Sneak peeks this month

Unique Kids' Garden at Botanical Garden

The new attraction at the Missouri Botanical Garden is billed as a "children's garden." But, it certainly doesn't look like any garden most of us have seen. It's more like a jam-packed miniature theme park.

This month, local kids and their families will get weekend "sneak peeks" at the "Doris A. Schnuck Children's Garden: a Missouri Adventure." The garden is located just west of the Climatron.

The grand opening is slated for May. But, on each Saturday and Sunday in April, families will get preview looks at the attraction.

Weekend hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. There will be chances to meet the garden's new frog mascot, appear in a video guest book, listen to live music and buy souvenir photo buttons. (To learn how the frog mascot got his name, see sidebar below.)

Although there's more work to be done, the construction is far enough along to provide a unique experience. Young Saint Louis.com got a preview tour last month and here are some of our reactions:

The garden is actually a series of four themed paths, the "Discoverers' Path," the "Adventurer's Path," the "Botanist's Path" and the "Settlers' Path."

Each path is personified by famous Missourians.

Lewis and Clark and the Indian Sacagawea are the discoverers. Mark Twain is the adventurer. Henry Shaw, the founder of the Botanical Garden, is the botanist. And Daniel Boone is the settler.

Portraits of the Missourians are at the entrances of the paths. Then, each path winds through the two-acre site. They are packed with places to explore and things to do.

The Town Jail

On the settlers' path, there's a covered bridge, a climbing rock, a general store, a surveyor's office, a town-square gazebo, the town hall and the town jail.

There's even a "family plot," which looks like a miniature graveyard. The "gravestones" aren't for people. Rather, they are for native plants and animals that have either been wiped out or endangered by human settlement.

Also, the jail cells will feature "invasive" plants that were brought in by humans and drove out some of the original native plants. On the botanist's path, there's a tree trunk pavilion, a "stump" station, an overhead tree house, a pollination garden, a giant beehive and Henry Shaw's secret garden.

The adventurers' path starts with a spelunker's slide that sends you into a manmade cave. There is also a levee, a logging camp, a flowing river, a steamboat, a beaver dam, a swamp and a frontier fort.

The discoverer's path includes rope bridges, a pond, an Osage Indian camp, a discovery platform and even a working lock and dam on a stream.

YSL.com's guide was Karen Hagenow. She said the Botanical Garden wanted the Schnuck garden to be "a look back in time."

And, whenever possible, items from the past were incorporated into the garden design.

For instance, there's an elaborate tree house that was built over still-living 100-year-old Osage orange trees originally planted by Henry Shaw. Some of the wood for buildings in the frontier village actually came from buildings of that time.

The garden is targeted for kids from 2 to 12 years of age. There will be interactive activities that will appeal to kids of all those ages. And there is plenty of climbing and lots of places to search.

Admission for kids three to 12 will be $3. Adults will be admitted free so they can accompany their kids.

The long-range plan is to have the children's garden open daily through October. The garden will be open only on weekends in November and March, weather permitting.

Once the garden is complete, the Town Hall can be rented for kids' birthday parties.

Construction of some garden features weren't complete when YSL.com had the tour.

But, it was easy to see that the "Doris I. Schnuck Children's Garden: A Missouri Adventure" will be a hit with kids. And, it will appeal to the adults that accompany them.

The Missouri Botanical Garden is a popular "destination location" for adult visitors. The kid's garden certainly will add lots of family visitor appeal.

Frog mascot gets a name: "Finn" Eleven-year-old Rachel Downing of O'Fallon, Mo., was the winner of the contest to name the frog mascot for the Doris I. Schnuck Children's Garden. Her suggestion: "Finn." Rachel Downing with Missouri Botanical Garden President Peter Raven and the frog mascot, Finn. Over 500 kids from over 20 states submitted entries in the naming contest. The contest was open to kids 12 and under. Rachel wrote on her entry: "The name reminds me of Huckleberry Finn and Mark Twain. They were both from Missouri. And, it's also fun and easy for kids to say." The 6th grader at Frontier Middle School gets a complimentary one-year pass to the Children's Garden. She was on hand Saturday, April 1, for the garden opening. Rachel will be listed as the first official Children's Garden visitor.