We invite kids of all ages for celebration of the groundbreaking of our Children’s Discovery Garden on Saturday, April 18. The groundbreaking ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. with special guests and dignitaries, but the celebration will include activities throughout the day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Tulsa Wind Riders Kite Club will be on hand flying their colorful, unique kites from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visitors can bring a kite to fly or decorate and assemble their own at a kite-making station at the celebration. Kids can create art to help decorate construction fencing and make their own Spring Giant mask (a feature of the Children’s Discovery Garden). Families are encouraged to bring a picnic lunch to enjoy around the Garden’s lake. Tulsa Girls Art School will be on hand plein air painting throughout the festivities.
The Children’s Discovery Garden will encompass almost two acres in a fantastical “wonderland” garden environment offering experience-based learning opportunities for children and families. The focal point of the garden will be the Stream Valley, with the water source emanating from the Spring Giant, a 15’ rugged stone face entered through a hidden grotto. The Meadow will offer exploration of trails through tall grasses and flowering perennials as well as larger-than-life insect whirligigs hovering above. A grove of post oaks, at the highest point of the Children’s Garden, will house the Tree Fort, offering vantage points through windowed portals set among the tree limbs.
The Children’s Discovery Garden is the second of four gardens to go under construction as part of a capital campaign announced in November. The A.R. and Marylouise Tandy Floral Terraces, a formal ornamental garden, is slated to open in October 2015. The Children’s Discovery Garden is expected to open in spring 2016.
