DIY Garden Mobiles Family Program (Ages 8+)

Fun for the whole family with our mobile art class. Explore the natural world by creating a garden mobile from recycled and natural objects supplied by the Gardens. These eye-catching mobiles can add whimsy and natural music to any garden as they catch the wind. Students are welcome to bring their own found, repurposed, or natural objects like driftwood, to incorporate into their garden mobiles. Parents/Caregivers/Grandparents are encouraged to work with their child to craft a mobile together. Scholarships are available for families with a financial need. To request an application, please email Erika Huber at ehuber@mainegardens.org.

Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Caroline Davis
Price: $30 / $40

Creating a Traditional Botanical Dissection Plate

Combining botany, design, and illustration, students will have the opportunity to create an artful botanical dissection plate during this two-day workshop. Botanical dissection plates have been around since the invention of the microscope and are realistic educational illustrations of plant anatomy. Participants will learn valuable techniques used by science illustrators, such as field sketching, plant dissection, and drawing from magnified plant specimens. Students will also learn how to use color and design to create eye-catching compositions. The workshop will take place both in the gardens and the classroom, where students will learn how to translate their knowledge into creative and visually appealing illustrations. This workshop will take a loose and artful approach to this typically technical and time-consuming process. All levels are welcome. Class appropriate to teens 14+.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Joy Grannis
Price: $235 / $325

Illustrating Mushrooms With Watercolor and Ink

Combining traditional pen and ink with watercolor to create scientific illustrations, we'll explore the beauty and biodiversity of mushrooms in this two-day workshop. Starting with the basics of botanical drawing, we'll develop our observational skills, paying attention to proportion and perspective. Then, we'll learn techniques for mastering dip pens. On day two, we'll add watercolor to our compositions and explore skills such as glazing and charging. By the end of the workshop, you'll have a unique composition of mushrooms and have mastered a new approach to pen and ink and watercolor. All levels welcome. Class appropriate to teens 14+.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Claire Loon Baldwin
Price: $225 / $325

Wearable Art Using Fresh Flowers

Join floral design team, Mimi and Mum, for this fun two-day weekend workshop on wearable floral art. Learn how to make stunning wristlets, head wreaths, and body jewelry from fresh flowers and foliage. Students will utilize some preserved and dried florals to create an everlasting wearable lapel art or headpiece. All levels are welcome. Class appropriate to teens 14+.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Multiple Instructors
Price: $125 / $215

Storytree Theatre Camp: Trolls & Fairies (Ages 6-9) (Sold Out)

This class is sold out, but please click "Learn More" to join our waitlist. | Do you have a story to tell? Or a character to share? Storytree's one-of-a-kind theatre camp offers students the opportunity to explore their imaginations, create, perform, and learn about theatre. Throughout the week, students develop performance techniques while engaging in movement, vocal and improvisational games that explore the fundamentals of theatre. Using the gardens for inspiration, students will create an original play and perform it for family and friends at the end of the week. Campers will spend the last hour of each day exploring the gardens and surrounding woodlands. Scholarships are available for families with a financial need.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Teralyn Reiter
Price: $285 / $350

Painting Floral Still Life in Gouache

Using a beautiful fresh floral arrangement as inspiration, paint a still life in gouache. Students will learn various gouache methods and techniques, including applying opaque, thick brush strokes and thin glazing. With an emphasis on color experimentation, we'll explore different papers and surfaces. Arrangements are lovingly prepared by Mimi and Mum Floral Design. All levels are welcome. Suitable for teens 14+.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Caroline Davis
Price: $185 / $295

A Second Life: Recycled Sculptures (Ages 9-13)

Let’s dig into recycling and discover the artistic potential of discarded cardboard, egg crates, paper, and plastic containers. Students will explore, design, and construct imaginative critters inspired by the woods, ocean, and beyond. This hands-on workshop is perfect for young artists with abundant energy and imagination. Students will learn how to take unwanted items and turn them into exciting creations through ideation, sketching, construction, and painting. Scholarships are available for families with a financial need.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Hélène Farrar
Price: $170 / $210

Painting the Garden with Collage (Ages 9-14)

In this lively workshop, we'll play with color and patterns to represent symbiosis in the natural world. Students will tell a visual story of the interrelationships between plants, animals and their environment through the layering of materials, both handmade and found, combined with paint and pastels. Students will learn how to create botanical prints, an accordion book, and will be encouraged to make daily observations of the Gardens in a sketchbook. Scholarships are available for families with financial need.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Mary Beth Morrison
Price: $170 / $210

Garden Explorers Camp (Ages 4-6)

Budding gardeners will spend the week digging, planting, watering, and harvesting fruits and vegetables in our learning garden. We'll investigate the inner workings of the garden from the ground up and get the real "dirt" on plants, life cycles, composting, garden critters, and more! Sign your campers up for a week filled with games, explorations, garden snack-making, and take-home garden projects. Extended Explorations aftercare is available as an add-on. Scholarships are available for families with a financial need.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: CMBG Youth Educator
Price: $165 / $205

A Second Life: Recycled Sculptures (Ages 7-11)

