The Flower Press

With Poudre School District officially out for the summer, a handful of Fort Collins families made their way to one of the town’s best-kept secrets — the Gardens on Spring Creek — where the beloved Read and Seed program kicked off its summer season today.

The program, one of the longest-running at the Gardens, welcomes toddlers, preschoolers, and their caregivers for 45-minute sessions on Monday and Tuesday mornings. Each session follows a familiar rhythm — a welcome song and story tied to the day’s theme under the shade of a catalpa tree, a guided nature walk through the gardens to hunt for colors, creatures, or seasonal blooms, and a hands-on craft to take home under the arbor of the outdoor kitchen.

This week’s theme is pet rocks. Children used their imaginations to find shapes in stones, spotting bunnies, birds, and other creatures hiding in the granite before transforming them into nature-inspired creations to take home. It’s a tidy blend of early literacy, outdoor exploration, and school-readiness skills, woven naturally into the Gardens’ grounds.

“We often have families that just come in the summer, but we do have quite a few families that will be here the entire year — it’s really awesome to see them progress in their growth,” said Britt Mowen, the Gardens’ Youth Programs Coordinator. “Seeding a love of nature in our participants — that’s our main goal.”

While the program is designed for children ages two to five, older siblings are always welcome. Twelve-year-old Coco Fairburn, who attended this week alongside her younger brother, said she enjoyed that the activities were interactive and that the participants were encouraged to move through the gardens independently as they searched for just the right pet rocks.

Read and Seed runs year-round, with sessions at 10:15 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. Scholarships are available for families in need. For more information, visit the Gardens on Spring Creek website or follow them on social media.