Children's Discovery Garden

The Children's Discovery Garden is an enhanced natural landscape designed to encourage imagination and play within a broader cityscape environment. It is located in Sister Cities Park, which was renovated in 2010. At that time, archaeological excavations revealed that the land was once the site of a potter's field. In the nineteenth century, the same land was used by the U.S. Sanitary Commission (which later became the American Red Cross) to host a Great Central Fair intended to raise money for supplies for the Union Army during the Civil War. Today, the park and the Children's Discovery Garden emphasize experiential learning and a connection to nature within an urban cultural landscape.

The Children's Discovery Garden contains a winding stream and pathways with rocks for climbing, along with an educational garden. These landscape elements were inspired by the streams and mountains of the Wissahickon Valley, a natural gorge that extends for seven miles along the Wissahickon Creek in northwestern Philadelphia. The Children's Discovery Garden is part of Sister Cities Park, located within Logan Square (also known as Northwest Square until 1825). One of the main features in the Discovery Garden is the manmade boat pond and wading pool, where children can bring or rent small toy sailboats. Nearby, the park's Earth Fountain features ten geyser-style water-spouts representing Philadelphia's sister cities around the world. During the autumn and winter months, the boat pond closes, and the land is transformed as an Imagination Playground to further encourage creativity and unstructured play.

Additional features were recently added to the landscape. These include a tunnel log, which was made from a fallen silver maple tree estimated to be 150 to 160 years old. The log was rescued from the Fairmont Parks Organic Recycling Center by the Philadelphia Parks and Recreation Department. It was hollowed out and installed in the garden, along with stepping-stone rounds made from the same tree. A platform and play nets were also installed near the peak of the 'mountain' in the Discovery Garden, and there is a new stream dam, where children can learn to redirect the course of the water flowing within the stream. A sensory-friendly twig nest was also added to the trail leading up to the playground's mountain. Each of these elements was designed to facilitate learning and experimentation within a safe space that seamlessly blends both natural and manmade landscape elements.

Some features, such as the tunnel log, are open only during the fall and winter, while other features, such as the boat pond, are open only during the warmer months between late April and October. Because the Children's Discovery Garden and Imagination Playground are proximate to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and other area cultural institutions, the site is often a stopover for families and school groups on route to or from local museums. Weather permitting throughout the year, a traveling library book cart is open in Sister Cities Park, and there are 'pint-sized' Adirondack-style chairs available for children to sit and read near the Discovery Garden.

Children's Discovery Garden, Center City District Foundation. Accessed January 8th, 2023. https://centercityphila.org/parks/sister-cities-park/childrens-discovery-garden.

Logan Square, Preservation Alliance. Accessed January 8th, 2023. https://www.preservationalliance.com/explore-philadelphia/philadelphia-neighborhoods/logan-square/.

The Children’s Discovery Garden at Sister Cities Park: An Urban Oasis for the Kids (and Adults), The Constitutional. July 31st, 2018. Accessed January 8th, 2023. https://www.theconstitutional.com/blog/2018/07/31/children%E2%80%99s-discovery-garden-sister-cities-park-urban-oasis-kids-and-adults.

Pavilion and Children's Discovery Garden at Sister Cities Park, DIGSAU. Accessed January 8th, 2023. http://www.digsau.com/projects/sister-cities.

Discovery Garden Enhancements, Center City District Foundation. Accessed January 9th, 2023. https://www.centercityphila.org/foundation/our-work/sister-cities-park.