We moved to Pittsburgh almost one year ago now, and we’ve been busily exploring all that the city has to offer for children.  One of the first places we visited was Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens as we were wrapping up our botany study in homeschool preschool — and we loved it so much that we immediately signed up for a membership!

I would not have thought that walking through gardens would be interesting for young children — but then I saw the exhibits at Phipps!  We make a point to go at least once during every show (it changes every few months), and my girls have ALWAYS been completely enthralled.  The summer show (now through October 6, 2019) is “Van Gogh in Bloom.”  The gardens recreate some of Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings, and it is absolutely breathtaking!

One of the perks to living so close to Phipps is that we can take advantage of the seasonal camps for kids and their classes for homeschoolers — we have signed up for several over the past year, and it’s always so much fun!

After we take in a class, we usually head to our favorite parts of Phipps — the Outdoor Discovery Garden or the Gallery Room Play Market.  My girls have enjoyed exploring there for hours, and it’s so much fun to get to play in nature while learning about healthy eating choices.

There are also several Discovery Programs for Kids that are included with the price of admission!  There’s Make-a-Craft Mondays (10:30am-noon), Story Time Wednesdays (10:30am-noon), and Pot-a-Plant Fridays (10:30am-noon).

This past weekend, we were invited to Phipps to learn about their summer programs for kids and to take part in a cooking demonstration in the newly-renovated Botany Hall Kitchen — where some of the summer camps will take place!

With young children, it can be quite difficult to find high quality educational programs that are geared for kids before they reach school-age — but not at Phipps!  Phipps provides summer camps for a wide variety of age ranges, including Little Sprouts for ages 2-4 (children must be accompanied by an adult), Seedling Scientists for ages 4-6, Budding Botanists for ages 6-8, Rocking Researchers for ages 6-10, and Science Sleuths for ages 9-13!  The summer camps cover everything related to nature that you could think of, such as dirt, worms, bugs, veggie gardens, rocks, animal habitats, nature art, butterflies, cooking with fresh produce, nature science, and so much more! The all day programs include the Let’s Move Pittsburgh lunch program, which works to provide children and their caregivers with the tools they need to make nutritious food choices and develop active lifestyles.  Honestly, reading about all of the camps makes me wish I could be a kid again — so I’m pretty thankful that I get a chance to relive a bit of childhood through my girls at Phipps!

I honestly can’t say enough about how much we love Phipps.  Whether you live here and are looking for summer activities for your kids, or even if you’re just planning a trip here and want to take in the sites — Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens is one place you don’t want to miss in Pittsburgh!