In my this year’s post How to throw a kids´ birthday party you could read, that if you don´t feel like organizing a party in your home, there are other places where it is possible to organize a birthday party where all the decoration/program/meal will be taken care of. One such unusual place is undoubtedly a donkey farm.
One donkey farm is not so far from our place, but I wouldn’t have known about it if my friend´s son hadn´t wished to celebrate his birthday on a farm. So my friend stretched all her strength and found a great place – the donkey farm of the Müller family.
Getting there
You can find the farm at Eggen 16, 3365 Seeberg in the Oberaargau region in the canton of Bern.
About Eselmüller
Although on the donkey farm in Grasswil you can not only celebrate your birthday, it is not a “public zoo”. The main goal for many years has been to build a relationship between humans and animals as meaningful free time activities for children as instructed by the Swiss Federation of Equestrian Sports (SVPS). *
In addition to birthday parties, there are various courses (such as the first steps on donkeys or horses) and seminars (for other donkeys owners) being held here. Anyway, after a prior phone call, you can spend a pleasant afternoon in the company of the local donkeys, have tea, coffee and a small snack.
How is the party going?
In the incredibly beautiful sunny, but very cold November afternoon, invited friends of the birthday boy came to Seeberg. The owner is a very nice lady (obviously used to dealing with children) and clearly explains what is going to happen today.
Normally, the donkey rider can´t be heavier than 30 kilos. The kids can´t wait to ride the donkey! But it is cold, that turns out to be the problem. Too cold for the donkeys (about 5 degrees)! Donkeys are desert animals loving warmth, which means they are pretty nervous today. The ride would be dangerous, so the owner chooses the B Plan – a walk around the farm. Surprisingly, kids are happy with this decision. The lady brings the tools to the kids and they set immediately off to work: they comb the donkeys, rub them behind their ears, and prepare them for the walk. By the way, did you know that the donkeys must wear shoes? The kids learn more interesting information during the afternoon, which they didn’t know.
When the donkeys are ready, the group set off for a walk. Every two children have their donkey and proudly cross the field. They all forget about the cold, although some are looking forward to having a cup of hot tea 🙂 Back on the farm, the donkey shoes are removed and they are rewarded with little pampering (we’re on birthdays, right ?! ) and the kids finally enter the pleasantly heated room.
A small room is specially equipped for children’s celebrations. Each child has a plate in front of him and a small cup of sweet candies. There is plenty of syrups, punches, coffee, tea, water. A bowl of mandarins and apples is on the table. The kids are enjoying their sweets.
Then the light went out. The lady is in the door, she has a beautiful chocolate cake with burning 5 candles (at this moment, the proud mom of the birthday boys has tears in her eyes, but there is no time to be moved, the little fellow is looking forward to his gifts :)). However, gifts have to wait, since the donkeys are hungry too. All are going to feed them and add hay. Everything is done soon and the birthday boy has finally gotten his gifts.
And finally, the most important thing (because I hear your question about how much this fun costs). The price is 25 francs per child, 10 francs per adult.
My thanks
My thanks goes to Pavlína, as a co-author of today’s post and the top photographer and, of course, to her birthday boy for inviting our son to his great birthday party! 🙂
*http://www.eselmueller.ch
