Everett Children's Adventure Garden, NYBG

The Everett Children's Adventure Garden at the New York Botanical Garden occupies 12 acres within the larger NYBG campus in the Bronx, and it is purpose-built for children ages 2-11 to explore plant science by doing, not watching. The distinction matters: this is not a garden where children are told to look but not touch. It's a garden where touching, digging, climbing, and investigating is the entire point.

The centerpiece activities include a giant rope spider web climbing structure that challenges kids ages 5-10 to work out routes and take calculated physical risks in a safe environment. A mud kitchen provides real digging and mud-manipulating tools. A bog habitat has a boardwalk where children can examine carnivorous plants — real Venus flytraps, pitcher plants, and sundews in their natural growing medium — which consistently produces the most conversation of any stop in the garden.

The plant tunnels are low crawl-through structures lined with living plants that give kids a worm's-eye-view of the garden floor.

Beyond the active play elements, the garden incorporates genuine science content. The boulder maze teaches about rock formation and glaciology. The plant discovery center has microscopes and plant specimens. Rotating seasonal programming (usually on weekends) includes guided family nature activities that build on the garden's plant science curriculum.

The garden is open seasonally and is best visited from April through October. Winter months see reduced programming and some outdoor areas closing. In spring, newly planted beds make the whole space feel alive in a way that's particularly good for young children who are encountering gardening concepts for the first time.

The Everett Children's Adventure Garden is included in NYBG general admission. Children 12 and under are free on Wednesdays and Saturday mornings. It's the primary reason many families with kids aged 3-10 choose NYBG over Brooklyn Botanic Garden as their botanical garden destination.