May 3

Grow a Salad

Plant lettuce seeds in a salad bowl - then grow your own pint-sized garden to eat later!

May 10

Make a Mini-Garden Mosaic Stone

Use sequins, rocks, and shells to create a miniature stepping stone to decorate your garden or home.

May 17

Garden Flower Presses

Preserve and take home flowers from the Conservatory with your own flower press. This pretty press, made from take-out container lids, can be used as a suncatcher, necklace, coaster and more!

May 24

Start a Salsa Garden

Get ready for the planting season by starting seeds for plants that will later spice up your summer! Plant a tomatillo, tomato, cilantro, and hot pepper seed and grow your own salsa ingredients at home.

May 31

No programs due to Memorial Day holiday.

June 7

Plant a Ladybug Garden

Plant seeds to take home that will be enjoyable for the ladybugs and you! Dill, Fennel, white cosmo flowers, and cilantro plants attract ladybugs. Tots will learn about pollinators and why they are important to us.

June 14

Build-a-bug

Build a bug from household items, and then fly or crawl it around the Conservatory to find a snack.

June 21

Grow a Teacup Garden

Plant fragrant herbs and grow your very own herbal tea garden. Chamomile, peppermint, and lemon balm seeds will be used to grow a garden that you can enjoy year-round.

June 28

Build a Chicago Bug-a-low

Use clay and twigs to build a miniature house for a pretend bug. Not a Chicago bungalow, but a bug-a-low!

July 5

No programs due to Independence day holiday.

 July 12

No programs due to off-site programming. Come visit us at the Millenium Park Family Fun tent.

July 19

Herbal Ice Cream

Using herbs from the Conservatory’s Demonstration Garden, help make home-made ice cream for a yummy summer-time treat! (Please note: projects will be enjoyed on-site, there will be no take-home project for today. Dairy will be used in this project.)

 July 26

“Be a Bee” Goggles

Celebrate a garden’s best friend by making a special pair of “bee goggles.” Then, buzz around the Conservatory looking for flowers to pollinate.

 August 2

Mud Prints

Mom always tells you not to play in the mud, but here’s your chance! We will experiment with different colored soils to create one-of-a-kind mud paintings and prints.

August 9

Wish Sticks

Discover that a twig can be so much more than just a stick in this fun, imaginative project. Decorate a twig with buttons and sequins then take home a truly unique treasure!

August 16

Herbal Iced Tea

Cool off your hot summer day and make herbal iced-tea from plants that can be found in the Conservatory’s outdoor herb garden.

August 23

Leaf Sculptures

Become a nature artist and create a work of art using tropical leaves and other plant parts. Tots will be able to take their sculptures home.

August 30

Seed Tambourines

Make some music with plants! Use a pie tin and a variety of seeds to make a tambourine, then decorate it to make it yours.

 September 6

No programs due to Labor Day holiday

September 13

Seed Packets

Hunt for seeds to grow in next year’s garden - then decorate a packet to store them in all winter long.

September 20

Corn Husk Dolls

Create your own special corn-husk doll (or action figure) to take home while learning about one of our favorite vegetables...corn!

September 27

Seed Quilts

Contribute to a community quilt made of seeds! Create a cardboard quilt square with a unique design of your own, then add it to the Children’s Garden Seed quilt

October 4

Leaf Presses

Learn how to create your own leaf press from household materials to capture all the beauty of autumn colors. Stash some Conservatory leaves in the press to get started and continue the fun at home.

October 11

Grow a Money Tree

Can you find the Guiana Chestnut tree, also called the money tree, growing inside the Conservatory? This fast-growing tree makes a great houseplant and brings wealth and good luck to a home.

October 18

Conservatory Lucky Charms

We need your help sorting out the plants of the Conservatory in this fun hands-on learning project. When we are all done, each participant will take home a special conservatory charm necklace.

October 25

Herbal Apple Cider

Get into the spirit of fall by making your own apple cider. Creating a mulling spice bag from cloves, allspice, and cinnamon to steep in hot apple juice when you get home.