Camden Children’s Garden

We’ve been with our children a few times now. 2 Girls (8 and 6) and a boy (6). They absolutely love it. It’s a mini Longwood Gardens targeted towards children. Just enough for them to explore and learn. Love the addition of the splash pad too! The staff is very friendly as well.

Had a play date here yesterday with my 2 year old son and his friend who is almost 2. This place is awesome! My favorite was the butterfly house. Of course the kids enjoyed the train ride and the carousel ride. But to see them enjoy the water sprinklers was my favorite part! Definitely will be bringing my son back and would recommend this place especially for toddlers. It’s not Disney world but it’s a great place to visit.

My Grandchildren and I were there on 4^th of July explore the gardens and watch the fireworks and we enjoyed ourselves. The Grandkids had fun on the inflatable giant slide, carousel, playground and exploring the various gardens. They also enjoyed making bracelets with beads. Every staff member was friendly and patient with the children. I was most impressed by a coworker there by the name of Andrew. He was so delightful and kept his pleasant personality while multitasking. I would be overwhelmed with the work load he had that day but he remained delightful and attentive… that alone would have me and my family go back to the Camden Children’s Garden again!

An endorsement from the target audience: my three-​year-​old daughter loves this place and asks to be taken here all the time. I’m usually happy to oblige because it’s a perfect place to enjoy time outdoors when the weather is nice. She can run and play in a safe and engaging environment, and it’s not like somewhere like Sesame Place where you have to run around frantically to ensure that you get your $ 40-per-person’s worth. This place is $ 6 a pop and the pleasures are low-​key: there is a carousel, a train, tunnels to play hide-​and-​seek in, scenes from fairy tales like the three little pigs’ houses, the tea party from Alice in Wonderland, and giant’s chair from Jack and the Beanstalk, a little playhouse with toy food, musical instruments to play, fountains in the summertime, a sandbox with dinosaur «fossils» in the bottom, stuff like that. It seems like every weekend there’s some themed event with craft tables or exhibits; one time, for instance, a paleontologist from the state museum was there with a giant mastodon femur that he had dug up, and there are holiday events like a Halloween trick-​or-​treating parade. Employees are friendly, grounds are full of flowers and shady trees (lots of nice willows to sit under). Been here many times, will be back many times.

So Cute! The staff was incredible!!! Andrew and the staff were so attentive and helpful! We had our daughters 5^th Birthday there and was so excited that we had so much space to explore. We had infants to 6 year olds and each age group enjoyed it. I will definitely go back so that we can explore since we spent more time hosting. Definitely more enjoyable if the weather was sunny since its all outdoors but if not just plan accordingly for the weather.

I went there today with my 16 month old daughter for a birthday party. She had a great time. We rode the train and got on the carousel. There were activities all over such as design your own cookies. It’s a beautiful garden and think it’s perfect for children 6 and under. The restrooms were clean as was the rest of the garden.

Date of Visit: August 2014
Another reviewer used the word «Quirky» to describe this place and they are right, it is very quirky! We attended on the Pirate, Princess and Peach day and had a great time! I think some of the other reviewers were perhaps expecting a bit too much and therefore missed out on the charm of this place. Here are my thoughts…
Price: Cheap! $ 6
Atmosphere: Again, quirky. Laid back. Very friendly staff members. Excellent for young children… my two year old loved it, but I imagine that my 7 year old nephew would have been bored.
What I liked: We attended on an event day which I think added to the fun of this place. I would definitely recommend going on a day that they host an event. I really liked the little amphitheater and Snow White show they performed. I also really liked that they had a lot of picnic space and that the park had a lot of shade. The butterfly house had an attendant that was able to identify the different types of butterflies and even offered up sprigs of butterfly bush to visitors to lure butterflies.
What my daughter liked: The carousel, the water sprinklers, the butterfly house, the train ride & the Snow White show.
Final Thought: It costs $ 6 to get into this place, it’s not Disney World, and I think it was worth every cent of those $ 6.

Sadly, a place which could be very cool and interesting but is run-​down and sad looking.

Its cool because its at least one playground remaining [in the current wave of children-​oriented play sites] which doesn’t ‘look exactly like every other playground’. In contemporary times – whether its from too many lawsuits, too many parents unfit for their roles; too much news-​media scare-​mongering, or maybe we’re just in an age where people thrive on pointless anxiety – whichever – the landscapes we bring our kids to for recreation these days are disturbingly uniform, homogenous, bland, conformist, and sterile. Yes. That’s the ultimate result.
See, every kid these days constantly wears a protective helmet; every kid has blinking sneakers to track them at night; every child is kept on a springy leash… and when we let them out for ‘structured play’, it must be pre-​arranged that all the objects they might encounter are ‘movie-​inspired’; ‘designed-​by-​committee’; curvy and bright; and molded of rubber, foam, and non-​shattering plastic. Mass-​produced by a handful of faceless companies. Heck– have parents started surgically inserting RFID transponders under kid’s skin (like pet-​owners do with dogs) yet? Its all so. overly-​safe. Where is there left any «strange terrain» for young minds to explore and discover on their own? All intrigue is removed from the typical playground environment. All surprises have been taken away. All ‘mystery’ gone.
Well. Not that’s not the case, with this little site in New Jersey next to the State Aquarium. Its got a whole different aesthetic. Its old-​school; its perplexing and quirky. Fodder for the imagination. Somehow, a little personality crept through. At least this «Children’s Garden» LOOKS like something. LOOKS just a little bit different. Kinda like the long-​lost Hansel’n’Gretel playground designs (which are practically forbidden at this point).
Its a playground that reminds children that they are children, rather than lab experiments. No, its not ‘less safe’ in any way from anywhere else you might take your offspring – its a very harmless, gentle habitat. But the value of taking your toddlers here (and other places like this) is that they might grow up with some sense that the world has variety. Maybe they’ll wind up remembering you once took them out for tiny adventures; when they’re grown-​up.

Maybe I had such an underwhelming time because I went in the fall… but this place is downright creepy. It was dirty, standing water everywhere, and just seemed very run down.
There wasnt much to do here. The butterfly house was kinda tiny and we didnt see many butterflies. I didnt see a snack stand anywhere. The Christmas decorations were shotty and dirty.
I might try and go back in the Spring.