IT’S holiday time and I have some suggestions for children to have fun with nature.

If you’re heading for the coast, why not take a take a day away from the beach and let the kids burn up energy at the Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Gardens, seven kilometres from Batemans Bay on the Princes Highway, just before Mogo.

It offers some of the best children’s playgrounds I have seen, with equipment unavailable anywhere else in Australia.

There are hectares of lawns to run and run, watching out for the kangaroos or giant goannas.

The walking paths feature colourful, interpretive signs that include realistic models of all creatures great and small.

For the oldies, enjoy the display of summer native flowers indigenous to the area from Malacoota to Wollongong.

CLOSER to home, our own Botanic Gardens is also one big adventure playground for children. I always suggest they look for dinosaurs as they wander along the boardwalk through the pre-historic rainforest with its giant tree ferns. Watch out for the water dragons relaxing in the sun by the rock garden waterfall.

Do collect the booklet “Have you ever wondered who lives here?” from the Visitor’s Centre. It demonstrates, along the paths, that vegetation holds the key to animal biodiversity, presented in a fun way with colourful explanatory signs.

If you have visiting friends or relatives, take them to our unique gardens, especially if they are from overseas; they will see the largest living collection of Australian flora in the world.

THE musical, picnic evenings at the gardens, every Saturday and Sunday in January, feature jazz to Latin American, swing to big bands. Entry is by a $5 donation.

The Sunset Cinema will be playing in the gardens during February and March with more than 18 movies, including the latest James Bond film. More information at anbg.gov.au/gardens

JANUARY heralds our exciting Centenary year. The magnitude of events is overwhelming and the many garden clubs and societies have a plethora of events planned, especially the Horticultural Society of Canberra.

IF you have worked hard in the garden during spring, now is the time to sit back for a few weeks and enjoy the fruits of your labours.

Don’t worry about a few weeds or the shrubs that may need a prune. No plant feeding is necessary (except perhaps for the veggies) until autumn. The only task is the relaxing task of watering.

I wish all my readers a safe and happy Christmas. Thank you for the kind comments, emails and questions of which, hopefully, I was able to answer during the year.