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IT'S NOT JUSTFOR KIDS!

Children's Garden Opens - for the Season - June 14 thru Sept 27, 2008
Open for pre-scheduled tours and special event days only

2008 Children’s Garden Events

June 14 – Opening day 10am-4pm  

June 21 – Youth and Children’s Garden Celebration Day
10am-4pm --- Join Jellie Bellie the Clown from 11am-1pm, get the children fingerprint ID for safety, have cake to celebrate the Children's Garden's 5th birthday with us, and take home a plant for each child.

June 27 – Lady Bug and Lightning Bug Night ---See what you missed this year!
Friday Night 7pm-10pm --- Join us in the Children's Garden as we release lady bugs (or if you know their new name; ladybird beetles), make a bug box to catch bugs, embark on a bug treasure hunt, chase lightning bugs and eat sweet bug treats! Of course, kids will take home plants for their bugs to live on at home!

June 28 & 29 –Open for Garden Tour – Hours same as Garden Tour - LAS Fundraiser

July 12 – Faerie Festival
Saturday from 10am-4pm come to the Children's Garden on this magical day and be a Faerie! Be in the pavillion by 11am for a magical show from Rick Fisher of Colon, Michigan. And be sure to catch the Shari Rarick School of Dance girls dancing at noon. Make all sorts of Faerie dust and wands and even a miniature Faerie garden to take home. Look for Faeries in the Faerie house and garden and taste the ripe raspberries right off the canes. Be sure to dress the part or make your faerie costume during Faerie Fest!

July 26 – Soakin’ Saturday
10am – 4pm is a very wet day in the Children's Garden! It is a great day to run through the sprinklers, after all, this is strictly prohibited all other days. So dress up in your favorite bathing suit, grab a towel and some sunglasses and get wet! Stay cool with other wet activities like making giant bubbles and playing in the egg fountain or making sand castles in the sandbox. As always, take home a plant of your very own that can get wet, too!

Aug. 2 – Butterfly Day
10am-4pm See butterflies released into the Children's Garden.

Aug. 16 – Discovery Day
10am-4pm Discover composting! Make a worm box to take home and feed the worms your garbage to help throw out less of your trash at home and help the earth.

Aug. 23 - 24 – Planes, Trains & Automobiles
(Saturday 10am-4pm & Sunday Noon-4pm)

Sept. 13 - Pet Owner Awareness Day
10am-3pm

Sept. 27 – Scarecrow Jubilee
10am-3pm

...And October 25th from 5-8pm for Haunted Garden

General Garden Admission:
For the rest of the summer, ALL Ages are Free!

Any and all donations are appreciated to help us keep the garden in working order. Thank you!

(*There are still admission costs for special groups at hours other than our Special Event Series)

For more information contact the Leila Arboretum Society at 269-969-0270 x120.

Meet our Youth Education Specialist, Nancy Gertz!

I attended Michigan State University and received a BA and MA in Curriculum and Education.  I enjoyed teaching on the elementary level in East Grand Rapids for 20 years.   I was fortunate to be able to teach young fives through fifth grade during my teaching career.  After retiring from teaching in 2002, I became the Executive Director of Big Sable Point Lighthouse in Ludington, Michigan.  It was exciting and fun working for this popular nonprofit organization. I have two adult children and four beautiful grandchildren.
I love working with children of all ages and I am thrilled to be a part of the staff of the Leila Arboretum Society. Educating children and nurturing nature and the environment is important to the survival of our planet.  The Children’s Garden is an exciting and beautiful place.  I look forward to watching the garden bloom and blossom, just as the children who enter it will.

“If you are thinking a year ahead, sow a seed.  If you are thinking ten years ahead, plant a tree.  If you are thinking one hundred years ahead, educate the people.”    Kuan – Tsu, 3rd Century BC 

See How the Children's Garden Has Grown in Five Years!

Kids, Curiosity & Connections!
Plants affect every aspect of our lives because all living things are connected. The Children’s Garden is a one-acre site that through delightful, engaging guided programs or self-discovery, makes this connection real. Plant-related activities in this safe, easily-accessible environment encourage kids to use all their senses to connect plants to the sciences, history, literature, and the arts. The Garden’s many Battle Creek and Michigan-themed features are kid magnets! The Garden opened in 2003 and has a classroom, restrooms, drinking fountain, and a bright new pavilion, providing wonderful shelter for programs and private gatherings.

