Skip to main content
 
Plant Talk

Inside The New York Botanical Garden

This Winter Break, Send the Kids Into the Field

Posted in Around the Garden, Learning Experiences, Programs and Events on January 18 2012, by Education at NYBG

Winter Science CampThe mid-winter break is coming up on the calendar for local school kids, leaving us just a bit excited here at The New York Botanical Garden. Not that we’re taking any vacations for ourselves, mind you. For the first time, we’re throwing open our gates as one of the world’s premier centers for botanical science, welcoming curious young minds as we turn the Garden into a 250-acre classroom, laboratory, and learning playground.

Winter Science Camp offers children a “behind the scenes” learning experience under the guidance of the NYBG’s world-renowned plant educators. Kids will investigate plants in the Herbarium unseen by the public, enjoy early-morning exploration in the Forest, and experience a curriculum you just won’t find in the local elementary school schedule. Where else can they try their hand at planting vegetables, or pressing their own botanical specimens?

George Washington Carver firmly believed in “learning by doing,” and it’s in honor of this influential scientist and his commitment to education that we inaugurate this week-long experience. He understood what it meant to go beyond the chalkboard in a life championed by creativity, invention, and the pursuit of knowledge:

“The thoughtful educator realizes that a very large part of a child’s education must be gotten outside of the four walls designated as a classroom.”

With as wonderful a natural canvas as we have here in the Bronx, we think it’s only right to make use of our offerings through teaching, opening up our state-of-the-art facilities and continuously evolving collections to young people with the motivation to look, see, touch, and experience. Getting the kids out of the house this mid-winter break is important–keep their minds sharp by sending them into the field!

Winter Science Camp for 8- to 10-year-olds runs between February 20 and 24. Cost: $225 for non-members, $200 for members. Call 718-817-8181 to register or email our Registration Office. Space is limited, so register early!