Nature Play Garden

Enjoy our all-new sensory garden that will inspire kids and their grownups to share their own home yard with pollinators. The garden teems with visual delights, from the bright gold of sunflowers to the dusky blue of lavender and sage, with dottings of pink, violet, scarlet and vermillion. Torch lilies tower over delicate asters. But it’s also designed to stimulate other senses. Fuzzy yarrow and spiky aloe rub shoulders with stiff grasses and soft leaves. Seedpods rattle, bees hum. Scents drift along pathways, from smoky sage to sweet mint. And you can almost taste the sun-warmed lavender.

We all belong in the natural world and are connected to it. Little Explorers Nature Play Garden can be enjoyed by guests of all ages and abilities (and is included with admission and membership). Guests can build and experiment with natural components such as sticks, wood blocks, bark chips to create freely at the Builder’s Deck.

Heavy as velvet, a bumblebee bounces over yellow coneflower petals. Next door a golden honeybee dives headfirst into a red salvia blossom to sip. And across the pathway, a hummingbird zips and chitters. We’ve been adding plants constantly since last year and is already buzzing with pollinators.

Designed for young children, Little Explorers Nature Play Garden has elements that encourage curiosity and wandering. How are those balancing skills? Test them on our low balance course for kids to practice their motor skills (age-appropriate and safe for ages 3-5).

Pathways that curve invitingly into play circles, the garden is shaped organically, all rounded edges. Big rocks invite sitting, secluded corners offer quiet play spots and mulched pathways encourage wandering discovery. Experience nature play elements like stepping stones for hopping and logs for climbing and sitting to encourage curiosity, exploration and discovery.

Visit the stage in the Nature Play Garden for close encounters with small animals and insects. Zookeepers host live bug presentations. Meet bugs, like a Chilean rose tarantula, tobacco hornworm or emperor scorpion, and discover the important role that bugs play in our daily lives.