They are not connected with any schools and are simply concerned with leisure activities. Unlike most other European countries, schools in West Germany do not usually cover the pupils' whole day, but close around 1 - 2 pm. Youth Farms and Activity Playgrounds offer their programmes in the afternoon between 1 - 6 pm during school terms, and during school holidays they cover the whole day. The farms and playgrounds are open all year, several days a week. They also decide on their own activities and whether they want to make use of the opportunities offered by the organisers, or whether they want to do something of their own, singly or in groups.
Children form the bulk of visitors to Farms and Playgrounds.
Some places have long experience with therapeutical riding, a form of therapy providing both psychological and physical strengthening in a wide variety of cases of children with a handicap. This is usually carried out in co-operation with schools or homes for the disabled. The opportunities to offer an attractive playground programme are, of course, dependent on the size of the playground, the number of workers and the money available. These conditions vary widely, as the projects are mainly financed by the communities whose financial strength is variable. There are playgrounds with only minimal equipment and others with a good infrastructure.