5 Botanical Gardens Great for Kids

Across the United States, botanical gardens add features to appeal to young visitors and spark their interest in nature and plants. Special sections are designed to appeal to children with activities; play features; sensory experiences; and plant tricks, such as green walls and arbors with hanging gourds or fruit inside.

WOW Children’s Garden at Norfolk Botanical Garden features world-themed splash fountains and Discovery Peak, where visitors can see, smell and touch edible plants as they climb. The world theme continues at Plant Safari, where gardens for various habitats engage kids with daily programs, scavenger hunts and discovery stations.

Denver Botanic Gardens uses the roof of a parking garage for Mordecai Children’s Garden, where native plants grow in landscapes representing different zones, such as Alpine tundra, mountain forests, prairie and wetlands that change with the seasons. Kids can walk through hollow tree trunks, plant flowers and learn about the landscapes of Colorado.

In the outdoor Children’s Garden at U.S. Botanic Garden Conservatory in Washington, D.C., kids are encouraged to touch, sniff, dig and water plants. Child-sized digging tools and watering cans at planting stations invite kids to plant some themselves. Interactive panels explore useful plants; kids see bananas, figs, apples and tropical fruits growing, and they can even walk through a tunnel of kiwi fruit.

Innovative features at Doris I. Schnuck Children’s Garden at Missouri Botanical Garden include an “aqua-tunnel” under the water-lily pond. Kids can explore an artificial cave and a treehouse, and discover cave life on daily spelunking trips. The edible garden invites them to harvest vegetables and pot plants to grow at home.

Instead of a children’s section, the entire of Bookworm Gardens in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, is designed for families. Favorite children’s books come alive, seamlessly blending literature and nature. Kids can explore Winnie the Pooh’s house, climb aboard the Magic School Bus and meet The Three Bears across 80 different garden spaces.