Sunday, May 29, 2016

Activity: Morton Arboretum Children's Garden







Having heard great feedback on Morton Arboretum, we took a little road trip to Lisle, IL to check it out for ourselves! We didn't even scratch the surface of all the conservatory has to offer and had a great time.  There is a large children's area full of nature and structures to climb, water to play in, slides, mazes, and more!

Here is a picture of the Backyard Discovery Garden from above.  It has a slide, a mister (BIG hit today), and a garden where you can actually water the plants:




There were great signs throughout - some informational, some with tree-themed jokes:





There was no shortage of rope tunnels to climb! And no question where to enter:



Their website has a lot of information and here is a link to their Children's Garden. It has a great video and a visual map on the site to highlight the 10 different areas.

Noteworthy:

  • Bring extra shoes / clothes as kids will most likely go tadpole hunting in the pond (we saw some!) and want to splash and move rocks around in the river.
  • The children's garden is very close to the entrance, which equates to being close to the bathrooms and cafeteria.
  • There are trails to bike and hike! They offer rentals for bikes in summer and skis in winter.
  • Our friends make a ritual of driving in, biking the area, then playing in the children's area.  
  • Our friends mentioned it is fantastic year round and their lights festival in winter (Illumination) is unsurpassed and worth the visit.

Cost Savings:
A membership would pay for itself in just a few visits.

Location/Transportation:
Lisle, IL (Western suburbs)
Driving Directions / Address on their site.

Kid's Jury: 5 stars
Our kids loved it and gravitated mostly to the water areas in the adventure woods. We will definitely go back and I want to test out the snow shoe rentals!

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