Come and enjoy the early blooms of spring with your family as we celebrate Earth Day together, getting a sneak peek at the Gardens before we open for the season. Join us for a signs-of-spring scavenger hunt and plant some flower seeds to grow at home. Families are welcome to picnic afterward and explore the Gardens on their own. *Please note that the Children’s Garden buildings, Café, and Lerner Visitor Center will not yet be open for the season. Registration for this class includes Gardens admission for one child and up to two accompanying adults. Children two and under are welcome to attend for free.

The Gardens is full of beauty and wonder thriving aboveground, but there’s plenty to discover below the surface! Join us as we explore the life thriving in the depths and shallows of our ponds. Together, we’ll search for aquatic critters, learning about their lives in the process. Participants will create a fun frog craft to help them remember everything they learned during the program.

This is a parent/child program. Admission to the Gardens for one child and one adult is included with class registration.

Monday, July 11-Friday, July 15

Young artists put their investigative skills to work as they collect, study, identify, and illustrate the Gardens’ butterflies and the flowers and plants they depend on. Daily, participants will explore and sketch on-location in the Gardens, developing a strong foundation of observation, drawing, and painting skills, simultaneously creating a portfolio of beautiful studies and illustrations using pencil, pen and ink, colored pencil, and watercolor. Students also gain an understanding and appreciation for the important role these pollinators play in our gardens. All art supplies are included with this camp.

Hélène Farrar has taught and worked in the visual arts for twenty years, actively exhibiting in commercial, nonprofit, and university galleries in New England, New York City, Pennsylvania, Italy, and England. Farrar has a BA in studio art from the University of Maine and an MFA in interdisciplinary arts from Goddard College in Vermont. Hélène currently owns and operates a private art school out of her Maine “farmhouse” studio where she holds a variety of workshops and classes for children and adults.

Please note this class requires participants to show proof of having received all eligible Covid-19 vaccinations, as recommended for their age by the CDC, in order to participate. Because of the dynamic nature of this situation, we ask that you agree to abide by potential future changes in CMBG’s Covid-19 policy designed to address evolving public health recommendations.

Discover all that you can see, smell, hear, feel, and even taste as we tour the Lerner Garden of the Five Senses together, experiencing nature and the Gardens in a whole new way. Participants will finish the program by potting up an herb to take with them, carrying forward and cultivating that sensory experience at home! This unique adult/child program is free for members and $10 in addition to admission for nonmembers

Monday, July 18-Friday, July 22

Our summer nature camps provide fun and enriching opportunities for young people to learn about the natural world. Exploration-filled activities will take us on adventures throughout the Gardens and surrounding forests as we investigate bugs, birds, food chains, amphibians, the water cycle, and so much more. Through observations, games, stories, experiments, and nature-related projects, campers will be well on their way to becoming young naturalists the end of the week!

Please note this class requires participants to show proof of having received all eligible Covid-19 vaccinations, as recommended for their age by the CDC, in order to participate. Because of the dynamic nature of this situation, we ask that you agree to abide by potential future changes in CMBG’s Covid-19 policy designed to address evolving public health recommendations.

Karen Jones is the Camp Coordinator for the Gardens and first grade teacher at Hall-Dale Elementary; she brings over fifteen years of teaching experience working with children of all ages.

Learn about what happens as a seed becomes a full-grown plant, then starts the entire cycle all over again! We’ll talk everything plants: life cycle, adaptations, and overall importance. We’ll dissect different parts of a plant, learn about their functions, and explore our Learning Garden, testing (and tasting!) what we’ve learned. Participants will take a plant home as a reminder of their botanical experience. This unique adult/child program is free for members and $10 in addition to admission for nonmembers

Monday, July 25-Friday, July 29

Our summer nature camps provide fun and enriching opportunities for young people to learn about the natural world. Exploration-filled activities will take us on adventures throughout the Gardens and surrounding forests as we investigate bugs, birds, food chains, amphibians, the water cycle, and so much more. Through observations, games, stories, experiments, and nature-related projects, campers will be well on their way to becoming young naturalists the end of the week! Karen Jones is the Camp Coordinator for the Gardens and first grade teacher at Hall-Dale Elementary; she brings over fifteen years of teaching experience working with children of all ages.

Please note this class requires participants to show proof of having received all eligible Covid-19 vaccinations, as recommended for their age by the CDC, in order to participate. Because of the dynamic nature of this situation, we ask that you agree to abide by potential future changes in CMBG’s Covid-19 policy designed to address evolving public health recommendations.