Scenes from the Garden

Wow, what a summer – beautiful weather, two incredible new outdoor play spaces, and thousands of families to enjoy them! Before summer is officially over, we wanted to share some of the wonderful moments staff observed in our Children’s Garden over the past few months:

I saw a mom in The Climber with her daughter – both having a blast. The daughter coached her mom on ways to stretch her body to move over and under the platforms.
– Jennifer Laurelli, Development Director


• Five kids of different ages were fully engaged in a hula-hooping contest while their grown-ups watched. They were really good! One of the girls, about 7 years old, twirled four hoops at once, around her neck, waist and arms.
• During a field trip, a wave of young Head Start children joyfully scurried over The Climber, excited by their discovery.
• A mom was seated on the stone wall, practicing her ukulele while her kids climbed. I loved that she was giving them time and space to play and explore on their own!
– Megan Fischer, Marketing & Public Relations Manager


Sand Diver
A little girl – about 3 – perched on the edge of the sand pit wearing the paleontologist goggles. She bobbed up and down, flexing her knees. "Ready?" she said. I said "One. Two. Three. Go!" She held her nose and jumped headfirst into the sand pit. I applauded. "Again!" she said clamoring out. "One. Two. Three..." In she dove again.

This went on for a number of sand dives. At one point her face landed pretty deep in the sand and she emerged with sand covering her nose and mouth. She wiped it off and gamely jumped again, but was more careful to keep her head up a bit after that. Clearly she was mastering beginning swimming skills and transferred her new abilities to a different medium – sand!
– Janice O’Donnell, Executive Director

Stay tuned for some staff reflections on what our garden and its incredible new environments have meant, for us and for our families.