Brookside Gardens offers a variety of programs for youth of all ages. Sign up for activities, classes, and events online by clicking: ActiveMontgomery.

Click this link to access the Spring and Summer 2025 Cultivate Program Guide.

Click this link to access the Fall and Winter 2025/2026 Cultivate Program Guide.

Featured Program: Butterflies of Brookside (Outdoors) Saturday, August 23, 2025, 10 am – 11 am.

Learn more and register online: Butterflies of Brookside (Outdoors)

**Note – this program does NOT include access to the indoor Butterfly Experience and is a completely outdoor program.

School Field Trips

**We will start taking requests after August 20 for the 25/26 school year on the Field Trip Request Form.

Most Field trip programs are 90 minutes each and are offered Tuesday through Friday mornings by reservation only. Pre-K (4+) and K field trips are 60 minutes. Read more about the program options below.

Plants and Pollinators: Grades: PreK – K

• Learn about plants with a guided outdoor exploration and pot a plant to take home. (60 minutes, outdoors)

Plants and Pollinators: Grades: 1 – 4

• Learn about the structure and function of plant anatomy and the pollinators they depend upon with a guided outdoor exploration and pot a plant to take home. (90 minutes, outdoors)

Erosion and Water on the Landscape: Grade: 4

• Use a map and make observations about erosion, native plants, and the water cycle. Make and take home native seed balls. (90 minutes, outdoors)

Water Quality in the Watershed: Grades: 5 – 8

• Use chemistry to test the health of our namesake “brook” and learn about the Chesapeake Bay. (90 minutes, outdoors)

Service Learning: Grades 9 – 12

• Bring your students to work on a service-learning project that benefits the natural world. (90 minutes, outdoors)

**Check back after August 20 to submit a field trip request for the 2025-2026 school year: Request Form.

All field trip programs are completely outdoors and all participants should come prepared for the weather on their scheduled field trip day. All field trip programs are aligned with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). For questions or more information, please email Liz.Bullock@MontgomeryParks.org

Children’s Day

Sunday, September 21, 2025, 10 am – 2 pm

Explore the science and art of gardening through child-driven art projects and engaging science activities. Participants will rotate through outdoor activity stations designed to educate and entertain. Bring your friends, family, and picnics (only allowed during this special event). Registration encouraged, but not required. Drop-ins welcome.

Performances:

• Beech Tree Puppets will perform in the morning inside the Visitor Center Auditorium.
• Mr. Gabe, the ‘pied piper of Takoma Park,’ will perform outside on the Visitor Center lawn in the afternoon.  

Outdoor Children’s Activities Including: 

• Potting your own plant to take home, while supplies last.
• Create Botanical Art with watercolors. 
• Learn how to use the iNaturalist app to participate in community science with your phone. 
• Learn about soil science.
• Meet and take photos with the Montgomery Parks mascots. 
• Try yoga led by our expert “Yoga Sprouts!” instructor. Mats are available to borrow.
• Meet community partners like Politics and Prose and author Ann McCallum Staats. See how many amazing facts you know about plants while exploring her new book about Fantastic Flora.

This event is proudly sponsored by Friends of Brookside Gardens. 

Explore la ciencia y el arte de la jardinería a través de atractivas actividades científicas y proyectos de arte orientados a los niños. Los participantes rotarán por estaciones de actividades al aire libre diseñadas para enseñar y entretener. Traiga a sus amigos y familiares. Se permite hacer pícnic solamente durante este evento especial. Recomendamos registrarse, pero no es obligatorio.

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, play in an old farm house, boat in the sea, and gain knowledge about Maryland’s natural history, flora and fauna.