Children’s Birthday Parties at Garden Fun for All

Posted in Programs and Events on February 23 2010, by Plant Talk

Suzanne Flanagan is Group Tours Coordinator.

Plates, check. Forks, check. Pizza, check. Candles, check. I’d just finished assembling all the necessary items for the weekend’s party. The brisk early winter morning was a flurry of preparation for Taylor’s 4th birthday celebration here at the Garden. Excitement was building as party guests began to arrive.

First, Taylor and his friends were taken on a private journey through the exhibition at the time, the Holiday Train Show. With whistling train conductors leading the way, the kids chased the locomotives zooming along tracks and across bridges. Next, the group zigzagged through the wild rain forest in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, where they found their favorite plant of all, the cacao tree—this was a chocolate-loving bunch. Afterward, the group was led to the Conservatory GreenSchool for the rest of the festivities.

Making gingerbread houses, creating snowflake ornaments, and potting up spider plants were all on the agenda. The children loved assembling and decorating their houses, dripping them with sweet “snow” and scalloping the roofs with gumdrops and licorice. Creative minds were working fast, as they customized their gingerbread designs. I’m loving the fact that they are still at an age where we can do these activities, they are not obsessed with cool tech gifts yet.

Once the craft activities concluded, it was pizza time! The group gathered in the pizza room to munch on delicious pies from Arthur Avenue’s famous Little Italy. Next, guests got their sugar fix with a cake brought in by Taylor’s parents, who hosted the party.

Taylor and his family were smiling as their guests left the party, with full bellies, handmade crafts, and a pass to enjoy the rest of the day exploring other areas of the Garden. What a great party favor!

While I am longing for winter’s last snowflake to fall, my co-workers and I are busy planning for spring and summer birthday parties, which remind me of when I read The Secret Garden as a child. A whimsical feeling of beauty and nature surrounds the celebrations. Each child gets the opportunity to learn something new and to explore the invigorating outdoor environment either in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden or the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden.

Although warm weather seems like a figment of my imagination at this point, I can’t wait to help future partygoers pick fresh basil from the Family Garden to add to their already mouthwatering pizza slices. The kids will learn firsthand how this herb goes from leafy plants in soil to their tummies. The Family Garden is also notorious for bunny sightings.

Kids of all ages enjoy the “secret spot” up at Adventure Point in the Children’s Adventure Garden, where birthday festivities are exclusive and detached from the activities of other Garden guests.

Friends and families and the birthday child share in the excitement of Garden surprises from season to season. Come celebrate here at the Garden.

To arrange a party, call 718.817.TOUR (8687). For more details, click here.