This summer Kennesaw’s Smith-Gilbert Gardens (SGG) will be the place for families to spend time outside, unscheduled, unstructured and unplugged, when “PLAY…In Nature” opens on June 18. “PLAY… In Nature” is an exhibition of creative, engaging play structures that will inspire families to explore nature in new and different ways. The exhibition runs through Labor Day.
Throughout the Gardens there are different “PLAY…In Nature” activities around every corner. Build, decorate and sail paper boats. Read a storybook in a secret hiding place. Climb inside a human-size birdhouse. Discover the relationship between light and leaf color. Meet a grassy green giant. Reimagine dimension and perspective with garden art selfies. Blow giant bubbles. Swing in the shade. Relax on “chairs of lawn.”
“PLAY…In Nature” was made possible through the generous financial support of lead sponsor Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Cox & Company and ASD|SKY contributed the centerpiece structure “Hide and Seek.” Other collaborators who have designed and built structures for the exhibition include Cobb County Master Gardeners, SGG volunteers and Wheeler High School’s Drafting and Design class.
“Smith-Gilbert Gardens has provided our students the opportunity to problem solve, collaborate and create in an actual design-build project for the community” says Wheeler High School CTAE Department Leader and Drafting teacher Valerie Bolen. “As a teacher, I have been able to incorporate the design competition into my Drafting and Design course curriculum. We have a client and an audience, which motivates the students to use what they learn in class to create an exhibit that can be enjoyed by children and adults that visit the garden. It has been a truly awesome experience.”
As an added bonus for visitors, “PLAY…In Nature’s” opening coincides with National Pollinator Week, June 17-23. To celebrate, the Gardens will open their popular summer exhibit “A Garden With Wings,” featuring a butterfly house and pollinator garden, also on June 18. A Garden With Wings runs through the end of July. It promises to be an awesome summer at Smith-Gilbert Gardens!