Are you a Mom who has a baby(ies) ages 4 and under, who's looking to grow a small community of local Moms and playmates for your kiddo(s)? Are you interested in hands-on outdoor opportunities for you and your little ones? We’d love to have you join us on the farm!
HOW IT WORKS:
Full Season registration available, pre-registration required before start date of each season. Our Mom & Me Garden Club is a weekly hour and a half long class every Friday from 10:00-11:30 am for Moms and all children ages 4 and under.
For our 2024 program, Mom & Me Garden Club seasons are as follows:
Spring Season = 3/15/24 to 6/14/24 (14 weeks) $280.
Summer Season = 6/21/24 to 8/30/24 (11 weeks) $220.
Fall Season = 9/6/24 to 11/15/24 (11 weeks) $220.
Full Year Discount = 3/15/24 to 11/15/24 (36 weeks) $700
We will provide one weekly STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) based garden/nature themed lesson for you and your babies, ages 0-4 years. We will cover subjects on topics such as seeds, plants, soil, the soil food web (worms, bugs and microbes), raising farm animals (BUNNIES, CHICKENS, GEESE, PIGS) ethically (for the animal, the land and the planet), and more. You can look forward to educational material, crafts, a bountiful harvest, or potted plants to bring home every week. Child-initiated sensory play and time to anchor new skills is provided to account for children’s needs and interests.
The hope is to provide you an opportunity to continue your studies and extend many lessons into your home and or daily lives, enabling you to share your wonder and experience with your whole family. There is nothing quite as amazing as harvesting your own food and sharing it with your family. We can provide knowledge about many different types of growing spaces, providing plants to go home, some lessons, that can grow well in many conditions (porch, patio, backyard, garden, window; shade, sun, warm, cool, etc.). Although we cannot guarantee your success at home, we can teach you how to care for your plants with your littles; and whether you succeed or not, we can guarantee there is an opportunity to further your family’s growing knowledge about food or herbs.
We will incorporate some Basic Children’s Herbology, learning songs, and hearing stories about herbs we can collect and dehydrate to use later at home! There will also be plant identification focuses for the Moms, the better we educate ourselves about the living world around us and our babies, the better we will feel when we find the next thing they put in their mouths!
We will have a space for children to be on blankets outdoors during "Homebase" time at the beginning and end of the class. You are encouraged to bring large-wheeled strollers, wagons, or baby carriers depending on their mobility and your preferences and comfort level. We will likely do quite a bit of walking to get to the gardens and farm animals. There will also be space for children who are mobile to run, dig, and explore nature.
These lessons will be held rain or shine. We have a 100 foot open air hoop house we can spread out in and have many lessons to provide therein. We may also take a walk in the rain (depending on how much rain), so bring rain gear, boots, umbrellas etc. on rainy days.
After each lesson we will provide time and space to commune as Moms and talk about our children, learn about each other's experiences, discuss other opportunities locally for our children, our hopes, our dreams, our GARDENS (or dreams thereof), gardening questions and more!! The goal of Mom Talk is to develop community and a Mom Support Group, being a parent is challenging, it really does take a village! This is part of the reason we do not allow guests unless the group agrees to have a “family day”, and that this is not a one day class, you will get to know the same Moms & Kiddos every week all season long! No childcare will be provided during the "Mom Talk", PLEASE BRING HEALTHY SNACKS FOR THIS TIME, we will see where our children lead us with their remaining energies and may spread out into smaller groups during this time as needed.
Please email us at info@parkerlearninggardens.org for registration issues, or call or text our staff at 541-579-8788.
SEEDS OF SUCCESS Discount Program available for qualifying low-income families! Click HERE to apply now! First come and limited number available!
View our updated Youth Protection Policy HERE.