EDUCATION — CENTER FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING

Let's Go Outdoors

Go on a nature hike and explore the great outdoors at Chicago Botanic Garden! Activities may include planting seeds, making a birdfeeder, playing an exciting nature game, and discovering leaves and trees.

Feed the Birds

Birds and other animals need to eat food everyday just like you do. We'll make bird feeders and learn more about how birds fly. Then we will see what birds live here at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Learn about what it means to recycle. We will do our own reusing, and we will learn how and where to recycle.

Birds

Discover some of the wildlife that inhabits the skies at the Garden. Create a bird identification list, make a bird feeder, observe birds in their natural habitats, and learn about animal adaptations.

Grow Something

Learn how scientists at the Garden make plants grow year-round, and discover what surprises the greenhouses hold. Dissect seeds and plant a tropical plant of your own to bring home.

Water and Soil Conservation

Is it all dirt to you? No way! Perform scientific experiments to learn what soil is made of and why it is so important. Discover how fire affects ecosystems and what you can do to prevent erosion.

Junior Naturalist

Learn about different parts of nature. Create your own tree identification book, "track" down some local wildlife, and study seeds up close and personal.

Sharing Your World with Wildlife

Do you want to learn more about wildlife? Learn what a wildlife conservation officer does. Take a chance to learn more about your favorite animal, and learn about some that have gone extinct.

Forester
(FALL ONLY)

Visit McDonald Woods and learn to identify common trees. Explore life in the different layers of the forest, test soil to understand how it helps to feed a tree, and tell the life story of a tree through its rings.

Naturalist

Make a terrarium to take home and observe, learn to identify common poisonous plants, play a food chain game, and discover hands-on some of the “little guys” in a wetland food chain.