Follow the yellow brick room into a land of enchantment & make-believe where little pirates can sail the high seas on The Pirate Queen, fairies can have tea in fairyland & kids can climb towards the clouds in our tree fort! The Woodland Cafe waits in Hobbitville for kids to create mud pies or mud cakes, the rain forest beckons kids to run through the cool mist & our costume room welcomes kids to dress up for creative fun! We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and public charitable organization and rely on admission and donations to support our mission, which is to keep kids connected to nature. We do so through fostering imaginative play as well as offering weekly nature and art programs for children. We hope to see you soon!
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Hours of operation
Tuesday through Friday: 10:00am - 4:00pm Saturday & Sunday: 10:00am - 5:00pm Closed Mondays |
Admission
Adults and Teenagers 13 years & up: $10+tax Children 3 years & up: $6+tax Children under 2: free |
Don't forget! Each week we offer 20% off admission prices on Thrifty Thursday, where adults get in for $8+tax and children get in for just $5+tax!
- Saturday, November 26th at 10:30am – 1pm Reading Into The Holidays! Local book authors Sara Jonas, Melissa Mangiapanella, and Joan Marie Condon will be joining us for a very special storytime today!
- Wednesday, November 30th, 11am Leaf Squirrels A great craft for little hands - We'll color in our squirrel with crayons before finding autumn leaves to glue on the page for a bushy squirrel tail.
- Saturday, December 3rd, 10am - 11am Candy Cane Hunt! This Annual Event at the Garden is our sweet way to kick off the holiday season. Grab your scavenger hunt in the gift shop and solve the clues to find all of the hidden candy canes, then enjoy your treats while you color your Gingerbread House.
- Tuesday, December 6th, 11am Nature Ornaments We’re using recycled cardboard and gathering nature finds with yarn to make our woven ornament craft this morning.
Saturday, November 26th at 10:30am – 1pm
Reading Into The Holidays!
Local book authors will be joining us for a very special storytime today!
Each author will be making a craft to go along with their stories, and all books will be available for purchase afterwards as a great holiday gift! This event is included with the cost of admission for garden members.
- Sara Jonas, author of “Ham's Big Adventure," will read her story on the stage at 10:30am,
- Melissa Mangiapanella, author of "Pea-ple of the World," will be reading at 11:30am, and
- Joan Marie Condon, author and founder of The Children’s Garden, will join us on stage at 12:30pm for a reading of "Snuffy, the Beautiful Dragon"!
Each author will be making a craft to go along with their stories, and all books will be available for purchase afterwards as a great holiday gift! This event is included with the cost of admission for garden members.
Candy Cane Hunt!
Saturday, Dec 3rd, 10am-11am
This Annual Event at the Garden is our sweet way to kick off the holiday season. Grab your scavenger hunt in the gift shop and solve the clues to find all of the hidden candy canes, then enjoy your treats while you color your Gingerbread House. This event is included with admission and free for garden members, no RSVP needed.
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Click here to learn about our annual memberships!
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December's Newsletter is Now Available!
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Have you heard about our little plant nursery called Frog Fruit Farms? Now for Sale - your favorite plants from the garden and more! Pink Ball Dombeya that's ready to bloom, rooted fig trees in pots, succulents, bromeliads and more! Get a gift certificate today to buy plants, or use in our giftshop and admission! All sales support our nonprofit mission, "Keeping kids connected to nature!" Thank you!
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Birthday Parties at The Garden |
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Looking for a space to celebrate more safely with a small gathering? The Garden is completely outdoors with lots of room for your party of up to 24 guests. To make your party even more special, check out our Nature Add-Ons, unique and whimsical crafts & activities where we handle 100% of the prep and the mess! For more information on parties, visit our page here.
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Program Events:
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Check Out Some Of Our
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Keep updated with us by signing up to our email and following all our Social Media accounts!
Click the image to go to our Facebook Page! |
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Click the image to go to our Twitter Page! |
The Children's Garden & Art Center is where the magic and fun begins!
Explore! Imagine! Make-Believe!
Nestled just north of downtown Sarasota, a hidden gem waits to be explored. The Children's Garden & Art Center is a two acre garden that is both whimsical and enchanting. Take a look at our map and see what's inside! Please note this is a computerized image of the garden we are very natural & interactive garden!
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Just like "Alice", kids and adults alike will feel as if they have fallen down a rabbit's hole to "Wonderland"! Magic begins at the yellow brick road where entering the jasmine covered tunnel "The Black Pearl" awaits for little pirates to set sail, the Amazing Maze turns and twists down paths of intrigue and the Fairy Garden welcomes all fairies and elves for tea under the mushrooms.
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Down the winding path you will find the Monster Garden where our giant green dragon "Snuffy" resides with her other fun & unusual monster friends.
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The 3 little pigs dare any big bad wolf to blow their houses down in our Butterfly Garden. Next door is our Caterpillar Cottage which hosts lots of birthday parties and celebrations with it's "Snow White" theme and twinkling lights.
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Nature, gardening and art classes are taught weekly at the garden to nurture and teach children the beauty in Mother Nature. Whether it is our "Art Rocks" class, our "Munch Crunch Grow Your Lunch" class or our "Nature Explorers" class to name a few, our mission is to keep kids connected to nature at The Children's Garden & Art Center.
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Sarasota's #1 Place For Having Your Child's Birthday / Celebration
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The Children's Garden is an enchanting place to host your child's birthday party. Where else can kids dress up in costumes and make believe in a safe, multi- themed & natural environment?
There are many whimsical and interactive themes available to host, including a Fairy Tea, A Pirate Party, a Can You Dig It Party and more! More Info... |
Discover one of Sarasota's best kept secrets, where the children inside all of us can come out to play, explore and imagine the possibilities of wonderment and fun! Check out our calendar.
The Children's Garden was created in 2003 by Joan Marie Condon who wanted a special place for children to come and leave the electronic world behind and discover new adventures in the natural world. Together with her husband David, artisan sons Ray and Roy and daughter Robin Fulk, The Children's Garden is a small piece of wonder, a place for creative play and to find magic in Mother Nature.
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The Children's Garden & Art Center became a non-profit 501 C (3) and public charitable organization in the fall of 2009. We do yearly fundraisers for "All Faith's Food Bank", the "Humane Society of Sarasota" and "Make-A-Wish Foundation". Our wish is to continue our education classes in hopes of teaching our children to become good stewards of the earth. Help support this safe haven for children of all ages!
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