This spring, KidsGardening was thrilled to partner with DreamWorks Animation to bring the Gabby's Dollhouse Fairylandia Tour to botanic gardens and arboreta across the country.
Together with twelve incredible public gardens and arboreta, we welcomed more than 33,000 children and caregivers for weekends filled with imagination, creativity, and time spent connecting with nature.
Inspired by the magical world of Fairylandia introduced in Season 13 of Gabby's Dollhouse, the tour invited families to step into a garden world where curiosity, kindness, and caring for living things take center stage. Children met Gabby, planted flowers, created nature-inspired crafts, explored scavenger hunts, and discovered that the magic of Fairylandia can be found in real gardens, too.
One of the most rewarding aspects of the tour was seeing public gardens become gathering places for so many families. Many participating gardens shared that the events attracted first-time visitors, creating an opportunity for children and caregivers to experience these beautiful community spaces together. By pairing a beloved children's series with hands-on outdoor activities, the partnership helped introduce thousands of families to the joy of exploring gardens while creating positive memories connected to plants and nature.
Each garden added its own unique touches, from butterfly habitats and children's gardens to planting activities, storytimes, fairy crafts, and nature scavenger hunts. Even when summer heat or spring rain required quick adjustments, garden staff and volunteers created welcoming experiences that kept the focus on fun and discovery. Across the country, many weekends sold out in advance, with several gardens welcoming more than 3,000 visitors over just two days.
The tour concluded in San Francisco, where families enjoyed meet-and-greets with Gabby alongside planting activities, scavenger hunts, live music, and exploration throughout the garden—an exciting finale to a spring of connecting children with the natural world.
We're grateful to DreamWorks Animation for partnering with KidsGardening and twelve outstanding botanic gardens and arboreta to make this tour possible. Together, we demonstrated how beloved characters can inspire real-world experiences that spark curiosity, encourage outdoor exploration, and help children build lifelong connections with plants, gardens, and the people who care for them.
Most importantly, the Gabby’s Dollhouse Fairylandia Tour reminded thousands of families that gardens aren't just places to visit—they're places to imagine, discover, play, and grow together.
DREAMWORKS ANIMATION’S GABBY’S DOLLHOUSE
Since the debut of DreamWorks Animation’s hit series Gabby’s Dollhouse, kids around the world have been having one big sprinkle party with Gabby and her friends. Created by celebrated storytellers Traci Paige Johnson and Jennifer Twomey, Gabby's Dollhouse is a mixed media preschool series that unboxes a surprise before jumping into a fantastical animated world full of adorable cat characters that live inside Gabby’s dollhouse. Rooted in growth mindset, Gabby’s activity-based episodes encourage flexible thinking and learning from your mistakes. The show has become the most-watched kids series on Netflix and a top preschool brand across the globe, inspiring an award-winning toy line, publishing, home, apparel, and more, as well as original music, a top-rated app and a growing YouTube channel visited by millions of fans weekly. Gabby’s Dollhouse continues to expand through Universal Destinations & Experiences theme parks, global fan experiences, live events and much more, including Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie. Any adventure can unfold when we play in Gabby's Dollhouse!
