Programs > Programs for Families & Children

Programs for Families and Children

The Botanical Garden is a wonderful place for families and children. To enhance your visit, we offer a number of special programs designed for families with young children.

Nature Explorers—2009 Summer Day Camp ↓
"Bluets"—preschoolers exploring nature! ↓
Giant Beetles of the Piedmont ↓
Nature Tales: Storytime at the Garden ↓
Discovering Magic in the Garden—an enchanting celebration ↓

"Bluets"—Preschoolers Exploring Nature

Tuesdays, 9 - 11 am, August 4 - 25, 2009

Learning comes naturally during this fun-filled series that will nurture curiosity, encourage exploration, and foster a sense of wonder for the antural world. Children will learn about a new nature topic each week, including seasonal changes, plants, animal groups, life cycles, and conservation through hands-on activities and group play. Two instructors will guide the activities, and the group will be limited to 10 participants. Nutritious snacks and juice provided. Fee: $60 ($50 for NCBG members). Please call 962-0522 to register.

And in case you are wondering . . . Bluets are small, dainty, but tough little wildflowers of the palest shades of blue that bloom with upturned faces in our yards and gardens every spring!

Giant Beetles of the Piedmont

Saturday, July 11, 2 - 4 pm

Stag Beetle, Rhinoceros Beetle, Triceratops Beetle, and more—we have all seen them at times, but how numerous are they in our area, and what role do they play in local ecosystems? Are they helpful or harmful to plants, trees? How do they grow, and why are they hidden so successfully that we see them only infrequently? This workshop will feature live beetles in simple terrariums as well as a new Powerpoint presentation that details beetle habitats and life cycles and includes time outside in the Garden's Nature Trail area identifying beetle habitats. Bob Palmatier, instructor, is a recipient of the Outstanding Teacher Award from the NC Entomological Society. Appropriate for curious 5th graders through adults. Fee: $15/person or $25/family ($10/$20 NCBG members).

Discovering Magic in the Garden

Saturday, June 6, at 10 am

Claire Ramsey, storyteller, enchants children.
Claire will join us again this year, opening the event at 10 am!

Much to the delight of enchanted children and adults, the Seventh Annual Discovering Magic in the Garden takes place on June 6 this year. We invite families to dress in their most magical costumes and spend a delightful morning with us discovering the magic in nature. Activities will be staged throughout the gardens and range from Mud Pie Cafe to Fairy Find, Wild & Wonderful Wildflowers, Magic Seeds, and much more.

Please call in your registration in advance. There will be a fee of $10 per family or vehicle ($5 if you are a member: you can join when you register): 919-962-0522.

Nature Tales: Storytime at the Garden

Every Thursday, 10 - 11 am, continuing through August

During the warm months, you and your pre-school child/friend (ages 3 - 5) are invited to share stories about nature and explorations in the Garden. We meet outside, if the weather is good, or in the Paul Green Cabin or the Herb House for a reading circle. Afterward, we enjoy an outing and activity in the Garden. There will be a seasonal theme for each month.
Fee: $5 per family (No more than three children per adult, please!)
Children must be accompanied by an adult.

Nature Explorers—
2009 Summer Day Camp Celebrating Life's Forces

. . . based at the North Carolina Botanical Garden in our new Growing Classroom and, of course, outdoors!

The Garden is bursting with opportunities for exploration! Each summer, we offer exciting opportunities for young nature explorers. The great outdoors is a place for investigation and discovery, as we celebrate Life Forces—Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit. Guest scientists and naturalists help us take a closer look at the many wonders of our natural world.

2009: Three one-week-long sessions
6 - 8 year olds: June 22 - 26 and July 6 - 10
9 - 11 year olds: July 13 - 17

Camp meets Monday - Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. Fee: $225 for Garden members, $250 for others.

Each week, 20 campers join 2 staff counselors and our junior counselors for fun and exploration at the North Carolina Botanical Garden and its many wonderful natural areas.

Register Now! Call 919-962-0522.

Return to the EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS page to find other public programs, such as Lectures, Classes and Workshops, Tours and Hikes, Art in the Garden.

Last updated by Laura Cotterman on July 01, 2009 at 02:58:29 pm.

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Registration Instructions

1. The first step in registering is to call the Garden at 919-962-0522, Monday - Friday (please note any registration dates given here to the left). Your name will be placed on a list for the program, but your registration is final only when your registration form and payment are received (see below). You also may come by the Totten Center to register.

2. Please fill out this registration form [PDF]—or request one when you call. Mail in this form with your payment, right away. Payment can be made by check, VISA, MasterCard, or cash (if paying in person at the Totten Center). If you are also purchasing or renewing your membership, payment must be made separately (to the "Botanical Garden Foundation"). Make registration checks payable to "NCBG," with "classes" on the memo line. Mail to:

North Carolina Botanical Garden Classes
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
CB 3375, Totten Center
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3375

Fun Things To Do At the Garden

Herb Garden / Fairy Garden

whimsical water pump in the Herb Garden

At the entrance of the Herb Garden, visitors will find a booklet that encourages the young at heart to take a closer look at the natural world of plants. Children of all ages can have fun while discovering the wonderful nature of herbs in the Zoo Garden, a Fairy Find, a Weather Station, Game Boards, and much more.

Children can find fairies interspersed among the herbs and in the Fairy Garden—a magical enclosed woodland space complete with a small tree house just for the fairies, bells hanging from branches, and a colorful mailbox in which to send letters to the fairies. In this area children are also encouraged to dig with child-size shovels, play tic-tac-toe and hop scotch, or create an environmental art piece with natural objects.

National Rosemary Collection

rosemary collection photo

This display collection within the Mercer Reeves Hubbard Herb Garden includes 50 cultivars of the over 400 different named cultivars of Rosemarinus officinalis. Here the visitor will have an opportunity to appreciate the diversity among a single species of plant.

Service Learning for Students

The Garden has a limited number of service learning positions available for High School students with community service graduation requirements. Contact the volunteer coordinator via email or phone (919-962-9460), or send in the Youth Volunteer application form [PDF].