Let’s dig into recycling and discover the artistic potential of discarded cardboard, egg crates, paper, and plastic containers. Students will explore, design, and construct imaginative critters inspired by the woods, ocean, and beyond. This hands-on workshop is perfect for young artists with abundant energy and imagination. Students will learn how to take unwanted items and turn them into exciting creations through ideation, sketching, construction, and painting. Scholarships are available for families with a financial need.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Hélène Farrar
Price: $170 / $210

Botanical Monoprints

This two-day workshop will focus on creating monoprints on various papers. Unlike most printmaking techniques, which allow for multiple originals, monoprinting creates a single, unique image at a time. The beauty of this technique lies in its spontaneity and its allowance for combinations of printmaking, painting, and various mark-making methods that can be printed multiple times in various ways. All levels are welcome. Suitable for teens 14+.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Suzanne Stokes
Price: $285 / $335

Nature Adventure Camp (Ages 6-9) (Sold Out)

This class is sold out, but please click "Learn More" to join our waitlist. | Our summer nature camps provide fun and enriching opportunities for children to learn about the natural world. New exploration-filled activities will take us on adventures throughout the Gardens and surrounding forests as we investigate food chains, adaptations, the water cycle, arthropods, pond life, and more. Through observations, games, stories, experiments, and nature-related crafts, campers will be well on their way to becoming young naturalists by the end of the week! Extended Explorations aftercare is available as an add-on. Scholarships are available for families with a financial need.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: CMBG Youth Educator
Price: $165 / $205

Nature Adventure Camp (Ages 4-6)

Our summer nature camps provide fun and enriching opportunities for children to learn about the natural world. New exploration-filled activities will take us on adventures throughout the Gardens and surrounding forests as we investigate food chains, adaptations, the water cycle, arthropods, pond life, and more. Through observations, games, stories, experiments, and nature-related crafts, campers will be well on their way to becoming young naturalists by the end of the week! Extended Explorations aftercare is available as an add-on. Scholarships are available for families with a financial need.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: CMBG Youth Educator
Price: $165 / $205

Botanical Block Printing

Using the Gardens as inspiration, explore traditional block printing methods with a modern touch. These blocks can be used anywhere, as a printing press is not required. Participants will leave the two-day workshop understanding basic printing techniques and multiple prints of their designs. All levels are welcome. Suitable for teens 14+.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Jordan Parks
Price: $235 / $325

Family Medicinal Plant Walk (Ages 8+)

Ancient Egyptians used willow and myrtle to treat pain and fevers, and Mayans used the papaya tree for many herbal remedies. Plants have been used as medicine since our existence, and have inspired many modern-day medicines. In this session, participants will explore and sample plants in our gardens and surrounding woodlands that can be used for medical treatment for colds, upset stomachs, stress, anxiety, and so much more. The session will end by sampling a few herbal iced teas that participants can recreate at home or be inspired to create their own with their new knowledge. Scholarships are available for families with a financial need.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Cristina Pellegrini
Price: $10 / $15

Adventure Day at the Gardens (Ages 4-7)

Come and spend a fun-filled day with us at the Gardens. We’ll spend the day doing hands-on activities, playing games, and checking out all of the cool caterpillars in our visiting Caterpillar Lab exhibit. We’ll also search for critters in our many ponds, take a hike to see some giant trolls, and decorate a t-shirt with plants to remember the day. Scholarships are available for families with a financial need. To request an application, please email Erika Huber at ehuber@mainegardens.org.

Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: CMBG Youth Educator
Price: $50 / $65

Adventure Day at the Gardens (Ages 8-11)

Come and spend a fun-filled day with us at the Gardens. We’ll spend the day doing hands-on activities, playing games, and checking out all of the cool caterpillars in our visiting Caterpillar Lab exhibit. We’ll also search for critters in our many ponds, take a hike to see some giant trolls, and decorate a t-shirt with plants to remember the day. Scholarships are available for families with a financial need. To request an application, please email Erika Huber at ehuber@mainegardens.org.

Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: CMBG Youth Educator
Price: $50 / $65

Rhyme Crimes: Bugs, Poetry, and Nature Observations (Ages 9-14)

Join us for an immersive insect-themed poetry workshop for ages 9-14 with Wolastoqiyik writer and artist Mihku Paul. Students will get a unique look into the lives of insects and draw inspiration for poetry from a special visit to the Caterpillar Lab living exhibit. Through observations in the garden with our entomologist, participants will document the insects they encounter, collecting ideas and sketches that will become the basis for writing a poem or prose. Examples and templates will be provided to support the work. Participants will also be introduced to the Indigenous perspective on nature and learn some Passamaquoddy vocabulary as part of the instruction. Scholarships are available for families with a financial need.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Mihku Paul
Price: $36 / $45

Garden Investigators Camp-Habitats (Ages 4-6)

How can a garden support so much life? We'll scour the gardens, ponds, and surrounding forests in search of animals who call this place home. Through observations, games, stories, experiments, and crafts, campers will learn how native animals survive in their unique habitats. Extended Explorations aftercare is available as an add-on. Scholarships are available for families with a financial need.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: CMBG Youth Educator
Price: $165 / $205

