Homeschool Days: Pollinator ID Walk (Ages 9-18)

Tuesday, June 13, 1-2:30 p.m.

Can you tell the difference between a rusty-patched and a two-spotted bumble bee? Did you know that some types of wasps and flies are pollinators? Join us on an exploratory walk with our resident entomologist, Zac Smith-Hess, as he shows students how to identify the different types of pollinators they come across. Students will also learn some fun facts about flowers and their relationship with these amazing creatures. Registration for this program includes admission for one child and one adult. A discount will be given to families who register multiple children or for multiple programs.

Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Zac Smith-Hess
Price: $10 / $12

Nature Journaling Workshop for Ages 9-14

Wednesday-Friday, June 28-30, 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

Create a nature-journaling keepsake! During this three-day workshop, students will explore the Gardens and surrounding woodlands, learning how to make journal observations that combine words and imagery. Once back in the classroom, learn lettering techniques using ink and how to add color, detail, lines, and texture using watercolors and colored pencils. We’ll discuss journal page design and layout, and everyone will get to take a journal of completed works home, ready to house more of their nature observations in the future. All materials provided.

Erica Qualey lives in Maine and works as a watercolor artist and illustrator. She is an award-winning member of the New England Watercolor Society and has exhibited nationally and internationally. Teaching students of all ages to draw and paint has become another passion for Erica in recent years. Her youth programming through the Skidompha Library is very popular, and she has also worked with children through visiting artists programs. She was recently awarded a grant from the Maine Arts Association supporting her work as a virtual art educator.

Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Erica Qualey
Price: $160 / $200

Summer Discovery Walk: The Five Senses

Monday, July 3; Saturday, July 29; Tuesday, August 15; Thursday, August 31

Discover all that you can see, smell, hear, feel, and even taste as we tour the Lerner Garden of the Five Senses together, experiencing the Gardens in new ways as you focus on each of your senses. This free program is intended for children ages 3-8 with an adult caregiver. Please register ONLY for the number of children in your group. Registration is strongly suggested, but walk-ins are welcome even if registration is full. To join the walk, please meet at the entrance of the Alfond Children’s Garden.

Location: Alfond Children's Garden Boothbay
Instructor: Education Staff
Price: Free

Sketching and Painting with Pastels for Ages 8-13

Wednesday-Friday, July 5-7, 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

Young artists will create colorful pastel paintings inspired by guided outdoor journaling. After spending time in nature sketching and making notes about color, smell, light, sound, and their impressions, students will use these observations in the classroom to compose sketches for paintings. Learning to handle pastels, students will take their ideas to new levels, exploring close-ups, abstracts, and subject-combinations to create finished pieces. Each student will take home at least 1-2 matted paintings, their journals, and a basic pastel kit. All materials provided.

Mary Beth began making in art in childhood, later discovering watercolors with Stan Keirstead, a regional landscape painter. She has explored printmaking, clay work, painting, collage, gallery ownership, teaching, and collaborations. She currently serves with the Pastel Society of Maine, exhibits her work at Art Space Gallery, and teaches classes in her studio in New Sharon, Maine.

Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Mary Beth Morrison
Price: $160 / $200

Introduction to Printmaking: Session I for Ages 8-12

Monday-Wednesday, July 10-12, 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

Does your child have an interest in learning printmaking? Join local artists Debra Arter and Kay Miller as they share their love of the art and various unique printing styles with young artists. Students will visit different parts of the Gardens each day, drawing inspiration and gathering natural materials to use for plant rubbings and botanical monotypes. Students will also experiment with gelli and collagraph plates to make cards, nature books, and framed work. All materials will be provided.

Debra Arter has earned a BA in art education and MFA in fine art. She has been teaching adults and children for over 30 years, both in Maine and internationally—but her favorite is printmaking. Her work will be featured in several curated shows this summer. When not teaching or traveling, she enjoys spending time in her own gardens in Damariscotta. She is a founding member of the Midcoast Printmakers.

Kay Miller's daily interactions with nature provide the starting point for her compositions. Using color and an array of natural materials she has picked and pressed, Kay is able to express how she feels about living on the coast of Maine. The process of monotype printing provides instant satisfaction, while offering a complexity in the layering and changing of form and color.

Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Multiple Instructors
Price: $160 / $200

Line & Form: Drawing the Trolls, Ages 7-11 (July)

Thursday & Friday, July 13 & 14, 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

The Gardens’ five resident trolls are fabulous sketching subjects! In this two-day workshop, young artists will develop an understanding of shape and form as they create their own sketches of these giants. Students will draw both on-site and in the studio and become familiar with a variety of drawing media, including various pencils and an introduction to watercolor. After capturing the trolls, participants will apply their new skills to other subjects at the Gardens such as butterflies, flowers, and frogs. All materials provided. 

Hélène Farrar has taught and worked in the visual arts for twenty years while 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 her own private art school in Maine out of her “Farmhouse” studio, where she holds a variety of workshops and classes for children and adults.

Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Hélène Farrar
Price: $100 / $125

Summer Discovery Walk: Signs of Life in the Garden

Friday, July 14; Thursday, August 10

The Gardens is home to many plants and, in turn, those plants become home to many interesting creatures. 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. This free program is intended for children ages 3-8 with an adult caregiver. Please register ONLY for the number of children in your group. Registration is strongly suggested, but walk-ins are welcome even if registration is full. To join the walk, please meet at the entrance of the Alfond Children’s Garden.

Location: Alfond Children's Garden Boothbay
Instructor: Education Staff
Price: Free

Summer Discovery Walk: Pollinators

Tuesdays July 18 & August 29; Friday, August 4

Join us as we search the flowers of the Gardens for the pollinators that make this place possible! Participants will learn about the process of pollination, who qualifies as a pollinator, the differences between them, and the kinds of flowers each loves best. Participants will discover reasons to appreciate pollinators and all they do to sustain the life cycles of so many plants. This free program is intended for children ages 3-8 with an adult caregiver. Please register ONLY for the number of children in your group. Registration is strongly suggested, but walk-ins are welcome even if registration is full. To join the walk, please meet at the entrance of the Alfond Children’s Garden.

Location: Alfond Children's Garden Boothbay
Instructor: Education Staff
Price: Free

Nature Adventure Camp for Ages 6-8 (Sold Out)

Monday-Friday, July 24-28 | 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, mammals, sun power, and much more. Through observations, games, stories, experiments, and nature-related projects, campers will be well on their way to becoming young naturalists by the end of the week! Plus, new for 2023, aftercare will be available for campers participating in this camp through our Extended Explorations.

Learn More
Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Karen Jones
Price: $150 / $187

Summer Discovery Walk: Woodlands

Thursdays, July 27 & August 24

Have you ever looked closely at a tree stump or wondered who might be living in the holes left by woodpeckers? Venture into the woods with us as we investigate the plants and animals that live there and discover how they are all connected. Together we will appreciate the ecology and natural history of the Maine woods. This free program is intended for children ages 3-8 with an adult caregiver. Please register ONLY for the number of children in your group. Registration is strongly suggested, but walk-ins are welcome even if registration is full. To join the walk, please meet at the entrance of the Alfond Children’s Garden.

Location: Alfond Children's Garden Boothbay
Instructor: Education Staff
Price: Free

Garden Investigators Camp: Wild Wetlands for Ages 6-8 (Sold Out)

Monday-Friday, July 31-August 4 | The Gardens is full of beauty and wonder thriving above ground, but there’s plenty to discover below the surface too! Our many ponds are teeming with life, and campers will spend the week exploring them, catching frogs, salamanders, and aquatic bugs while learning all about their life cycles in the process. Campers will also discover the unique adaptations of the plants and animals that depend on these diverse habitats for their survival. Plus, new for 2023, aftercare will be available for campers participating in this camp through our Extended Explorations.

Learn More
Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Karen Jones
Price: $150 / $187

Garden Mosaics Workshop for Ages 8-13

Monday-Wednesday, August 7-9, 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

Kids will love making mosaic garden stakes and fun, fantastic flower pots in this three-day workshop. We will use safe, pre-cut tiles and found objects. All materials are provided, but feel free to bring game tiles, small toys, or charms from home to incorporate into your work. Shells and small stones work well too! Kids will learn about color, contrast, and design while creating their colorful crafts. We will also start some seeds that can be moved to the mosaic flowerpot when it’s dry!

Caroline Clare Davis is a painter, crafter, floral designer, and the Arts and Exhibits Coordinator at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Caroline Davis
Price: $160 / $200

Introduction to Printmaking: Session II for Ages 9-14

Wednesday-Friday, August 16-18, 9:30-a.m.-3:30 p.m.

Using gelatin/glycerin soft plates, brayers, and printing inks, young artists will use cuttings from the Gardens to make multi-layered botanical print sheets and learn how to layer plant forms to get vibrant patterns and compositions. Students will use these prints over the next two days in multiple fun and crafty applications, including collage, simple accordion book-making, and card-making. Students may choose their desired projects from a number of examples and materials. All materials provided.

Mary Beth began making in art in childhood, later discovering watercolors with Stan Keirstead, a regional landscape painter. She has explored printmaking, clay work, painting, collage, gallery ownership, teaching, and collaborations. She currently serves with the Pastel Society of Maine, exhibits her work at Art Space Gallery, and teaches classes in her studio in New Sharon, Maine.

Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Mary Beth Morrison
Price: $160 / $200

Line & Form: Drawing the Trolls, Aug. (Ages 7-11) (Sold Out)

Monday & Tuesday, August 21 & 22, 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

The Gardens’ five resident trolls are fabulous sketching subjects! In this two-day workshop, young artists will develop an understanding of shape and form as they create their own sketches of these giants. Students will draw both on-site and in the studio and become familiar with a variety of drawing media, including various pencils and an introduction to watercolor. After capturing the trolls, participants will apply their new skills to other subjects at the Gardens such as butterflies, flowers, and frogs. All materials provided.

Hélène Farrar has taught and worked in the visual arts for twenty years while 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 her own private art school in Maine out of her “Farmhouse” studio, where she holds a variety of workshops and classes for children and adults.

Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Hélène Farrar
Price: $100 / $125