Budding Naturalist: Fall Insects (Ages 8-14)
Does your child love nature and want to expand their identification skills? In this program geared toward students ages 8-14, participants can join our specialists for weekly, small-group outdoor sessions.
Plants may be slowing down this time of year, but insects are busy preparing for the coming winter. Join us as we visit our apiary with our beekeeper, search for the different stages of butterflies in our many gardens, identify insect mating calls, and dip nets into our ponds to learn about the different winter survival strategies used by our native insects.
Please note: In an effort to keep the group size small, this is a drop-off program. If your child would be more comfortable with you nearby, please contact Erika Huber at ehuber@mainegardens.org before the session to discuss options.
Please bring a face covering to be worn while indoors at the Gardens.
Cost includes admission for child and adult chaperone.
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.
Spring is one of the best times to go bird-watching—many birds are returning to their mating grounds and are as showy and colorful as ever! Take advantage of all the natural spaces at the Gardens and get a front seat to the show! Put your birding skills to the test – or gain a whole new set – as we look for our feathered friends while learning all about their lives, their habits, and adaptations. Participants will craft their own birds’ nests from natural materials to take home with them.
With all the flowers that we care for at the Gardens, it’s no surprise that we are regularly and frequently visited by all sorts of pollinators! Explore the Gardens with us as we search for these busy creatures and discover more about who they are, what they’re up to, and why they’re important. We’ll also get an up-close look at how pollination works as we take apart a flower together. Participants will plant a flower to take home with them that pollinators will be sure to enjoy!
This fun and family-friendly hands-on workshop will have you exploring your gardening creativity—in miniature! First, learn about and draw inspiration from several different types of miniature gardens including “fairy gardens” and Japanese gardens. Then, using wide shallow containers, small plants, fairy garden accessories, and other tiny elements, create a personalized miniature garden to take home. All materials are provided, and registration includes admission for a parent and child. Families are encouraged to work together, but if parents would like to make their own miniature garden, please register separately so that we can plan for supplies.
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.
Do you have a nature-loving child interested in attracting more pollinators to the garden? This kid-friendly gardening class delves into our native pollinators’ unique adaptations and special flower preferences, reviewing the process of pollination through a flower dissection. Class will then head out into the Gardens to discover some of the best flower choices for a diverse pollinator garden, and participants will receive plants and seeds to take home. Parents are welcome to attend. Registration for this class includes Gardens admission for one child and one adult.
Summertime is prime butterfly time! Join us to explore our Native Butterfly and Moth House, as well as other butterfly hot spots at the Gardens. We’ll learn about life cycles, special connections to plants, unique adaptations, and how to tell the difference between butterflies and moths. Students will leave with an even greater appreciation for—and understanding of—these lovely creatures. At the end of the program, participants will craft a colorful reminder of the butterfly life cycle to take home with them. This unique adult/child program is free for members and $10 in addition to admission for nonmembers
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
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
The Gardens is home to many (many!) plants. In turn, those plants become home to lots of interesting creatures! Come explore the Gardens as we look closely under leaves and up in the trees, aboveground, below, and in the pond for all sorts of signs of life. A scavenger hunt will help guide our search, and participants will leave having created their own portable habitat—a toad house—to take home with them. This unique adult/child program is free for members and $10 in addition to admission for nonmembers.
Monday, August 15-Friday, August 19
The famous and well-loved monarch is the inspiration for this program! Participants will learn all about this beautiful butterfly, from its anatomy to its life cycle to its migration. Participants will become community scientists as they help us tag monarchs at the Gardens for future monitoring on their autumnal journeys southward. Recently listed as an endangered species, monarchs need us to understand their importance now more than ever. Participants will leave with an appreciation for these creatures along with a monarch butterfly art piece that they create themselves. This parent/child class includes Gardens admission for one child and one adult.
The famous and well-loved monarch is the inspiration for this program! Participants will learn all about this beautiful butterfly, from its anatomy to its life cycle, adaptations, migration, and the effects of climate change on these creatures. Participants will become community scientists as they help us tag monarchs at the Gardens for future monitoring on their autumnal journeys southward. Recently listed as an endangered species, monarchs need us to understand their importance now more than ever. Participants will leave with an appreciation for these creatures that they can share with others. Registration for this class includes Gardens admission for one child and one adult.
Come and search for underground life with us! Participants will learn about the important role decomposers play in helping our gardens and forests grow, how to identify these critters, and some decomposer anatomy. Participants will leave with an understanding of how decomposition works along with their own handmade worm jars to inspire curiosity about decomposition back at home. This parent/child class includes Gardens admission for one child and one adult.
Join us for a scavenger hunt through the woods as we learn how to identify some of Maine’s native trees and discover why their leaves change color in the fall. Participants will learn how to distinguish a coniferous tree from a deciduous one. During our walk, we will collect leaves to make a leaf-rubbing banner to help us remember our native trees. This parent/child class includes Gardens admission for one child and one adult.
During this session, participants will learn handy tricks for remembering both the coniferous and deciduous trees of the Maine woods. Participants will also gain an understanding of the science behind fall foliage and collect a variety of fall leaves along their walk to create a colorful suncatcher that captures the essence of fall. Registration for this class includes Gardens admission for one child and one adult.
Come and enjoy one of the last open days of the season as we take in all the fall has to offer. We’ll investigate plant parts and their role in continuing the life cycle of a plant, search for a variety of seedpods, harvest veggies and herbs from the Learning Garden, and cut a bouquet to take home. This parent/child class includes Gardens admission for one child and one adult.
This family-friendly, hands-on workshop will have you exploring your gardening creativity in a whole new way! Bring a part of the garden inside this fall as we take cuttings from our succulent plants and arrange them together in a planter to grow at home. Participants will learn how to grow, propagate, and care for their succulent arrangement. All materials provided.
What better way to learn about plants than by taking them apart? Participants will learn all about the life cycle of a plant, how their different parts help them grow, and what they need to survive. We’ll visit the Learning Garden to look for plant parts, then we’ll even taste a few and plant some seeds to grow at home. Registration for this program includes admission for one child and one adult.
Venture into the woods with us as we look for signs of life amongst the trees. We may not always see who’s residing in our woods, but there are many clues we can look and listen for to tell us who lives there. Registration for this program includes admission for one child and one adult.
Join us as we investigate life underground and look for the critters we call “decomposers.” We’ll identity what we find and get up close with a worm to learn about its unique body and how it helps our garden grow. Registration for this program includes admission for one child and one adult.
Explore the Gardens with us as we look closely for all sorts of signs of life under leaves and up in the trees, above-ground and below, and even in the pond. A scavenger hunt activity will help guide our search. Registration for this program includes admission for one child and one adult.
Homeschool Days All About Seeds[/caption]
Tuesday, May 7, noon-1:30 p.m. & 2-3:30 p.m.
Monday, May 13, 2-3:30 p.m.
Putting our five senses to work, we'll wind our way through the Lerner Garden of the Five Senses, experiencing a garden in a whole new way. Participants will be encouraged to sample different herbs and edible flowers that may be new to them. Registration for this program includes admission for one child and one adult. Families who register for multiple programs or register more than one child for the same program, receive a special discounted rate at checkout. Please email Erika Huber at 
Come and enjoy one of the last open days of the season as we take in all that fall has to offer. We’ll investigate plant parts and their role in continuing a plant's life cycle, search for a variety of seedpods, harvest veggies and herbs from the Learning Garden, and cut a bouquet to take home. Registration for this program includes admission for one child and one adult. Families who register for multiple programs or register more than one child for the same program, receive a special discounted rate at checkout. Financial Aid is available. Please email Erika Huber at 
