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School Tours

kids on school tour

The Gardens on Spring Creek is a beautiful setting to dig into science education. We offer hands-on school programs for all grades that are unique, interactive and standards-based. Each program brings a different lens to the beautiful landscapes and animals at The Gardens.  

Groups are welcome to stay and play or have lunch in the Children’s Garden after their tour. Groups are not permitted to enter the Butterfly House after their tour. 


Winter Tours: SOLD OUT

Spring Tours: SOLD OUT

To see our current availability and to schedule, please follow the steps below. 

  1. Create a free Engage account or Login to your existing Engage account.
  2. Complete the request form. 
kids touring garden

Large tours are available to schedule April – May & August – October (up to 70 students). 

Small tours are available to schedule November – March (up to 30 students). 

Fees: $5 per student for most tours. Scholarships are available for schools that are 40 percent or greater Free and Reduced Lunch eligibility (as cited by Colorado or Wyoming State Board of Education for the previous school year).   

Adults: To provide the best experience for your students and for the safety of all visitors, we require between a 1:5 and 1:10 ratio of adults to students. If you meet this ratio, adults will receive free admission. If you have too many or too few adults, ALL adults except teachers will pay the adult group admission rate of $9. 

Winter Tours: SOLD OUT

Spring Tours: SOLD OUT

To see our current availability and to schedule, please follow the steps below. 

  1. Create a free Engage account or Login to your existing Engage account
  2. Complete the request form

Self-Guided Tours: Groups of 10 - 20 are eligible for group pricing tickets.  These tickets must be purchased a week in advance to receive $2 off admission prices. Elementary groups must schedule an organized program.  

To schedule a self-guided tour, please contact GardensEducation@fcgov.com.

School Program offerings
kids around pond

The Gardens on Spring Creek is a beautiful setting to dig into life science education and meet you badge requirements.  We offer hands-on tours for all grades that are unique, interactive and aligned with your learning or badge goals.  Each program brings a different lens to the beautiful landscapes and animals at The Gardens.  Planting activities are included with each lesson.

Groups are welcome to stay, play and have lunch in the Children’s Garden after their tour. 

Fees:  Includes admission to The Gardens and Butterfly House for the day.

Groups: Groups must be between 5 - 10 people

Chaperones:  To provide the best experience for your students, we require at least one adult with each group. 

Scheduling: Tours are two hours and offered Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings. Weekends are sometimes available upon request. The Gardens' staff requires at least two weeks advance notice to book a field trip. 

To begin the scheduling process, please contact GardensEducation@fcgov.com.

kid hugging tree

The Gardens on Spring Creek offers check-out kits for classes that may be kept up to two weeks.  All materials are cleaned between groups.  The kits we offer include: 

  • Tree Trunks: Filled to the brim with activities and materials for all ages, these arbor-themed kits are a collaborative project made possible by Society of American Foresters, the Gardens on Spring Creek, Front Range Community College, Colorado State Forest Service and the U.S. Forest Service.  This kit is available for elementary school students or middle school to adult learners.  Cost: $50 refundable deposit.
  • Pollinators Among Us Kit: Explore the wonderful world of bees and their important job as pollinators. Packed full of engaging, fun and hands-on activities, this bee-themed kit brings together STEM and social-emotional learning to facilitate standards-based education for elementary students.  Cost: $50 refundable deposit. 
  • Poudre School District Environmental Learning Kits: Our Pollinators Among Us tour can be translated to your classroom with ease. All the lessons and materials are available through the Poudre School District kits.

To begin the scheduling process, please contact GardensEducation@fcgov.com.

girl making video

Our most popular tours are available in a virtual format. Each tour has an interactive, pre-recorded video with supplemental lessons. We have the following tours available:

  • Butterfly Tour (kindergarten through second grade)
  • Plant-tastic Scientists tours (kindergarten through fifth grade)
  • Pollinator tour (second through fifth grade) – with check-out education trunk at no extra cost
  • Sensory Tour (preschool)
  • Horticulture Careers (middle and high school)

To request virtual tour materials, please complete the form below. Virtual materials will be delivered within one week.

Request Free Virtual Tour Materials

The Gardens on Spring Creek is happy to work with teachers and their students to shape a unique experience that meets their learning goals. We work with all disciplines from art, to community engagement, to science, to garden careers and more.

Gardens Staff-Led Programs#

Career Programs:

  • Service Learning + Careers Tour – Students will receive a presentation and tour of the Gardens with a focus on careers that operate within a botanic garden setting. After the tour, students will participate in a service-learning opportunity in the Gardens. Service learning can include: creating seed packets, raking, weeding, pruning, composting, and other opportunities based on the Gardens’ needs.
  • Community Science + Careers Tour – Students will receive a presentation and tour of the Gardens with a focus on careers that operate within a botanic garden setting. After the tour, students will participate in community science tasks that focus on career skills in the Gardens. Community Science can include: using BudBurst to record scientific data on plants and animals, counting bee species, or planting a seed to take home.
  • Extended Careers Tour – Students will receive a presentation and tour of the Gardens with a focus on careers that operate within a botanic garden setting. After the tour, students will dive deeper into botanic garden careers with a career activity facilitated by a Gardens education staff member. Students will be able to ask questions and learn about the staff member’s personal career journey.
  • Optional Butterfly House Visit (add-on) – Students will have the opportunity to have a 15-minute visit the Butterfly House at the Gardens. Group size is limited to 15 people inside the Butterfly House at one time, so larger groups may be split and will visit at separate times in smaller groups during their tour time.

Bee-Empathetic (Middle School or High School)

  • A multi-disciplinary exploration of the science behind bees and pollination. This Field Science program is developed in partnership with Colorado State University’s College of Natural Sciences and Entomology Department. Our experiences are supported by kits that can be checked out for the classroom or explored onsite with garden educators at the Gardens on Spring Creek. Students will take the perspective of an individual species of bee to explore the importance and process of pollination, develop models, collect and analyze data and engineer solutions to real world challenges while building their empathy for these unique creatures. Available at the Gardens spring and fall, available in your classroom year-round. Limited to 30 students.

Self-Guided Programs#

  • Botany (High School) – This self-guided botany scavenger hunt leads students all over the gardens and through the butterfly house testing their knowledge of plant structures, types and other basic botany knowledge.

Previous Collaborative Programs#

  • Botanical Illustration – Gardens staff provided a project, the teacher facilitated the learning, and the students came to draw at the Gardens.
  • Community Gardening and Diversity – Students rotated through four stations addressing issues of diversity, community gardening, and service.
  • Native Plant Identification – Gardens staff provided a brief introduction to the site and some extra field guides, while the teacher provided instruction.

Professional Learning#

Find us on PSD Xello! We offer job shadows, summer teen programs, guest speakers, and service-learning opportunities.

Scheduling & Rates#

Spring and Fall large school tours: April 1 – Sept. 3 (up to 70 students).

Winter small tours: Nov. 1 – March 30 (up to 30 students).

Fees: $5 per student for most tours. Scholarships are available for schools who are 40 percent or greater Free and Reduced Lunch eligibility (as cited by Colorado or Wyoming State Board of Education for the previous school year). 

Self-Guided Tours: Groups of 10 - 20 are eligible for group pricing tickets.  These tickets must be purchased a week in advance to receive $2 off admission prices.

To schedule a tour, please email: GardensEducation@fcgov.com with your preferred topic.

Looking for something else?  Contact our team. We are happy to work with you to create experiences that help grow students’ learning!