Welcome to The Children's Garden

Welcome to the Children's Garden

The Place for Curious Kids!

Our Mission Statement

To provide children with a safe enriching enviroment that fosters a child's spirit of discovery, love of learning and joy of exploration through hands-on educational programs and community-wide events and celebrations.

Our Goals

The Children's Garden will:

• Rehabilitate a vacant lot into a community garden
• Create a garden space specifically designed for children
• Conduct educational programs
• Allow children to explore, discover, and investigate the natural world.

Organization

The Children's Garden is a project of The Ohio State University Extension/4-H/Master Gardeners, and the Allen County Historical Society.  It is a privately funded effort to establish a public garden space designed for children.  The Children's Garden offers children hands-on educational opportunities to learn about gardening and horticulture, and provide children, families, and the community with an attractive gathering place.

Volunteers

A key ingredient for the garden's success is the trained volunteers.  OSU Extension trains volunteers every year through the OSU Master Gardener Program.  Master Gardeners receive 50 hours of horticulture training, and in return for their training are required to give 50 hours of volunteer time back into the community.

These volunteers are an invaluable resource providing the majority of labor for the development and upkeep of the garden.  It is imperative for the community to actively volunteer at the garden along with the Master Gardeners.  As the garden grows, so do the responsibilities and work of the volunteers.

Physical Facilities

The Children's Garden is located in the 600 block of West Market Street.  It sits between the parking lots of the Allen County Museum and the Lima Public Library.  The geographical location of the garden creates a unique opport6unity to solidify an informal educational campus that includes the museum, children's museum, and library.

 Welcome to the Children's Garden!