Field Trips
Get the most out of your visit to Nicholas Conservatory & Gardens with a fun, hands-on educational program led by NCG program staff!
All Conservatory field trip programs are aligned to local and national curriculum standards. If you are studying a particular topic or working toward a specific scout badge, let us know! Programs are conducted in the NCG classroom, tropical conservatory, and outdoor gardens (weather permitting). Programs are two hours long (unless otherwise noted). Minimum class/troop size is ten students.
Fees
Students: $11
Chaperones: $9
Teachers/Staff: FREE
Class Availability
Tuesdays - Sundays during regular facility hours
Programs
Great Greenhouses!
How can NCG grow tropical plants all year long? With a greenhouse! Take a behind-the-scenes tour of the conservatory to learn how we capture the power of the sun to extend the seasons, and make your own greenhouse to take home.
Keepin’ It Green
It’s more than just plants that are green at Nicholas Conservatory! Experiment with solar power, biofiltration and geothermal, and plant a cutting from our green roof to take home. Get a behind the-scenes tour with our staff to learn what makes NCG an environmentally friendly building.
Spice It Up
Discover the world of spices, and meet the plants that produce them. Become a trader, king, queen, or even a pirate, to learn the value of spices and how they shaped world trade in our immersive spice trading game! Experience the smells of different spices, and make your own NCG spice ornament and custom lip balm! Finish up with an exploration of the gardens.
A Plant’s Life
Explore the fascinating world of plants through fun hands-on activities and games! Team up for our plant game, and take on the role of a plant trying to thrive and grow in ever-changing conditions. Photosynthesis and the plant lifecycle are made easy and exciting in our engaging Plant Game as students work together to gain sugars through photosynthesis, and grow leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds. Other activity stations include explorations of seed dispersal, parts of a flower, pollination, and seed germination. This program is so fun it is 2 1/2 hours long!
Seasonal Programs
Secret Life of Butterflies
❗ Sold Out for Butterfly field trips 2024! Available for non-butterfly field trips May 28 or later
Experience the amazing world of butterflies at Nicholas Conservatory’s annual spring butterfly exhibit! See the butterfly life cycle in action as you meet our caterpillars, chrysalises, and adult butterflies. Become a butterfly egg and see if you can make it through your life cycle in our butterfly obstacle course! We’ll do our part for our indigenous butterflies by making native plant seed balls to take home. Finish up with a visit to the butterfly house and exploration of the conservatory.
Available only during the butterfly exhibit (mid-March through end of May).
Terrific Trains
Choo choo! All aboard for a terrific visit to Nicholas Conservatory’s Sinnissippi Station! Explore the miniature railway in the conservatory, try your hand at building structures out of natural materials, and make your own wooden train car to take home.
This field trip is only available during the Sinnissippi Station garden railway display (December–January).
Rotating Summer Exhibit Program
Each July-October we have a new exhibit, which means a new field trip program! Ask Lyndi or check our website to learn more about our summer exhibit field trip program.
Self-Guided Field Trips
Explore the gardens with your class, troop, or camp. Your participants will love the amazing array of tropical fruit trees, palms, and other exotic plants as well as fish and insects inside the tropical conservatory, open year-round.
The outdoor gardens and Eclipse Lagoon also offer wonderful learning opportunities with native landscapes, fish, turtles, ducks, and public sculptures.
Fees
Students: $8
Chaperones: $9
Teachers/Staff: FREE
Class Availability
Tuesdays - Sundays during regular facility hours
Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities
Join in on the fun happening at NCG with our programs modified and designed with your students in mind. These programs include inclusive hands-on activities and time to explore the tropical conservatory. Programs are 90 minutes. Minimum class size 5.
Fees
Students: $11
Chaperones: $9
Teachers/Staff: FREE
Class Availability
Tuesdays - Sundays during regular facility hours
Programs
Painting with Plants
Experience the beauty of tropical plants, fish, fountains, and more at Nicholas Conservatory. Then, use the gardens as your inspiration to create your own work of art using plant parts as your paint brushes, stamps, or whatever way you choose!
Spice It Up!
Take a journey around the world with us through the gardens to discover spices like cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and more! Then choose your favorite spices to mix up a spice-scented ornament to take home!
The Secret Life of Butterflies
Experience the amazing world of butterflies as you see the butterfly lifecycle in action and meet real caterpillars, chrysalises, and adult butterflies! Do your part for our native butterflies by making native seed balls to take home and plant. We will finish with a visit to the butterfly house and tropical conservatory.
(Available only during the annual spring butterfly exhibit mid-March through late May)
Questions
Contact Lyndi Toohill at 815.987.1654 or e-mail lynditoohill@rockfordparkdistrict.org