Family Fun Day at Cranbourne Botanic Gardens

https://www.rbg.vic.gov.au/visit-cranbourne

1000 Ballarto Rd,
Cranbourne VIC 3977

The City of Casey is one of the fastest growing areas within the outer suburbs of Melbourne, and with that comes more playgrounds, more community events and plenty of opportunities for adventure. Even if you’re not local, the events they host are usually excellent and worth a bit of travel time.

Today we went with Mumma Amy and her daughter Bee to the 7th annual family fun day out at the Royal Botanic Gardens out in Cranbourne. Now if you haven’t been to these gardens before, it is an amazing place worthy of its own review (I’ll get to it). This post, however, is just about today.

For starters, it won me over pretty quickly by being free. Not just free entry but all activities and events were free also (I spent $3 on a sausage sizzle with no regrets). In fact, there was even free shuttle bus transport offered from Cranbourne station to the gardens themselves which I thought was a nice inclusive touch.

The activities on offer today included wild life demonstrations (and croc patting), potting plants to take home, getting a temporary tattoo, face painting, water play, sensory play, collecting a few free show bags from sponsors, badge making as well as enjoying the usual elements of play the gardens has to offer.

Good stuff….

Organisation.
Everything was running smoothly. Parking was easy, we were offered maps and timetables multiple times, the activity stations were set apart so as to not get over crowded, and there was ample staff everywhere. It’s their 7th year…you could tell. They ran it like a well oiled machine.

Coffee.
Quick, yummy, didn’t give me the weird look when I offered them my keep cup. #winning

Range of activities
I was really impressed that the activities on offer seemed to really have broad appeal and were well thought out. Both my toddler and an 8 year old were sitting side my side badge making, both having a great time. Likewise, toddlers to teens who can turn down a temporary tattoo? Not me!

Freebies.
Our daughters took home plants, 2 sticker books each, a canvas tote they coloured in, seeds to plant in the garden at home, tattoos, badges and they was many more things we didn’t collect along the way.

Clean.
Toilet facilities were clean and well stocked. Toddler approved!

The bad stuff…

Nothing. Was a lovely day out and we couldn’t fault it. Our kids had a lovely time and mine came home to have a 1.5 hour nap. I call that a success.