A Children’s Discovery

Garden

Letting Nature build Bridges at the

Jerusalem Botanical Gardens

Politically and culturally neutral, it can provide a meeting point for children whose deepest and healthiest instincts draw them to the same age-old getting-wet-and-dirty activities. By inspiring wonder, it can give youngsters a sense of their own place and belonging in a larger, unifying web of life, and a sense of what’s really important.

And there’s more. Israel is a tiny country sitting astride three continents. It is a recognized biodiversity hotspot, whose natural treasures are under huge urbanizing threat. Jews and Arabs share responsibility for its environmental problems. It is only by working together that they can effectively reverse the trends.

The starting point has to be the next generation of adults. The challenge is to entice youngsters down from their high-rise apartments to the verdant ground.

Because the child who has sat in a tree and delighted in the play of light on the leaves in a breeze is more likely to fight against uprooting the wood down the road, or the rainforest on the other side of the world, when he or she is old enough to actually do something about it. As nature educator David Sobel points out: "One transcendent experience in nature is worth a thousand nature facts.”

Whither the land of Israel?

Did you have a secret childhood space? Perhaps a tree house, a rock, or a den?

Ask today’s Israeli children what they most enjoy doing, and like their overseas counterparts, they will talk about their Play Stations and digital screens.

Direct contact with the soil has declined in modern Israel. Jews and Arabs are leaving the countryside for the urban life. Youngsters in both communities spend more time indoors, in sedentary virtual pursuits. Child obesity is rising.

And yet research shows that direct experience of nature is critical to a child’s healthy development - unsurprising, given that for most of human history, children have learned to be creative, to solve problems, and to cooperate with others in natural settings.

In Jerusalem, a city divided along ethnic, religious and linguistic fault lines, nature has a uniquely healing role to play.

The Jerusalem Botanical Gardens – with its expertise in plants, education, and coexistence

activities - is the ideal location for what will be the first Children’s Discovery Garden

in Israel.

This flagship project will attract three to 12-year-olds from all walks of life

precisely because it will start from what children instinctively

love to do in nature…Look for secret places; build dens; “hunt and gather”( search for and collect things); create miniature

worlds; climb; get dirty; play out fantasy adventures…

, different layers of experienceThe Children’s Discovery Garden will offer

from plenty of play, to tracks and trails, opportunities for quiet

observation, and guided activities

, from activity sheets and kits distributed at the different mediaIt will use

Botanical Garden’s entrance, to activity symbols embedded into a

special new path

into account, encouraging children’s developmental stagesIt will take

empathy with nature in tots, exploration in primary school children, and

eventually, the taking of environmental responsibility

, from all sectors of societyreach out to all childrenAnd it will

“Start from the children, not the problem” David Sobel

The Concept: Plants in the Web of Life

plants underpin all life Beyond having a great time, the Botanical Gardens hope that children will one day grasp that

on Earth.

To help them, the Discovery Garden will break the great story of ecology down into a series of simple, constituent

parts to show the interaction between plants and the elements around them.

Nine activity environments will be linked by a specially designed path. The environments are:

Water -- Sun -- Rock -- Up in the Trees -- Down to the Roots -- Seeds-- Maze -- Butterfly Garden -- Field

Location within the Botanical Gardens: right in the middle. A loop trail will take visitors from the upper car park through the North American, Australian and Asian sections, passing the tropical conservatory.

The entire path will measure 910 meters. The first stage, for which initial planning has been completed, will measure 460 meters. All environments will have “outdoor classroom ” spaces.

Timescale: 12mths for detailed planning and tender; 12 months construction.

The designers: Tsurnamal Turner Landscape Architecture, Ido Bruno Exhibit Design.

