Queens Botanical Garden’s Childrens Garden
Experience the beauty of Queens Botanical Garden (QBG), the place where people, plants and cultures meet. Set on 39 acres in the heart of New York City’s largest borough, the Garden is an oasis of green space serving our nation’s most ethnically diverse county. More than 60 years after its birth as an exhibit at the 1939 New York World’s Fair, QBG continues to welcome an international audience with rose, bee, herb and perennial gardens, changing displays and public programs accessible to all. Our award-winning Visitor & Administration Center catapulted QBG to national recognition with LEED® Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. This is one part of QBG’s master plan, which exemplifies the Garden’s mission of environmental stewardship and fostering cultural connections.
From March through October, the HSBC Children’s Garden is a fun and exciting placewhere children spend hands-on time planting, playing, observing, and learning in a nurturingenvironment. Our spring, summer, and fall sessions are filled with enthused kids ages 5 to 12
from the entire New York area. The young gardeners explore concepts of ecological balance,sustainability and conservation through gardening, recycling, nature study and craft activities.
During the spring, our young gardeners spend Saturday mornings preparing the garden by
turning the soil, planting seeds, weeding, and of course, doing a lot of watering! This 11-week
class is a wonderful adventure into gardening, showing students the whole process from seed to
table.
The summers are also filled with exploration. Children take care of their flowers and vegetablecrops in the morning, learning skills such as watering, cultivating, staking, harvesting and ofcourse cooking from what we grew! We plant new vegetables and learn how to create theirown
viable compost. The students spend the afternoon exploring the entire Botanical Garden byusing bug boxes to collect invertebrates from our biotope, cooking in a solar oven, taking flowerwalks, digging for worms and other creatures, creating bird feeders to take home, and much
more. Different guest instructors join us throughout the summer.
Fall gardeners, who come for weekend drop-in programs have a lot of harvesting to do! Duringautumn there are four sessions. You can come to all four or just choose the ones that suit yourschedule. We make scarecrows, learn to cook with our harvest, create bird homes and of course plant our fall bulbs. , This is a great chance for the children to also see how the summer crops grew.
QBG also hosts public programs throughout the entire calendar year that offer engaging
programming for children and families that showcase cultural connections and environmental
43-50 Main Street , Flushing, NY 11355. 718-886-3800 (x230 for the Children’s Garden).
Operating Hours: April-October: 8-6pm; November-March: 8-4:30pm
