education

Girls’ Science Programs

Scouts can work toward earning Try-Its and badges after school Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. during the fall and spring seasons. These workshops are designed to accommodate ten to 25 girls.

registration

Call (847) 835-8239 to register or for more information

group size
Minimum group size of ten, maximum of 25 children.
One actively involved chaperone for every five children is required.

Days/Times
Monday through Friday after school, and select Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Please call for availability on days off from school.

Fees
Girls Ages 5-6 and 7-9
$10 per Scout
Programs run 90 minutes.
Required deposit: $100

Girls Ages 8-11
$15 per Scout
Programs run two hours.
Required deposit: $150

Registration Policies

program information

Attire
Dress for the weather. Wear clothes that are comfortable for outdoor and indoor activities and hands-on, sometimes messy, fun.
Most programs have an outdoor component and participants should have ample clothing.

Location/parking
Park in the Children's Learning Center (CLC) entry driveway and meet your leader in the CLC. Bring your confirmation letter with you to receive free parking and duplicate for additional drivers.

Listed below, please find the Garden’s most popular programs. If you would like to build a custom badge workshop for your troop, please call (847) 835-8239 to discuss possibilities and pricing. The following badge workshops are available to Girl Scouts:

GIRLS AGES 5-6

Young Naturalist

Discover who lives in the woods by exploring their habitat! Participants will hike through McDonald Woods, discuss what they can do to protect animals that live there, play an ecofriendly game, and create a naturalist book.

Flower Power

Observe flowers from all over the world and inspect one to see how they produce seeds. Participants will plant a flower to bring home and learn about the pollinators that help them reproduce.

GIRLS AGES 7-9

Aqua Adventurer

Program satisfies requirements for the Try-It patch “Water Everywhere”

Water is vital to every person, plant and animal’s daily life and it can be found in many forms. Participants will discover surprising places to find water in things we use everyday as well as what inhabits the waterways of the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Below our Feet and Above our Heads

Program satisfies requirements for the Try-It patch “Earth and Sky”

Participants will study the ground they walk on and the sky above them. They’ll make their own rock, create a cloudscape, and make a birdfeeder for migrating birds.
(This program is peanut-free.)

Budding Botanists

Program satisfies requirements for the Try-It patch “Plants”

Botanists are scientists who study plants. Participants will act as botanists-in-training and will dissect a seed, create art and jewelry using plant parts, and observe some of the 2.3 MILLION plants at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Outdoor Explorer

Program satisfies requirements for the Try-It patch
“Eco-Explorer”

Ecologists are scientists who study the relationship between organisms and their environment. Participants will learn about habitats, go on a scavenger hunt for living and nonliving things, learn about food chains, and make a bird feeder to take home. (This program is peanut-free.)

GIRLS AGES 8-11

The following programs are two hours in length.

Artist for a Day

Program satisfies 5/6 requirements for the "Outdoor Creativity" badge. Call for more details.

Draw on your experience at the Chicago Botanic Garden to create beautiful art. Participants will tour the Garden, look at botanical art, make your own nature-inspired art and poetry, and press flowers to take home.

Earth Scientist

Program satisfies requirements for the “Earth Connections” badge.

Ecologists study the relationship between plants, animals, and the environment. Participants will study the prairie ecosystem, discuss animal adaptations, and consider why it is important to save plant and animal species. This program is not available from November through March.

Horticulturist for a Day

Program satisfies 5/6 requirements for the “Plants and Animals” badge.

Horticulturists study how plants grow. Participants will learn about native and invasive plants, taste an exotic fruit or vegetable, and create topiaries and seed art.

Investigating Science

Program satisfies requirements for the “Science Discovery” badge.

Participants will speak to a female scientist, study optical illusions, and set up and execute experiments. They will also explore the Garden in order to identify five different plants.

Wildlife Biologist for a Day

Program satisfies requirements for the “Wildlife” badge.

Wildlife biologists study animals in their normal surroundings. Participants will sketch animals, use magnification tools, and learn about adaptations and endangered species.