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November E-news:
• Breaking news: a new mural for the garden!
• New! Magnuson Memories
• The Pollinator Garden has been transformed!
• Thanks to all our October volunteers :)
• Increasing accessibility is our theme for this year's GivingTuesday
• Free garden and nature resources you can use at home
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Breaking News- a new mural for the garden!Today the Magnuson Children's Garden Committee received notification that we have been awarded a Neighborhood Matching Funds Grant for a new, double-sided mural to be created for the large kiosk structure (see photo at left) located along NE 74th St. at the south end of the garden! It will have 3-dimensional features on the Children's Garden side to enable sight-impaired visitors to be able to experience and enjoy the art as much as sighted visitors, which is an important part of our goal to increase accessibility. In addition, our plan for this unique public art project is to work with children and youth from the neighborhoods inside and around Magnuson Park, to design and create the murals to provide a colorful and inclusive welcome to all park visitors. Starting in January 2021, Magnuson artist Sandy Bricel Miller will lead creative sessions with children and youth, assisted by adult volunteers from the Children's Garden Committee, Magnuson P-Patch, King Co. Master Gardeners, and other community members. And of course, all will be done with COVID-prevention protocols to keep everyone safe. Want to be a part of the fun? We'd love to have your participation! Look for more details in our next e-newsletter, and/or contact Emily at magnusonchildrensgarden@gmail.com for more information. |
New! Magnuson Memories
by Lauren Hi! My name is Lauren and I am now in the 7th grade. I went to Magnuson Nature Programs camps when I was younger. It was super fun, and I learned some valuable information from the lessons about nature, fruits, vegetables, insects, animals, etc. I think my favorite program was the cooking camp, when we harvested the food from the garden and then made an impressive meal (with some help!) for our parents. I loved serving the meal to my parents and the other adults, and I remember that I was proud of myself. I learned how to cut food safely, and some other tips that I now use in my cooking and baking. I also loved harvesting food from the garden for the food bank with my sister and cousins, because it felt good and it was really fun as well. I liked making things out of the log pile, and nature arts and crafts too. It was a super fun summer camp to help open my eyes to nature all around me, and I highly recommend it to others! Editor's note: Beginning in 2005, thousands of children from all over Seattle attended Magnuson Nature Programs' camps, field trips, and nature walks. The Children's Garden and a classroom in the Brig building was its "headquarters" for nature science experiments, year-round gardening, and nature exploration, as well as hikes through the Magnuson Wetlands and other natural areas in the park. Though Magnuson Nature Programs ended in the fall of 2017, reading Lauren's memories and feelings illustrates to us all how spending time in nature influences our lives. Thank you Lauren! |
The Pollinator Garden has been transformed!For the past few years, the number of rabbits inside Magnuson Park has increased dramatically, and in the Children's Garden, the Pollinator Garden plants were the ones they snacked on the most! After a year of having a chicken wire fence around the area, which protected the plants but obscured its original butterfly shape, several fabulous volunteers came to the rescue. The creativity and hard work of Children's Garden Committee members Bridget, Debi, and Rita, and community member Claire, has now transformed the Pollinator Garden back into a beautiful butterfly, with brand new plant-filled wings, colorful antennae, and a smiling face - hope you'll "fly by" the Children's Garden for a visit! |
Thanks to all our October volunteersVolunteers have always been the lifeblood of the Children's Garden, and we are so very grateful to all those who have given their time and energy in October to help maintain and improve the garden! A HUGE THANK YOU to Children's Garden Committee members Rita, Carol L., Bridget, Carol F., Tina, Eric, and Becky, to community members Alan, Claire, Hilary, Ameen, Mariana, Arun, and Chris, and to Wells Fargo volunteers Craig, Ting Ting, John, and Gonzalo! Our small volunteer days, with attendees observing all COVID-prevention protocols, have been vital to keeping the garden sustainable. Thanks again! |
Increasing Accessibility is our theme for this year's GivingTuesday
GivingTuesday is a nationwide fundraising events for non-profits, and this year's event is coming up on Tuesday December 3rd. The following article is adapted from our August 2020 e-newsletter, and explains why we have chosen Increasing Accessibility for our GivingTuesday 2020 theme:
For the past 19 years, the Children's Garden Committee has always tried to maintain the garden in ways that allow visitors of all abilities to enjoy as much of it as possible, but we have also grown to understand that it would be a better garden if accessibility was greatly increased. The first big step towards this goal came in 2018, when talented staff from Magnusson Klemencic Associates designed, built, and donated 1 full size and 2 child size wheelchair-accessible picnic tables for the garden. What a generous gift, that keeps on giving to every garden visitor! In 2019, the addition of signage and "Discover Your Garden" self-guided exploration cards in 10 different languages increased accessibility for all visitors in a different way. In the near future, we plan to add Braille to both these features, and to add a new, multi-language entry sign at the crosswalk between the playground and the Children's Garden. All our future garden signage additions will be in multiple languages too! This past summer we added a wheelchair-accessible "Snack House" to the south end of the garden, filled with Raspberries and Blueberries that all visitors to the Children's Garden are welcome to eat. |
Our next accessibility focus is the L-shaped, 2500 sq.ft. space between the "Snack House" and the east and south garden entries, which includes the Log Pile, the picnic tables, the worm bin, the garden shed and sink, and the area around the Grey Whale Garden. The Children's Garden Committee Design Team has been working hard on researching and re-designing these spaces so that visitors of all abilities can move around more easily to participate in garden activities there, and so that we can add many more square feet of raised beds for fruit and vegetable-growing, to provide more learning and healthy snacking opportunities! All funds donated at this year's GivingTuesday event will be dedicated to making this 2500 sq. ft. area more accessible, more beautiful, and more delicious than ever! Keep an eye out in your email inbox for more details and a link to our donation page in approx. 2 weeks, and thanks in advance for your support! |
Free garden and nature education resources you can use at home!
• Visit http://magnusonchildrensgarden.org/kids-activities and download your very own "Discover Your Garden" card in any of the 10 languages, then come to the Children's Garden to do all the fun, self-guided exploration activities on the card!
• Scroll down that page a little further and click on any of the 10 "ladybug links", each of which opens up a new webpage filled with dozens of factsheets, photos and diagrams, and activity pages from "Teacher Emily", which can be used to learn in the living room, or to take a nature adventure in your own backyard or neighborhood!
• Visit http://magnusonchildrensgarden.org/radio-interviews to listen to interviews with kids and adults who are nature experts, chock-full of fascinating facts about Magnuson Park's wildlife, plants, and more!
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• Visit our Facebook page for more Children's Garden photos, links to local and national wildlife-watching sites, factsheets and diagrams, and much, much more!
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