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enjoy your visit — for families

Weekend Family Classes

Together, adults and children can explore cool things about how plants connect to science, art, history, and culture. Each program includes a variety of hands-on activities and projects, as well as opportunities to bring the Garden home. Programs run from November through April on Saturdays.

Registration and payment must be received no later than one week prior to the date of the program. Register online by selecting a class below, or download the registration form to register by fax or mail. Sorry, no phone registrations.

Visit Weekend Family Classes Basics for more information, or call 847-835-8363.

Ages: Children ages 4 to 10 accompanied by adults. Limit of three children per adult, please. An adult MUST accompany children.

Times: 9:30 – 11 a.m. or 1 – 2:30 p.m.

Fees: $17 per child member, $20 per child nonmember

Class Schedule:

Painting with Plants: Plants and their parts — flowers, stems, roots, & fruits — come in a rainbow of colors!  Create beautiful art using the natural designs and pigments of the garden. Concoct paints made from eggs, herbs and spices.
November 1, 9:30 – 11 a.m.	November 8, 9:30 – 11 a.m.
November 1, 1 – 2:30 p.m.	November 8, 1 – 2:30 p.m.

Beautiful Birds: Birds and plants help each other survive — plants provide food and shelter for the birds, and birds help new plants grow! Discover where different birds live, learn what they eat, and create different kinds of bird feeders using plants.
November 15, 9:30 – 11 a.m.	November 22, 9:30 – 11 a.m.
November 15, 1 – 2:30 p.m.	November 22, 1 – 2:30 p.m.

Joyful Gingerbread: Plants help make delicious holiday treats — like gingerbread! Explore all the different plants and plant parts needed to make gingerbread. Take home a future ginger plant, decorate cookies, and mix up a batch of gingerbread to bake at home.
Dec. 6, 9:30 – 11 a.m.	Dec. 13, 9:30 – 11 a.m.	Dec. 20, 9:30 – 11 a.m.
Dec. 6, 1 – 2:30 p.m.	Dec. 13, 1 – 2:30 p.m.	Dec. 20, 1 – 2:30 p.m.

Worm Worlds: Find out how wiggling creatures turn garbage into rich compost. Explore different types of worms and their habitats, create a worm compost bin, and learn to use compost to feed plants. All participating children take home a compost bin with live worms. Additional $5 materials fee per child
January 3, 9:30 – 11 a.m.	January 10, 9:30 – 11 a.m.
January 3, 1 – 2:30 p.m.	January 10, 1 – 2:30 p.m.

Pizza Gardens: Pizza has lots of ingredients from the garden — wheat, herbs, and lots of vegetables! Find out about plants used in pizza, learn to mix and knead pizza dough, and plant a special Italian herb garden to make tasty pizza treats at home!
January 17, 9:30 – 11 a.m.	January 24, 9:30 – 11 a.m.
January 17, 1 – 2:30 p.m.	January 24, 1 – 2:30 p.m.

Dinosaur Plants: What kinds of plants grew in your backyard millions of years ago? Examine plant and animal fossils, and create your own fossil. Look at some of the oldest kinds of plants and make a fern cupcake to grow a dinosaur plant at home.
January 31, 9:30 – 11 a.m.	February 7, 9:30 – 11 a.m.
January 31, 1 – 2:30 p.m.	February 7, 1 – 2:30 p.m.

HOT Chocolate: Uncover the story of chilies and chocolates—food from South American plants! Examine the cacao tree, learn how bitter beans make delicious desserts, mix up an ancient Aztec chocolate, and take home chocolate mint and chocolate pepper plants.
February 14, 9:30 – 11 a.m.	February 21, 9:30 – 11 a.m.
February 14, 1 – 2:30 p.m.	February 21, 1 – 2:30 p.m.

Gumballs & Superballs:  Discover amazing plants of the rainforest in our greenhouses.  Find out how people use parts of rainforest trees to make chewing gum and rubber. Create your own bouncing ball and flavorful gum to take home.
February 28, 9:30 – 11 a.m.	March 7, 9:30 – 11 a.m.
February 28, 1 – 2:30 p.m.	March 7, 1 – 2:30 p.m.

Japanese Dry Gardens:  Discover the beauty of Japanese art, culture, and gardens by making some traditional Japanese crafts. Design your own miniature dry garden using sand and rocks that you can change every day.

March 14, 9:30 – 11 a.m.

March 14, 1 – 2:30 p.m.

Natural Fabric Dyeing: Many different plant parts — fruits, leaves, stems, roots, and seeds — can turn fabric a rainbow of colors. Learn about the dyeing process, experiment with a variety of natural dyes, pot up a traditional dye plant, and color a bandana to take home.
March 21, 9:30 – 11 a.m.	March 28, 9:30 – 11 a.m.
March 21, 1 – 2:30 p.m.	March 28, 1 – 2:30 p.m.

Homemade Ice Cream:  Many of our favorite kinds of ice cream are flavored with plants — chocolate comes from a tree and vanilla comes from an orchid. Examine these plants, make a batch of vanilla ice cream, and pot a mint plant to flavor ice cream.
April 4, 9:30 – 11 a.m.	April 11, 9:30 – 11 a.m.
April 4, 1 – 2:30 p.m.	April 11, 1 – 2:30 p.m.