Share the Love: Chicago Botanic Garden {Grunsfeld Children's Garden}

On alternating days, my boys want to be any of the following, depending on their moods:

1. Jedis
2. Pirates
3. Farmers who fix the pigs mud baths and chase the chickens
4. Horticulturist chefs
5. Biologists who primarily inspect dirt and eat tomatoes

Any combination of three more on any given day is optimal, of course, which is why we've spent quite a few days at the Chicago Botanic Garden's Grunsfeld Children's Garden this summer practicing the art of wielding light sabers and shovels while simultaneously exploring the botany and fauna of the Chicago-area landscapes.

The Grunsfeld Children's Garden, a new addition to the garden as a whole this year, was designed to be an interactive, hands-on, kid-centric garden where children can learn about plant life and the corresponding insects that accompany it through the five senses.

Be it sinking their hands into some soil or sorting veggies into their rightful plant family baskets, watering the garden flowers via spray bottle or slicing and dicing wooden veggies, the Grunsfeld Children's Garden features many interactive activities in which little ones can indulge four of their five senses during activity times. {No, guys, we don't EAT the plants at this garden! Back away from the cherry tomatoes! Sorry.}



Through September 30, 2012, activity times at the children's garden run from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays; best of all they are highly engaging and FREE! {Though, the Children's Garden is open for exploring normal garden hours.}

Our boys have immensely enjoyed all of our trips to the garden, and have often remarked about how it's even more fun than romping around and exploring our own sprawling veggie garden.

Even when I make them put away the light sabers while they water the plants {and each other}.

Also, it's gorgeous.



Bonus: Now is the perfect time to go explore the new children's garden because you can still catch the Butterflies and Blooms exhibit {and it's so much cooler out than during this summer's heat wave}. It's open through Labor Day weekend {2012}, and they are hundreds of beautiful, captivating butterflies inside. My boys were mesmerized, and I've never seen them be quite so careful and light footed.

Fine Print: I'm a grateful Chicago Botanic Garden Ambassador. I blog four times per year about garden happenings. My family was gifted a garden membership through 2013 so that we could explore the garden often and share our experiences. As gardeners and stewards of the land, the CBG is extremely close to our hearts, and we share out of a deep love for the work done there; as always, all opinions are mine.