Auckland Botanic Gardens – Kids Garden

Last week, we went to the Auckland Botanic Gardens with some other Mums from kindy. It was such an amazing place for kids to run around, I can’t believe we haven’t been there before.

The first place we went was to the lake to feed the ducks with the 4 boys running ahead the whole time. The bonus is that there are also huge eels which pop out from under the pond weed, grab a piece of bread and reverse back into the weed again.

Not far from the lake is the Potter Childrens Garden. Circular, full of walkways and mazes and planted to encourage kids to use their imaginations, get moving and learn about New Zealand birds and trees while they’re at it. Some of the fun stuff included:

• a life-size moa you could sit on
• a tunnel made of pungas to crawl through
• a boardwalk bridge curling around a tree
• stumps and planks to jump from one to the other
• a giant birds egg to climb in
• a vege garden and lot of seats and little creative touches

We headed back to the main building for a toilet stop. There is a large cafe but we’d brought our own so sat at one of the picnic tables under a huge covered area nearby. We left exhausted but will be going back very soon.

Get more info on Auckland Botanic Gardens and Potter Children’s Garden.