Curated for your group

ICG loves hosting school groups of all ages, service learning field trips, homeschool groups, scouts, after-school programs, daycares, garden clubs, landscape designers, parks and public garden professionals, graduate students, play advocates, politicians, tourism bureaus, and more.

Interested in a field trip to ICG? Your first step is to complete the field trip request form.

“My students were very excited to have the opportunity to find, see, and touch living creatures in the compost, chicken coop, and in the creek. My students loved getting to eat outdoors and have unstructured play time after the tour.” – ICSD teacher

Field Trip Programs

Download the field trip program descriptions: ICG Field Trips

“The Hands-on-Nature Anarchy Zone was absolutely a wonderful and surprising highlight. I loved watching my students come alive in that area!” – ICSD teacher

Registration Information

Pre-registration is required. Payment is due at the time of your visit unless arrangements have been made ahead. Please use the online Field Trip Registration form to express your interest in a field trip to ICG and request your preferred dates and program. (Buddy Up details below)

Cost

Garden Field Trips: $7/student; no charge for adult chaperones

Add-On: Add an ICG Educator for a second 20-25 minute garden lesson/exploration/game for $2 per student. Add a Playworker to support child-led free play in the Hands-on-Nature Anarchy Zone for $2 per student.

Details

We recommend planning for a 2-4 hour field trip. Based on your group size we will ask you to divide your students into 2-4 smaller groups for the activity portion of your field trip. You’ll receive an information packet at least two weeks before your visit which will include a proposed schedule, map of the Garden, and background information for teachers and chaperones as well as information to share with parents and students.

Groups arrive at the Garden’s Main Entrance, enter through the purple gates, and gather in the Village Green. An ICG educator will welcome and orient your group to the Garden followed by a 20-25 minute garden lesson/exploration/game for up to 4 groups of students. Groups are welcome to stay for as long as they’d like to explore, play, and picnic lunch.

Buddy Up Field Trips (the special program for ICSD schools) includes 2 classrooms: $120

ADD-ONS: Add an ICG Educator for a second 15-minute garden lesson/exploration/game for $2 per student. Add a Playworker to support child-led free play in the Hands-on-Nature Anarchy Zone for $2 per student.

We recommend planning for a 2-4 hour field trip. Based on your group size we will ask you to divide your students into 2-4 smaller groups for the activity portion of your field trip. You’ll receive an information packet at least 2 weeks before your visit which will include a proposed schedule, map of the Garden, and background information for teachers and chaperones as well as information to share with parents and students.

Groups arrive at the Garden’s Main Entrance and gather in the Village Green. An ICG educator will welcome and orient your group to the Garden followed by a 15-minute garden lesson/exploration /game for up to four groups of students. Groups are welcome to stay for as long as they’d like to explore, play, and picnic lunch.

Self-Guided Field Trip

Groups that would like to visit Ithaca Children’s Garden independently are welcome to do so. The Garden is open every day, dawn to dusk. However, please kindly complete the Field Trip Registration Form so we can avoid scheduling conflicts and alert you to anything that may affect your trip, like construction projects, the status of restrooms, or special teachable moments.

“I’ve been bringing my second and first-grade classes to ICG for the past 8 years. I am fortunate that it is an easy walk from Beverly J. Martin School. My goal in bringing the children is always very simple: go explore! We keep the majority of the time there unstructured. What do the kids do? Climb on the turtle and wonder at the relationship between shell sections and moons. (I always read them 13 Moons on Turtle’s Back by Joseph Bruchac). Explore the frog pond…in GREAT detail. Head to the garden to munch. Run and roll in the grass. Follow the labyrinth. Create and imagine in the Anarchy Zone. Watch birds. Collect insects, worms, etc.

For many of my students, playing outside is not a given. Playing outside with lots of room to explore, create and grow is even less probable. Ithaca Children’s Garden provides us with a place to take teaching into the world. Our studies of life cycles, animal habitats and composting come alive. Many students report returning to the garden with their families following our school visits.” ~ 2nd-grade teacher, BJM Elementary