April Program: A Suitcase for Seeds

Did you know that a fruit is a suitcase for seeds? Examine the seeds in some of our favorite foods and go on a garden seed hunt. Plant seeds in the garden and bring home your own flower seeds to plant and grow.

May Program: Track That Scat!

Today we’re going on a stroll. We’re looking for wildlife as we go. Discover animal signs – including tracks and scat! Make your own animal footprint plaster cast to take home.

June Program: Compost Stew

Let’s mix a batch of compost stew! Visit the garden and learn how we make healthy soil for our plants to grow in. Meet some of the critters who help tend the soil, and build your very own compost helper craft to take home. 

Ready, Set, Grow!: Pre-K – 1st Grade-Download Tour Packet

Young students will use their senses to explore nature. They compare plants to themselves, learn about plant parts, meet pillbugs, and go on an exploratory walk through the garden.

Wonders of the Water Cycle: Kindergarten – 1st Grade

Through song, role-playing, a psychedelic experiment, and a nature walk, children gain a concrete understanding of what the water cycle is and how it works.

Habitats – 1st–2nd Grade

A place where an animal or plant lives and has all its needs met is its habitat. Students will learn about habitat components via a game and a hands-on exploration of the garden’s ponds, forested areas, and dry gardens.

Flower Power (May Only): 2nd–3rd Grade

Students participate in activities emphasizing the structure and function of flowers. Each student will help Idaho Botanical Garden bloom by planting a flower.

Seed Sense (Fall Only): 2nd–3rd Grade

Participants germinate and grow a fresh understanding of the importance of seeds, their structure, function, and dispersal methods through a variety of instructional outdoor activities.Tour includes a seed dissection activity and garden scavenger hunt.

Lewis and Clark: 4th Grade

During a tour of the Lewis and Clark Native Plant Garden, students learn about the role plants played in the lives of Idaho’s Native Americans and the Lewis and Clark Expedition members. They will practice conducting scientific plant research and will take back to school a plant sample to turn into a herbarium specimen.

Nature’s Garden: 4th–8th Grade

During a tour of the Lewis and Clark Native Plant Garden, students learn about the role plants played in the lives of Idaho’s Native Americans and the Lewis and Clark Expedition members. They will practice conducting scientific plant research and will take back to school a plant sample to turn into a herbarium specimen.

Fire!: 4th–8th Grade

This tour discusses the role plants play in Idaho’s wildfires. Topics include native versus non-native plants, factors that make a plant more or less flammable, and how to protect homes from wildfire.

Custom Tours, Elementary–Post-Graduate

Education staff will work with you to create a program (at no extra cost) that meets your curriculum needs. Please contact the Youth Education Manager at 208.275.8612 to discuss a custom tour.

Ages: 5-6, 7-9
Camp time: 9a-noon
Price: Member $100 – Non Members $150

G’day, campers! Are you ready for a backyard adventure? Grab your walking shoes and get ready to explore the best of Idaho’s diverse landscapes. Discover the plants and critters who live in Idaho’s dry deserts, winding rivers, and Rocky Mountains.

If a session is sold out – Call the Garden to put your child on a waiting list, (208) 343-8649. 

Ages: 4, 5-6
Camp time: 9a-noon
Price: Member $100 – Non Members $150

No garden is too big and no pollinator is too small here at the Idaho Botanical Garden! Come meet the creatures, from bugs to bats to birds, that help the plants grow and help us put food on our tables.

If a session is sold out – Call the Garden to put your child on a waiting list, (208) 343-8649. 

Ages: 4, 5-6
Camp time: 9a-noon
Price: Member $100 – Non Members $150

Explore life in a garden with all five senses during this week’s sense-ational nature camp! Tickle your tastebuds in our veggie patch, feel your way like an earthworm, sniff out the source of our honey supply, and create a rainbow bouquet of flowers to take home to your family.

If a session is sold out – Call the Garden to put your child on a waiting list, (208) 343-8649. 

Ages: 5-6, 7-12
Camp time: 9a-noon
Price: Member $100 – Non Members $150

Calling young witches and wizards! Welcome to another term at the Idaho Botanical School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Test your Quidditch skills, study herbology, build a fairy or gnome habitat, and pick up some magic tips from our very own garden critters.

Want to expand your wizarding to include potions and dragonology? Take advantage of our sister wizarding school located at the Discovery Center of Idaho! Visit >>HERE<< to learn more about their afternoon classes. Discovery Center camp registration begins February 24.

If a session is sold out – Call the Garden to put your child on a waiting list, (208) 343-8649. 

Ages: 5-6, 7-12
Camp time: 9a-noon
Price: Member $100 – Non Members $150

Dig into the dirt with the Idaho Botanical Garden this week and explore all the wonders that exist beneath our feet. Grow crystals, dig up root vegetables, race earthworms, and search for buried treasure.

Want to expand your exploration of earth’s mysteries and learn about the people and animals that inhabited our planet long ago? End your day with the Discovery Center of Idaho! Visit >>HERE<<  to learn more about their afternoon classes. Discovery Center camp registration begins February 24.

If a session is sold out – Call the Garden to put your child on a waiting list, (208) 343-8649. 

Ages: 5-6, 7-9
Camp time: 9a-noon
Price: Member $100 – Non Members $150

Do you have what it takes to survive in the wild? We think you do! Each day campers will face a different survival challenge and get help from some clever plants and animals who are masters at life in the great outdoors.

If a session is sold out – Call the Garden to put your child on a waiting list, (208) 343-8649. 

Wendy unlocks a door with her Secret Gardeners Club key, but when she gets stuck inside a secret garden, she needs some help escaping. Who better to ask for assistance than some of the world’s greatest escape artists: Plants!

Episode 1 Activities – K to 3rd
Episode 1 Activities – 4th to 6th
Episode 1 Science Standards
Episode 1 Transcript

How do you collect plant specimens on an 8,000-mile expedition? And what do you do when the food in your fridge starts talking to you? Grab your Secret Gardener’s Club key and get ready for a time-hopping journey with Wendy as she seeks some answers.

Flower Press Activity Sheet
The Ethnobotany of Cattails Presentation
Episode 2 Transcript