NEWSLETTER
Millbrook, NY — Innisfree Garden will offer a new summer program series for children this July and August. The Innisfree Explorers Series for Curious Kids invites young participants and their grown-ups to spend Friday afternoons exploring the garden through hands-on outdoor activities, close observation, creative projects, and guided discovery.
Designed especially for children ages 6 to 10, the four-part series will take place on Fridays from 2:00 to 3:30 PM, July 31 through August 21, at Innisfree Garden in Millbrook, NY. Families may register for the full series or choose individual sessions.
Each workshop explores a different side of Innisfree, from pond and stream life to nature-inspired art, sensory plants, and scavenger hunts. Programs include short guided walks, creative activities, and plenty of time for children to wonder, ask questions, and explore.
The series will be led by Brad Roeller, an Innisfree trustee, horticulturist, author, and longtime educator, and Olivia Dick, Innisfree’s Seasonal Program Assistant. Brad brings more than 40 years of experience in horticulture, natural history, and public garden education, with past work at the Cary Institute, the New York Botanical Garden, and private estates. Olivia developed the Innisfree Explorers series using experience gained at the Cary Institute and Trevor Zoo. She is a rising sophomore studying Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University.
The series includes:
Life at the Water’s Edge
Friday, July 31, 2:00–3:30 PM
Children will explore the fascinating edge where land meets water, looking closely at a stream, a lotus pool, and the plants and living things found in and around them.
Nature-Inspired Art
Friday, August 7, 2:00–3:30 PM
Participants will make art inspired by the natural world, including trail bracelets, bark and leaf rubbings, nature wall hangings, and clay impressions using leaves, seeds, bark, and other natural materials.
Plants and the Five Senses
Friday, August 14, 2:00–3:30 PM
This playful garden walk invites kids to explore plants through scent, texture, color, sound, and taste, with activities such as scratching and sniffing aromatic leaves and bark, comparing plant colors and textures, making simple nature sound shakers, and sampling plant-inspired drinks.
Nature Scavenger Hunt
Friday, August 21, 2:00–3:30 PM
Young explorers will search for colors, textures, water, rocks, living things, garden structures, and other discoveries throughout the garden. At the end of the hunt, participants can return to the starting point to receive an Innisfree Explorer prize pack.
All workshops take place outdoors throughout the garden. Participants should wear comfortable clothing and shoes, bring water, and be prepared for the possibility of getting messy. All children must be accompanied by an adult. Registration is required for both children and accompanying adults, though workshop fees apply only to participating children. Space is limited, and advance registration is strongly encouraged.
Workshop fees are $25 per session per child or $80 for the full series.
For more information and registration, visit innisfreegarden.org/events.
Innisfree Garden is a 185-acre public garden in Millbrook, NY, recognized as one of the world’s ten best gardens. Shaped by water, rock, plants, and sky, Innisfree invites visitors of all ages to explore a distinctive American stroll garden inspired by Chinese and Japanese design, modernist ideas, and the remarkable landscape surrounding Tyrrel Lake.
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Photo: Scavenger Hunt