Remember when we played outside until sunset—building forts, climbing trees, and losing ourselves in nature? Today, children often miss out on these simple joys, spending more time on screens than ever. 

Naples Botanical Garden is bringing childhood back to its roots. Three Nature Play spaces—the first in Southwest Florida—encourage kids (and kid-at-heart adults) to romp, climb, explore, and imagine amid the lush world of tropical plants.  

Designed by Garden staff, these playscapes provide a backdrop for endless stories to be invented, acted out, and resumed on a subsequent visit.  

Discover Nature Play

Palm Hop: A felled ficus, craggy rocks, and stair-like stumps beckon young adventurers to test their physical prowess in this extensive open space within the Kapnick Caribbean Garden. They’ll also find baskets filled with nature’s equivalent of a craft closet—bark, blooms, sticks, palm fronds, fallen leaves, and flowers—ready to be transformed into playthings.  

Climb, play, and imagine while exploring the elements in Palm Hop.

Jungle Hollow: Entering this thicket in the Kapnick Brazilian Garden is like stepping into a magical world. Children will discover a curio cabinet filled with botanical treasures, a fairy door, and plenty of nooks and crannies in which to play with friends, whether real or imagined. Kids and parents can contribute to a tapestry of woven fronds, leaves, and flowers using our staff-made nature looms.  

Focus and creativity flourish in Jungle Hollow.

Wonder Circle: The Garden’s popular W.O.N.D.E.R. (Walk, Observe, Navigate, Draw, Explore, Read) program has moved to this shady spot on the Performance Lawn where families can participate in educator-led botanical crafts, games, and enrichment activities.  

Sit and play a while at Wonder Circle.

Benefits of Nature Play

Nature Play is unstructured, child-directed play that takes place in nature and with nature. Although simple in appearance, these researched-backed play areas counter today’s technology-heavy, sedentary lifestyles and encourage tremendous physical, social, and emotional development in children. Through nature play, children gain:  

  • Balance, coordination, and strength 
  • Fine motor skills 
  • A willingness to take risks 
  • Imagination and creative thinking 
  • Emotional well-being and reduced anxiety 
  • Social development and collaborative problem-solving 
  • Family bonding and memory making  
Plan Your Garden Visit

Every Garden admission ticket or membership purchase helps to support Naples Botanical Garden’s conservation efforts.