The Gardens Experience
Lena Meijer Children's Garden
Lena Meijer Children’s Garden is a family-friendly garden for kids of all ages— a place to have fun together learning about plants, animals and sculpture.
At five acres, it is one of the largest Children’s Gardens in the nation, and it is completely wheelchair accessible—even to the highest point of “Tree House Village”. It is open all year round and is planted with plants which give four seasons of color and interest throughout the year.
This garden focuses on gardening, wildlife and nature found in the Great Lakes Region.
The ten themed areas include the Kid-Sense Garden, Great Lakes Garden, Story-Telling Garden, Wooded Wetlands, Rock Quarry, Log Cabin, Tree House Village, Sculpture Walk, Labyrinth and Butterfly Maze. All the areas are highly interactive, such as The Kid-Sense Garden where there are areas devoted to the five senses and guests are invited to taste, touch, smell, see and even listen to the plants! The Rock Quarry contains “living fossils,” distant relatives of plants that were growing during prehistoric times. Children are encouraged to dig for “fossils” and to learn about the geology of the Great Lakes area. In The Story-Telling Garden, flower beds are planted with plants to help tell a story or nursery rhyme such as Mary, Mary Quite Contrary, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Hickory Dickory Dock and more. The children can read stories in the Story-Teller’s Hut or act out a play on the stage of a mini-amphitheater. In Tree House Village, children experience being in the trees and learning about insects, woodland wildlife, birds, trees and even pretending to live in a tree house.
PALs or Play Activity Leaders are on site to help show children more than they would see or experience on their own. Activity carts for one-on-one interaction with a knowledgeable adult and props such as boats, shovels, puppets and other materials are handed out to the children to promote fun-filled educational learning.