The Children's Garden and Art Center of Sarasota
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: $5+tax Children under 2: free |
MASK POLICY & COVID SAFETY: Children and vaccinated adults are not required to wear masks, however, we are kindly asking unvaccinated adults to wear masks during their visit. We encourage social distancing & hand washing! Thank you for helping to keep our small team safe & other guests!
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 $4+tax!
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Fri, October 15, 10am – Mon, October 18, 12pm
Spooky Plant Sale Auction Are you dying for some more plants to kick off the holidays? Join us for our online plant auction featuring lots of unusual & rare plants. This special auction helps support the garden and the kids we serve, so thanks for bidding! Thank you to the Lakewood Ranch Garden Club for their donation of plants! Visit 32auctions.com/spookyplantsale to bid or purchase. Wed, October 20, 11am – 12pm Pumpkin Painting Come and paint your own pumpkin to bring home! (This event is first come, first serve as supplies are limited.) Big thanks to St. Clair Butterfly Foundation for their generous donation of pumpkins! Fri, October 22, 11am – 1pm Rock Painting with Sarasota Rocks Sarasota Rocks is joining us for this fun activity - Bring a $5 cash donation and bring home three Halloween rocks! Tue, October 26, 11:00am – 11:30am Step Into a Story Today, we're reading "Witches Four" at the garden stage. Then, we'll decorate paper witch hats! |
October's Newsletter is now available!
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Are you dying for some more plants to kick off the holidays? Join us for our online plant auction featuring lots of unusual & rare plants. This special auction helps support the garden and the kids we serve, so thanks for bidding! Thank you to the Lakewood Ranch Garden Club for their donation of plants!
Our online auction will be hosted at www.32auctions.com/spookyplantsale and items will be available for bidding as well as "buy now". |
Update: This event is now sold out! Thank you to everyone that purchased tickets!
Calling all goblins, ghosts, witches & fairies to our 18th Annual Halloween Celebration, featuring interactive Halloween activities that celebrate nature!
We are Daring to Share this Holiday season with a portion of our proceeds benefiting All Faiths Food Bank.
General admission included with ticket price, no RSVP needed!
- Nature Mask competition -Create a Halloween mask out of recycled and natural materials at home and wear it to the party - The best mask wins a prize!
- Embark on a Spooky Scavenger Hunt through the Garden, then visit our Witch Garden for your trick-or-treat bag, if you dare... Get creative and make a nature ornament for our Halloween Tree!
- Spend $1 per raffle ticket and enter to win an awesome Halloween Basket packed with spooky and slimy surprises.
- The Junior League of Sarasota will be providing Spooky Spider Sandwiches.
- As a sweet treat, Ben & Jerry's will be here to pass out scoops of their yummy ice cream while supplies last!
- Halloween candy generously donated by Publix.
We are Daring to Share this Holiday season with a portion of our proceeds benefiting All Faiths Food Bank.
General admission included with ticket price, no RSVP needed!
Join us for spooky cupcake decorating with sprinkles and frosting, then craft your own PlayDoh googly-eyed monsters. Our Monster Mash music is ready to go! Reservation is required for this event. Cost is admission plus $5+tax for each child participating. Garden members only pay for the craft.
Stay tuned for more spooky fun this October!
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Birthday Parties at The Garden |
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! |
Click the image to go to our Instagram Page! |
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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