Every Wednesday in October from 10-10:45AM

Do you have a child 18-36 months old? Are you looking for children’s activities in the East Bay area? Garden Buds is a 4-week long program where your child will meet the same friends each week. It is an opportunity to practice social skills in an outdoor setting while developing an interest in nature with hands-on activities. The class will only use sustainable and natural materials for all craft activities. The program will provide early education in basic plant knowledge, hands-on plant based activities and seasonal experiences exclusive to the Ruth Bancroft Garden.

In October, our Garden Buds will be learning about Plants and People. Children will learn what they can use plants for and explore the connection between plants and people. Miss Marie will highlight examples from the Garden, the grocery store, and other places that you find plant material. Each session will include a book reading, nature activity, Garden walk, songs, rhymes and more! As always, eco-friendly crafts will be featured in each session.

The price is per child per event series – the October series has 4 classes:

October 4th | 10AM – All About Seeds

Our first class will be about plants we can eat. During our garden walk, we will look at fruit growing in the Garden. We will make an edible cheerios necklace. Yes, cheerios are full of sugar, but sugar is a plant too! We will also read, sing and search the sensory bin for items that are made from plants. 

October 11th | 10AM – All About Spices

This class is about spices. The Buds will smell spices and rub leaves on plants in the Garden to release a scent. The craft is salt dough ornaments, and the Buds will add spices to the dough. The ornaments will smell delicious. 

October 18th | 10AM – All About Sound

This will be a loud class! Plants can be used to make music and instruments. The Garden Buds will explore different ways of making music with plants. They will make a seed rattle that even might have a scent depending on what they choose to put in it. 

October 25th | 10AM – Plant Art

In the last class, we will read the interactive Plant the Tiny Seed by Christie Matheson. This will prepare them to sow some seeds of their own. The craftivity will be to paint a pot with natural colors and sow basil seeds. 

One caregiver can accompany per child. If siblings, one caregiver can attend with two children. The price is per child.