Kids at Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Japanese Hill & Pond — A NYC Family Day Trip

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden is a great destination for a short day trip or outing with young children. There are no playgrounds (though Prospect Park is nearby) but there's plenty of space to run, interesting nooks and crannies and paths to explore, and marvelous smells and colors.

Best of all for young children is the lovely Japanese Garden.

Japanese Garden: More than a Pond, a Cultural Experience

Most American children have never experienced anything like Brooklyn's Japanese Garden.

It has winding pathways. There's a large pond. Kids can clamber around on a charming wooden viewing pavilion, and watch the turtles and fish swim by underneath. They can sit on a sheltered wooden bench near the waterside. Or run over a tiny footbridge and see a waterfall, then hide along a petite path through the top of a miniature hill. It is altogether a place of fantasy and imagination.

Five Cultural Elements that Children May Enjoy at the Japanese Garden at the Brookyn Botanic Garden

Here are five distinctive features of the Japanese Garden at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden that are worth noting and discussing with children:
1. wooden bridges
2. stone lanterns
3. wooden viewing pavilion
4. the Torii or gateway
5. the Shinto shrine

Plan Ahead: Three Ways to Make a Kid's Game of Visiting the Japanese Garden

If you're coming by subway, make a day of it and bring a book about Japanese children and culture.

Kids love art projects; bring a small drawing pad and some crayons, and let them capture the moment.

Or, prep with the kids for the visit by making a small list of unusual things that they will see, and what they might mean.

According to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, their Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden "is one of the oldest and most visited Japanese-inspired gardens outside Japan." It's well worth the visit!

Other Attractions for Kids at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden

There's a cafe at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, exciting tropical and desert environments indoors at the Steinhardt Conservatory, and lots of wonderful indoor exhibits. The Shakespeare Garden is also charming.

To top it off, the Garden Shop has an almost irresistible selection of kids gardening books, seeds, gardening accessories, crafts and project kits.

Contact the Brooklyn Botanic Garden to learn about their hundred-year old Children's Garden.

School and other groups should coordinate in advance with the Brooklyn Botanic Garden staff.

Where It Is

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden is in Prospect Heights, near to the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Central Library, Prospect Park, and Park Slope.

• Brooklyn Botanic Garden
• 900 Washington Avenue
• (718) 623-7200
• Trip Planning Information for Visiting the Brooklyn Botanic Garden