The Children’s Discovery Garden

Rocky Treewalk The Path Roots Waterworks Intro

The J

eru

sale

m B

ota

nic

al

Gard

ens

Childre

n’s

Dis

covery

Gard

en

F I E L D

Stage 1 460m

Stage 2 200m

Stage 3 250m

Total: 910m

Activity environments – Stage 1a

Rocky Treewalk The Path Roots Waterworks Intro

The J

eru

sale

m B

ota

nic

al

Gard

ens

Childre

n’s

Dis

covery

Gard

en

“Rocks” and the start and finish of the

canopy walk are accessible from existing

paths; a small section of the new path will be

laid to connect the canopy walk with

the roots exhibit.

Rock

Miniature World Rock environment - plan

Rocky Treewalk The PathRootsWaterworksIntro

The J

eru

sale

m B

ota

nic

al G

ard

ens

Childre

n’s

Dis

covery

Gard

en,

June 2

009

Miniature

World

This will appeal to children

who explore life’s challenges

by setting small toys into their

own imaginary stories. Mini

landscapes will be provided by

adding Lilliputian features and

plants to a collection of

boulders of different types.

Desert stone shelter

Rocky Treewalk The Path Roots Waterworks Intro

The J

eru

sale

m B

ota

nic

al

Gard

ens

Childre

n’s

Dis

covery

Gard

en

Marine area - Lighthouse Miniature Rock environment - details

Surprise! – Dino Fossil

: Two boulder climbs will Boulder climboffer physical fun for ages 3-5, and 6-12.

A repository for :Rock and soil sortingdifferent stones, and various types of soil, will encourage young diggers to get to work, as well as provide for activities on the adaptation of plants to different soil types.

area will be located making-denA

in a nearby clearing

Washing facilities will be provided

Building dens

Climbing boulders

Sorting stones

Additional “Rock” exhibits

Up in the Trees

The discovery path becomes a 95-meter

, that loops in Canopy bridgeand out of a dense cluster of trees in the Garden’s tropical Australia section, reaching a height of five meters.

Treewalk – Entry Perspective

Rocky Treewalk The PathRootsWaterworksIntro

The J

eru

sale

m B

ota

nic

al

Gard

ens

Childre

n’s

Dis

covery

Gard

en,

June 2

009

The Path - “Up in the Trees”

Rocky Treewalk The PathRootsWaterworksIntro

The J

eru

sale

m B

ota

nic

al

Gard

ens

Childre

n’s

Dis

covery

Gard

en,

June 2

009

The bridge will feature:

Nesting boxes for birds

Three ‘human nesting boxes’ (tree houses)

on different levels, and of different sizes,

each with numerous openings through

which to observe flora and fauna.

View from east

Treehouse I

Treehouse II

Play area

Nesting boxes

Treehouse III

Play elements

such as a

rope bridge, ladders and a slide, will keep the more adventurous of the children well occupied.

Plant roots sustain the master recyclers, without whom we would all have drowned in the waste of living things a long time ago.

The Children’s Garden will lead young visitors ‘underground’ to play among the roots, in

) for swinging on, ‘soft roots’ (ropesthis case down-harder ones (possibly upsideand

for crawling through. )trees

The Roof of this underworld will serve as a for visitors to refreshment and viewing deck

the children’s garden and the adjacent Tropical Conservatory.

Down to the Roots

Activity environments – Stage 1b + path

Rocky Treewalk The Path Roots Waterworks Intro

The J

eru

sale

m B

ota

nic

al

Gard

ens

Childre

n’s

Dis

covery

Gard

en

Water: Discovery deck

A new discovery deck will invite children to cross a watery world (the pond requires total overhaul) where they can touch and

explore the plants, and the relationships with creatures such as dragonflies.

Water tables on the lower level of an

adjacent two-level wooden look-out (also in

need of total repair) will keep tiny tots

occupied, while their parents supervise from

the level above.

