A new outdoor space connects kids to native plants in Claremont
California Botanic Garden opens Children’s Woodland, a free-form nature play space that emphasizes connections to native plants.
A sensory garden where you can sniff a plant that smells like maple syrup. Hammocks to enjoy the shade of the live coastal oak trees. Sanded chunks of wood to build forts.
The new Children’s Woodland at the California Botanic Garden in Claremont is an interactive playspace for children to connect with native landscapes and habitats. The garden, nestled in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, is home to more than 22,000 native plants.
“ We decided that we wanted the installations to be more sort of freeform and open-ended,” said Lauren Weintraub Stoebel, assistant director of visitor engagement at the California Botanic Garden. “We want kids to find creative ways to be in nature, to discover connections on their own without being too guided.”
The Children’s Woodland is an interactive play space using natural materials at the California Botanic Garden.
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The children’s space has jumping logs, bubbling rock water fountains, and natural building materials so children can create their own structures. Unlike the rest of the garden, which features some rare and valuable native plants, kids can get hands-on with the plants and landscape here.
”It was really inspiring and fascinating to watch the different ways that the kids found to be in this space,” Stoebel said.
The freeform space allows children to be creative in the way they interact with nature.
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Courtesy Andy Torres from Ragano Photo & Video
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The horticulture team at the garden built the space using logs and other natural materials from the rest of the 86-acre garden. They dug a log tunnel for kids to climb through out of an old oak that blew down in a windstorm.
Stoebel said the space was designed to also evolve with the seasons. The next installation will include a “living structure” — a dome that will have plants growing all around it.
There are a lot of things to step over …
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Courtesy Andy Torres from Ragano Photo & Video
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… and sit on.
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Courtesy Andy Torres from Ragano Photo & Video
)
Ashlee Armstrong, director of horticulture, said she hopes the new space allows children to learn to be curious about the nature around them, “inspiring kids to want to be in nature and make a connection with nature, so that we do have stewards for our natural environment in the future.”
How to visit the California Botanic Garden
How to visit the California Botanic Garden
Address: 1500 N. College Avenue, Claremont
Public transportation: The garden is accessible by:
Bus – 5 minute walk from Foothill Transit Rt. 188 stop at Dartmouth Ave. and Foothill Blvd. Train – 20 minute walk or short bus ride via Rt. 188 from the Claremont Metrolink Station.Bike parking is also available in the parking lot.
Current garden hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Varies throughout the year)
Tickets: $15 adults, $11 seniors and students, $5 children 3-12, free for children under 3
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