Discoveries to be made at the Children’s Garden

Cupola Science Plaza
Q. What is a cupola?
A. Cupolas are small structures, usually a dome on top of a building. They can be used to view long distances, aid ventilation, or just for looks.

The cupola at the Children?s Garden once stood proudly atop a famous fieldstone sanitarium in Battle Creek where people could go to rest and recuperate in the early 1900s. Caring people gave it a new home and today it is a fun place to gather in the Garden to enjoy a snack, learn something new, and make new friends. It is surrounded by four mini-gardens that share Battle Creek’s special link to the health food industry.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Garden
Q. Where do peanut butter and jelly come from?
A. Peanut butter comes from peanuts and jelly is made from fruits, including strawberries and grapes. These foods grow in the Children’s Garden! If you come when the strawberries are ripe in June or the grapes are ripe in August you can have a taste!

Healthy Me Area
Kids can make connections to the role that plants play in making their stomachs happy. The centerpiece of this area is a giant salad bowl garden with four mini gardens nearby.

Q. Mmmm. Good stuff goes into the making of a pizza. Do you know what it is? Who ate the missing slice of veggie pizza in our Pizza Garden?
A. (We know, but we’re not telling! Come find out for yourself.)

Q. What makes your soap and shampoo smell so good? It can’t be something from a plant, can it?
A. Yes, it can and at the Spa Garden you can smell for yourself!

Q. Your parents tell you to eat your veggies because they are good for you. But do you know which vegetables are the most nutritious? Is broccoli on the list?
A. (Come find out in our Top Ten Veggies Garden and eat up!)

Q. The people who lived in Michigan a long time ago did not have prescriptions for pills or lotions when they felt sick or had an injury. What did they do to get well?
A. They used herbs and other plants, many of which we still use today. Some of them are right here in our Healing Herbs Garden.

Cereal Bowl Area
A visit to Battle Creek would not be complete without learning about cereal. Here children can see where cereal comes from and grind their own grains and corn.

Rain and Shine Garden
Q. Is it really true that you can tell time with your body and the help of the sun?
A. Yes, it is true. Try it and see.

Balloon Overlook
Q. What does a hot air balloon have to do with a garden?
A. Plenty, when the garden is in Battle Creek, well known for its hot-air balloon events. Our replica of “Bob’s Cat” honors one of the city’s most famous balloons!

The Rot Zone
Q. Would you believe that worms and rotting fruits and veggies are important to our world and even to the gardens we grow?
A. Believe it or not, worms are wonderful! The Worm House is a favorite place for children visiting the gardens.

There are still many more areas for exploration and delightful discovery in the Children’s Garden we haven’t described. Come be captivated by the Butterfly Garden and learn about the lifecycle of these fluttering friends. Watch children squeal with glee to find that there are plants that perform, look like animals, or have names from A to Z. There are plants that became a part of popular stories like Jack and the Beanstalk and even gardens that are made beautiful with stones, water, and carefully-chosen colors.

Have a Private Party in the Children’s Garden or Arboretum!
Children’s Garden and Leila Arboretum sites are available for birthdays, ceremonies and private events for families, adults or children with adult supervision. Call to discuss arrangements for special events and see information elsewhere on this website.

Children’s Birthday Parties: Reserved under pavilion. Call 969-0270 ext. 116 to discuss rates and items.

Other Nature and Plant-Related Opportunities for Children
Each year, through Arbor Week, during the last week in April, people across the country and around the world, celebrate the life-benefiting role that trees have in our lives through Arbor Week. Programs are offered every day amid the beautiful trees of the Leila Arboretum to help students appreciate their glory. How do trees function? How do they help clean our air? Why is the shade they provide important? What if the world had no more trees? How can we tell how old a tree is? Why do we have so many different kinds of trees? Students take home tree seedlings to begin their own contribution to making the world a healthier place.

If you would like the help of Leila Arboretum Society staff to plan an activity in the Horticulture Training Center, the greenhouse, Arboretum, or Children’s Garden, please call 269-969-0270, Nancy at x120, Stacey x124 or Sue K. x116.

Our proud sponsors: Kraft Foods