March 13, 2018 – Jenkins Arboretum & Gardens is comprised of many different kinds of gardens with a new one soon to be added. A new Children’s Garden will open this spring near the John J. Willaman Education Center. A committee of Board members, Staff, and Volunteers have been carefully planning all winter to create a unique space designed to engage children in nature through creative play. The garden space is an ideal scale for children; however, adults are also welcome. Not a playground in any traditional sense, this garden has a unique ecologic basis and aesthetics. Special active education programs will also take place in the Children’s Garden.
In addition to bringing young children into a natural environment under a towering tree canopy, one of the goals of the garden is to encourage whimsical and creative play. Using all natural materials found at Jenkins, children of all ages will be able to construct miniature fairy houses, hobbit homes, toad abodes and forest forts. Building materials may be recycled again and again but never to leave the garden. Otherwise, where would the fairies, toads, hobbits and other forest creatures live?