If you live anywhere near Perth’s southern suburbs and you haven’t been to Cubby Kiosk at 11 Acre Farm yet, put it on the list. We’d heard about it for months before we actually made the trip out to Forrestdale, and it’s now firmly on our repeat-visit list, which for us is the real test of whether somewhere is worth the drive.
Where It Is and What You’re Actually Visiting
11 Acre Farm sits at 448 Nicholson Road in Forrestdale, roughly 45 minutes south of Perth’s CBD. It’s a working hobby farm rather than a purpose-built attraction, which you can feel the moment you walk in — there’s fruit trees, garden beds, open lawn, and a fair bit of dust if it’s been dry.
Cubby Kiosk is the farm’s casual food-truck-style café, and it sits right next to the free playground and Cubby Lane, the little play village. There’s also a more formal restaurant on site called The Good Paddock, which we’ll get to, because the two often get mixed up.
The Free Playground and Cubby Lane
The playground itself doesn’t cost anything, and it’s genuinely large — climbing structures, slides, a sandpit and a timber cubby house, all spread over enough space that it never feels cramped even with a decent crowd. Our kids happily burned a few hours here without us once suggesting we move on.
Next to it is Cubby Lane, a little mock village of themed cubby houses — think a tiny hair salon, a doctor’s surgery and a fire station — built for kids to duck in and out of. Ours found the make-believe shops more exciting than half the actual play equipment, which says a lot.
The Animal Paddock Is Separate, and It’s Not Free
This is where a few of the reviews we’d read got a little vague, so it’s worth being clear on: the playground is free, but the animal paddock behind it is a separate, paid experience. Feeding the animals is a small outlay, and it’s genuinely good value if you’ve got little ones who love getting up close to a sheep or a pig.
We fed the animals on our visit and spotted the usual paddock residents — sheep, a donkey, and pigs are confirmed regulars according to 11 Acre Farm’s own site, and we also came across rabbits, chickens and a peacock wandering around, though which animals are out and about can vary a bit from visit to visit. Either way, not going into the paddock doesn’t take anything away from a visit — the playground alone is worth the trip.
Eating There: Cubby Kiosk vs The Good Paddock
This part genuinely confused us the first time, so here’s the short version. Cubby Kiosk and The Good Paddock are run out of the same building by the same team, but they’re two different experiences. Cubby Kiosk is the relaxed, walk-up option — coffee, burgers, chips, that kind of thing — served Wednesday to Sunday from 7:30am to 3pm, no booking needed, and you eat wherever you can find a spot on the lawn or at the picnic tables.
The Good Paddock is the sit-down restaurant next door, with a proper menu and table service, and it does take bookings. The two menus aren’t interchangeable either — you can’t order from the Good Paddock’s dine-in menu as takeaway, so know which experience you actually want before you turn up hungry.
If you’re planning a visit during the school holidays, go in expecting queues. We turned up on a holiday afternoon and found the kiosk had already stopped taking orders by 2pm, well before its usual close, and the wait for food that did come out was close to an hour. If you’d rather sit down properly and skip the queue altogether, booking a table at The Good Paddock ahead of time is the safer bet — we learned that one the hard way after walking in with no booking and being told there simply wasn’t a table free.
Parking
We didn’t have any trouble finding a spot. There’s a car park right at the entrance and a second, larger one further in, and even when both looked full there was plenty of roadside parking nearby. Not something we’d factor into the decision either way.
Our Take
For families with kids roughly under ten, this is a genuinely easy half-day out. The playground alone justifies the drive, the animal paddock is a nice add-on rather than the main event, and there’s enough shade and lawn space to bring a picnic rug and just let the day unfold. Our only real gripe is how busy it gets during school holidays — if you can go on a quiet weekday, do.
If you’re building out a bigger day of farm and outdoor activities around Perth, we’ve also put together a guide to Perth restaurants with playgrounds worth pairing with a visit like this, and if the kids enjoy the farm-animal side of things, strawberry picking near Perth and cherry picking at Mr Peter Orchard Farm both make good companion trips depending on the season.