Storytree Theatre Camp: Magic & Legends (Ages 9-12)

Become the legend you knew you always were in a land full of magic and myths. What land? We don't know, you haven't written it yet! Storytree's one-of-a-kind theatre camp offers students the opportunity to explore their imaginations, create, perform, and learn about theatre. Throughout the week, students develop performance techniques while engaging in movement, vocal and improvisational games that explore the fundamentals of theatre. Using the gardens for inspiration, students will create an original play and perform it for family and friends at the end of the week. Campers will spend the last hour of each day exploring the gardens and surrounding woodlands. Scholarships are available for families with a financial need.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Teralyn Reiter
Price: $285 / $350

Garden Explorers Camp (Ages 5-8) (Sold Out)

This class is sold out, but please click "Learn More" to join our waitlist. | Budding gardeners will spend the week digging, planting, watering, and harvesting fruits and vegetables in our learning garden. We'll investigate the inner workings of the garden from the ground up and get the real "dirt" on plants, life cycles, composting, garden critters, and more! Sign your campers up for a week filled with games, explorations, garden snack-making, and take-home garden projects. Extended Explorations aftercare is available as an add-on. Scholarships are available for families with a financial need.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: CMBG Youth Educator
Price: $165 / $205

Garden Investigators Camp: Habitats (Ages 6-9) (Sold Out)

This class is sold out, but please click "Learn More" to join our waitlist. | How can a garden support so much life? We'll scour the gardens, ponds, and surrounding forests in search of animals who call this place home. Through observations, games, stories, experiments, and crafts, campers will learn how native animals survive in their unique habitats and what a changing climate might mean for their future here in Maine. Extended Explorations aftercare is available as an add-on. Scholarships are available for families with a financial need.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: CMBG Youth Educator
Price: $165 / $205

Paper Cutting: Birds and Blossoms

Learn the techniques and history of papercutting with examples of traditional and contemporary styles. Students will leave this two day workshop with several pieces of their own artwork, exploring different methods or approaches. The class theme will be birds and blossoms.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Dylan Metrano
Price: $175 / $295

Capturing the Colors of the Season

Paint the changing landscape in watercolor during this three-day workshop. Crafted for artists looking to enhance their skills, you'll learn to blend warm, earthy tones for autumn and cool, muted hues for winter, capturing these seasons' unique light and atmosphere. We'll master techniques to paint various trees, colorful foliage, and intricate shadows, adding depth and dimension to your work. For intermediate watercolorists.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Erica Qualey
Price: $245 / $380

Five Days Drawing and Painting the Autumn Harvest

The leaves are turning, the air is crisp, and pumpkins and gourds abound! Take advantage of nature’s bounty within Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens' spectacular Dahlia and Iris garden. Spend one, two, three, four, or all five days surrounded by stunning dahlias in full bloom and learn how to draw and paint the fall harvest. All levels are welcome. Class appropriate to teens 14+.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Mindy Lighthipe
Price: $465 / $655

Fall Foliage in Blazing Color

Immerse yourself in fall foliage. Using the spectacular leaves found on the grounds of the Gardens', create blazing seasonal watercolor, colored pencil and/or watercolor pencil drawings. All levels welcome! This class can be taken alone or as part of a five-day series. Class appropriate to teens 14+.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Mindy Lighthipe
Price: $75 / $145

Pumpkins and Gourds in Graphite

Fall is an excellent time to learn how to create the lumpy bumpy textures found in the Cucurbitaceae family, known as gourds. Learn all about different gourds, their shapes, and growth cycles. This class can be taken alone or as part of a five-day series. It is recommended to take Pumpkins and Gourds in Color as a complement to this class, but it is not required. All levels are welcome. Class appropriate for teens 14+.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Mindy Lighthipe
Price: $75 / $145

Pumpkins and Gourds in Color

Fall is an excellent time to learn how to create the lumpy bumpy textures found in the Cucurbitaceae family, known as gourds. Learn all about different gourds, their shapes, and growth cycles. This class can be taken alone or as part of a five-day series. It is recommended to take Pumpkins and Gourds in Graphite as a complement to this class, but it is not required. All levels welcome. Class appropriate to teens 14+.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Mindy Lighthipe
Price: $75 / $145

Dahlia Details in Graphite

One of the greatest joys of fall is the emergence of the stunning dahlia. Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens has a particularly beautiful collection with a variety of shapes and colors. This class can be taken alone or as part of a five-day series. It is recommended to take Dahlia Details in Color as a complement to this class, but it is not required. All levels welcome. Class appropriate for teens 14+.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Mindy Lighthipe
Price: $75 / $145

Dahlia Details in Color

One of the greatest joys of fall is the emergence of the stunning dahlia. Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens has a particularly beautiful collection with a variety of shapes and colors. This class can be taken alone or as part of a five-day series. It is recommended to take Dahlia Details in Graphite as a complement to this class, but it is not required. All levels welcome. Class appropriate for teens 14+.

Learn More
Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Mindy Lighthipe
Price: $75 / $145