Family Activity: Atlanta Botanical Garden

Atlanta Botanical Garden, featured in Atlanta Magazine’s Best of Atlanta and named one of 20 All-Time Favorite Gardens by Country Gardens Magazine, is a colorful oasis packed with children’s activities suitable for a stay-cation day, for tourists or for summer campers.

Highlights for kids include a Children’s Garden, the Edible Garden and the Keneda Canopy Walk.  The Children’s Garden has slides and a beloved Sunflower Fountain where kids can splash and play. Don’t forget the bathing suits!  The Edible Garden has cooking classes for children and adults alike.  The Canopy Walk, considered the only one of its kind, is a 600-foot-high path through hickories, oaks and poplars, with views of azaleas, camellias and bulbs below.

Family and kid-specific events are scheduled throughout the year, including a story time.  Atlanta Botanical Garden’s summer schedule includes Turtle Tales, Put a Bird on It and A Honeybee’s Life. Summer camps, for ages 4 to 10, include the sessions Sprouting Chefs, Habitat Explorers, Junior Garden Chefs and Adventures in the Garden. Children can explore nature, find out about where food comes from and learn to prepare fresh fruits and vegetables.

It’s not too late to explore the Garden’s spectacular springtime show, Atlanta Blooms! 300,000 Watts of Flower Power. A dazzling array of colorful bulbs is on display through April.   In conjunction with Atlanta Blooms! is Garden Gates, an exhibition of works by Andrew T. Crawford. The iron gates by Crawford, an Atlanta resident who has long worked with the Garden, include curves, abstract shapes and representations of flowers or birds.

The Atlanta Botantical Garden’s history dates to 1973.   In 1996, Garden Design named Fuqua Conservatory one of the top three in the United States. The Canopy Walk, Edible Garden and Cascades Garden opened in 2010 as part of an expansion that nearly doubled the Garden’s size. Blockbuster exhibitions at Atlanta Botanical Garden have included Chihuly in the Garden (2004), Locomotion in the Garden, Trains Across Georgia (2005) and Moore in America, a display of bronze outdoor sculptures by Henry Moore (2009) with the hit Garden Lights, Holiday Nights debuting in 2011.

For visitor information, directions, hours, ticket details and fun interactive maps that can help get children involved in planning a visit, visit Atlanta Botanical Garden’s website.

1345 Piedmont Avenue NE
Atlanta, Georgia 30309
404.876.5859

Connect with Atlanta Botanical Garden:

• Atlanta Botanical Garden website
• Atlanta Botanical Garden Facebook page
• Atlanta Botanical Garden on Twitter