Come learn with us at Brookside Gardens!
Brookside Gardens is a wonderful place for the whole family to engage with botany, gardening, and wildlife.
*Featured Program: Youth BioBlitz, April 19, stop by anytime between 11 am – 12 pm at the Exploration Cart in the Children’s Garden, FREE
*Featured Event: Earth Day Family Celebration, 4/26, 10 am – 2 pm
Learn more about the event by reading the Earth Month Family Celebration Social Narrative.
**Spring Field Trips are booked for the 2025 school year. Fill out the Field Trip Request Form to be added to the waitlist and learn about teacher-guided options. Read more on the School Field Trips tab, below.
Brookside Gardens offers a variety of programs for youth of all ages. Sign up for activities, classes, and events online by clicking: ActiveMontgomery. You can access the full list of programs by clicking: Spring and Summer 2025 Cultivate program guide here.
Upcoming Youth Programs:
| Date & Time | Program | Ages &Fee |
| Saturday, April 19, stop by any time between 11 am – 12 pm | Youth BioBlitz | All Ages, Free, Drop-ins welcome |
| Saturday, April 26, 10 am – 2 pm | Earth Month Family Celebration | All Ages, FREE |
| Saturday, May 17, 10 – 11 am | Birding in the Garden | Ages 8 – 12, $10 |
| Sunday, May 18, 10 – 10:45 am | Storytime in the Garden | Ages 5 – 7, $5 |
| Various Saturdays in April and May
10 – 10:45 am |
Yoga Sprouts! | Ages 3 – 9, $7 |
| June 16 – 18, any time between 11 am – 1 pm each day | Pollinator Pop-Up Cart | All Ages, Free, Drop-ins welcome |
| June 21 – 22, any time between 11 am – 1 pm each day | Summer Pop-Up Cart | All Ages, Free, Drop-ins welcome |
**Spring Field Trips are booked for the 2025 school year. Fill out the Field Trip Request Form to be added to the waitlist and learn about teacher-guided options.
Field trip programs are 90 minutes each and are offered Tuesday through Friday mornings by reservation only. Read more about the program options below and follow this link to submit a request: Field Trip Request Form.
| Grades | Field Trip Program | Summary |
| Grades: PreK – 1 | Plants and Pollinators | Learn about plants with a guided outdoor exploration and pot a plant to take home. |
| Grades: 2 – 4 | Plants and Pollinators | Learn about the structure and function of plant anatomy with a guided outdoor exploration and pot a plant to take home. |
| Grade: 4 | Erosion and Water in the Landscape | Use a map and make observations about erosion, native plants, and the water cycle. Make and take home native seed balls. |
| Grades: 5 – 8 | Water Quality in the Watershed | Use chemistry to test the health of our namesake “brook” and learn about the Chesapeake Bay. |
| Grades: 9 – 12 | Service-Learning | Bring your students to work on a service-learning project that benefits the natural world. |
**Spring Field Trips are booked for the 2025 school year. Submit a Field Trip Request Form to be added to the waitlist and hear about self-guided options for the 2024-2025 school year by clicking this link: Request Form.
All field trip programs are aligned with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). For questions or more information, please email Liz.Bullock@MontgomeryParks.org
Explore the diversity of the life all around us with Garden Investigators Camp, discover the science behind our gardens with our Summer Science Camp, get creative with our Art Adventures Camp, or help out the planet with our Climate Action Camp.
All summer camps for 2025 are currently full, with waitlists. Summer camps run in week-long sessions from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. There is no after-care available.
Ages 6-8 years
Garden Investigators | June 23 – June 27
Garden Investigators | July 14 – July 18
Ages 9-11 years
Summer Science Camp | July 7 – July 11
Art Adventures | July 28 – August 1
Ages 11-14 years
Climate Action Camp | August 4 – August 8
Experience a unique mini-Maryland in the outdoor Children’s Garden. The garden’s theme is “Explore Maryland!” and it is an opportunity for children to explore nature from all regions of our state. You can explore pollinator-friendly plants, pretend among mountain boulders, play in an old farm house, cook in a nature kitchen, boat in the sea, and gain knowledge about Maryland’s natural history, flora and fauna.
Brookside Gardens offers a variety of programs for youth of all ages. Sign up for activities, classes, and events online through ActiveMontgomery. You can access the Spring and Summer 2025 Cultivate program guide here.