without them.
This place may have changed SIGNIFICANTLY since I’ve been there last (which was in the 90’s.) but I remember it being a wonderful summer spot as a kid.