The Path - into water area

Rocky Treewalk The PathRootsWaterworksIntro

The J

eru

sale

m B

ota

nic

al G

ard

ens

Childre

n’s

Dis

covery

Gard

en,

June 2

009

Interactive water sculpture

The surrounding rock wall will feature a specially-designed ‘water

tumbler’ sculpture. Children will operate levers to direct an existing

waterfall down through a series of moving elements.

Boat racing

Pictures for illustration only

Canals and dams

Hand pumps and watering

cans

Water tables

A series of tiny canals will allow children to play with water and to direct it by

building and moving dams.

Pint-sized hand-pumps will enable little ones to fill watering cans and to ‘water’

plants.

An existing stream will be earmarked for racing small vessels, from little ships

brought from home to boats made from plant-based materials.

A system, in which plants filter water, will be installed, conveying an important

educational message. The Health Ministry is expected to approve this water

for play in 4-5 years. In the meantime, a UV filter system will be in place.

Boat racing

Water use: Israel is in the grip of a severe water shortage. Water used in the

play exhibits will be part of circular systems filtered either by plants or UV. Run-

off water will flow into the Garden’s existing Lake, helping to offset water lost

there to evaporation

The path will link the activity environments, and

supply the project’s identity and backbone.

Made of high quality cement segments, it will also be

an exhibit, with embedded materials, texts,

games, activity hints (“look for something

interesting, in summer”), and introductions to

approaching stations (eg. water’s effect on rock

in the approach to the water station)

The discovery path

Leading the visitor into the stations

Walk the rocks!

Water ahead..!

Illustrating natural phenomena

Texts and games

Clues for trails

There’s something to see here…… In summer!

A new strategic plan for the Gardens will be

underpinned by “geography, diversity (in all

its forms) and the relationship between

plants and humans.”

Under the masthead “Plants Grow People” new

programs are being developed to reach out to

groups from a wide range of backgrounds

and ages from Jerusalem, Israel, and

overseas.

Some 70,000 children, Jewish and Arab

alike, currently visit the Gardens, either with their

classes, their families, or with

organizations such as community centers.

A special Jewish-Arab coexistence project, now

in its fourth year, brings classes from both

communities together for ten hands-on, plant

–related activities, ranging from spice and

perfume production to making olive oil.

Explanatory signs,

in Hebrew and English to date,

are gradually being translated

into Arabic

A major new trail will explore the role of plants

In the literature and practice of the

three monotheistic religions

Arabic as well as Hebrew-speaking guides

are being trained for the growing number

of children coming for group activities.

A new young environmental leadership

program is being planned to heighten

awareness and encourage community

action among Jewish and Arab teenagers.

A pilot event celebrating Id El Fitr (at the end

of Ramadan) sent an important message that

the Gardens are open to all

“Plants Grow People”

Established as an internal university garden in the 1950s, opened to the public in 1985, and expanded in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Gardens constitute a non-profit organization governed by six bodies: the Hebrew University, the Jerusalem Municipality, the Jewish National Fund, the Jerusalem Foundation, the Kaplan-Kushlik Foundation, and the Friends of the Botanical Gardens. Friends’ associations are active in Israel and the UK.

The Gardens:

Exhibit some 10,000 plant species in six geographical sections, plus a tropical conservatory and a herb and medicinal plant garden. This is the largest plant collection in Israel.

Attracted 180,000 visitors in 2010, more than double the number in 2008

Protect endangered plant species from Israel and elsewhere in the world.

Educate thousands of schoolchildren in plants and the environment via an education department, and the Ministry of Education’s on-site Agricultural School

Educate the general public about gardening, nature preservation and botany via events, tours and courses.

Train professional gardeners in professional gardening and botanical practice.

Test and acclimatize plants (especially drought resistant ones) for the horticultural industry

The Jerusalem Botanical Gardens

Thank you

Copyright © 2010

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means other than for the

purpose of raising funds for the Children’s Discovery Garden at the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens.

הגן הבוטני האוניברסיטאי ירושלים

The Jerusalem Botanical

Gardens