The 4-H Children’s Garden at Michigan State University is amazing! It features 56 individual theme gardens that can be experienced right from the comfort of your own home through their virtual tour.

Okay, so you can’t smell the herbs in the Pizza Garden or make your own music on the dancing chimes but with all the fun interactive elements it is the next best thing to being there. Click on a garden area to get started. Zoom in to pan 360° around you. Click the little garden cartoon characters (hidden throughout the garden) to access a surprise educational game or a story time video. The red apple provides information for parents and teachers. Whenever you see the little professor (Dr. Norm), he will share a video of interesting information about the garden you are in currently. As you wander through the garden, you will also see a hand labeled with various words sprinkled throughout. The hands contain a video of the American Sign Language sign for that word. There are 60 different garden-related sign videos.

If you cannot make a trip to the 4-H Children’s Garden, you can still go anytime. A visit is just a click away and while you are there, you will get many great ideas for a kid’s theme garden of your own.