Workshops
Mindful Garden
As an art-science multi-disciplinary project, it promotes fun and exciting hands on learning with botany through engagement with scientific processes and artistic visualisation. The aim is to explore plants through the senses with the hope to prevent "plant blindness".
We offer a variety of different workshops for lay audiences including:
Plant preservation, microscopy, working with chemical reagents, propagation and growing, cooking victorian medicine, leaf printing, botanical art, wreath making, botanical soaps and more.
Exhibited with British Science Festival, Growing Sudley, Science+Media Museum, Sci-Tech Daresbury, Glastonbury Festival 2023, Sefton Palm House, World Museum, Eureka! Science + Discovery and Liverpool John Moores University.
STEAM Education
"fun is another word for learning"
Botany is an important branch of science that researches plant classification, properties and cell structure. Learning about plants is essential for understanding our natural world and is an example of a STEM subject. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. STEM subjects are proven to help with obtaining transferable skills, increase employability and promote meaningful change, which puts emphasis on why it is important for children to learn Botany. More recently STEAM integrates art into STEM, as research suggests 57 percent of leaders value soft skills such as art more than hard skills. Likewise, Botany is a research subject that aids environmental care, and fits within the Green Sector. The Green Sector can be described as the "focus on restoring the natural environment", again supporting the argument why this project is so valuable for children.
It is argued that traditional science education methods such as presentations within the classroom and textbooks can be disinteresting for children and lacks hands-on learning through seeing and doing. Interactive learning is about giving children an all-rounded experience by introducing real experience rather than focusing on the theoretical side. The idea behind interactive learning is about comprehending information rather than to memorise it, click here for more information.
See below some examples of different workshops in a variety of formats including 3 hour sessions and 10 minute drop ins:
Inclusive for all ages!
Kids had lots of fun, very engaging and would love to attend again in the future! Loved the educational aspect. They are home educated and I'm looking to educate them more on these things.
Very interesting combining art and science and botany!