The Children’s Garden

A new exhibit opened at the Children’s Museum of Phoenix on Oct. 8. The Children’s Garden is an outgrowth of the museum’s Artist-In-Residence program, which was made possible through a $100,000 grant from the William Randolph Hearst Foundation. The Children’s Garden is located within the museum’s outdoor Move It! exhibit.

The garden is designed in a leaf pattern with seven planting beds and includes one raised leaf-shaped wheelchair-accessible garden. An interactive water pump provides an easy and fun way for children to water the growing garden. Vegetables, herbs and flowers are planned for this one-of-a-kind garden experience, with fruit trees providing a sweet addition to the space.

At the opening day celebration, museum members were able to get the first look at the garden and plant the first seeds. Children at the event planted a seed in a cup to take home and watch grow.

The Children’s Garden was designed and constructed by the team of Joan Baron, Laurie Lundquist and Kevin Moore. Gothic Landscaping supervised the construction of the garden, and the majority of plants and trees were donated by Arizona Wholesale Growers.

The garden provides educational benefits for children of all ages. Children will be exposed to hands-on, messy play in the garden where they will feel the dirt in their hands and the trickle of water on their toes while interacting with the garden components. Many of the activities in the garden will be guided by a garden program facilitator; however, children and their caregivers will also be able to explore the garden independently. As they explore, they will learn the names, variety, types and parts of plants, exposing them to organic and hands-on learning using real items.

The Children’s Garden will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

PHOTOS COURTESY CHILDREN’S MUSEUM OF PHOENIX