Se7en + 1 Things to do at Kirstenbosch’s Winter Wonders Program… And a Fantastic GiveAway for Cape Town Readers.

Well Hello Cape Town readers, winter school vacation is almost here and we have a fantastic giveaway for two lucky Cape Town readers… We have blogged about Kirstenbosch, our Botanical Gardens so many times before. There is so much to see and do there that every child in Cape Town should be able to visit and learn about our amazing and unique floral kingdom…

This is not somewhere we visit often, with eight kids entrance fees quickly add up. But we do love going there… grabbing our sketch books and wandering through the river, follow the braille trail or exploring the medicinal plants and if it is raining then the huge conservatory is always dry and packed with interesting things to look at!!! During the winter holidays Kirstenbosch Gardens are opening their gates to the school age children, age 6 to 17, of Cape Town and entrance is free for them.

Kirstenbosch is providing a wonderful winter program, from 25 June until the 14 July 2012, for the school holidays full of outdoor fun and exploring the environment, crafty workshops, puppet shows… actually the list is endless. I love that so many of the events are free and we will definitely be tagging along for some fun!!! Also, we have two free spots to a craft workshop to GiveAway… Read on, read on!!!

Here are se7en+1 things to do in Kirstenbosch Gardens over the next couple of weeks:

1. Free Storytelling: Every morning there will be wonderful animal stories read in the bookshop followed by coloring. You really want to visit on the 2 July, when our very own Claerwen Howie will be reading her book: Vumile and the Dragon.. which we are giving away on our blog right now, just follow the link and leave a comment. 10:00 am daily in the bookshop.

2. Free Guided Walks through the Gardens: Wonderful adventurous walks looking for treasures in the gardens: Looking for the King (protea); Survival tactics (of succulents); and so on… so many choices I know we will have to venture out on a couple of these!!! Tues, Thurs and Sat mornings.

3. Free Frog Awareness Workshops: A slide show to introduce the frogs and then off into the gardens to discover them in real life. 2 & 4 July, Ideal for ages 7 – 13.

4. Puppet Shows: Animal puppets teach children about local plants and animals and then take them on a guided walk of the Conservatory. Tuesday and Thursday at 10:00, R30 a ticket.

5. Natures Treasure Box: A fun morning with singing, stories and games, exploring the treasures in the gardens. Then each child will make their own treasure box to take home. At the Goldfields Educational Center, Wed 27 June and Tues 10 July, from 9:00 – 12:30, R35 a child.

6. Biodiversity and Waste Art Workshops: A lesson in biodiversity… children go on a guided tour of the gardens and learn about the impact of waste on the environment. Then using recycling materials and dried plants they create something useful – a stationary holder. On Tues 26 June and Weds 11 July from 9:00 till 13:00. R40 a ticket.

7. Craft Workshops: A walk in the gardens to inspire… followed by fabric painting, nature mobiles, collage and jewelry making. The workshops are run by the renowned Nicolette Lotter of African Sky Blue Art Studio. Grade 1-6 children, Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri throughout the holidays. R150 per child per class and maximum 20 children in the class.

And the Se7en + 1 th thing

8. For Teen Artists: Inge Semple of the Camphors Art Academy and Cape Fauna and Flora Cards is offering workshops for teens. They need to bring their own rain gear, camera (if they have one), drinks and snacks for tea-time. Grade 7-12 students. From 9:00 – 12:00. All materials are provided.

   And they can learn:

   • Scraper Board Drawing: On Mondays, R200. per student.
   • Keeping a Nature Journal: With Watercolors and various drawing techniques. Sounds wonderful, this is the course for me!!!A two day course on Thursday and Fridays, R500. per student.

For full details of when, where, what and how to book a spot… for the Winter Wonder’s Program at Kirstenbosch you can follow this link.

For all our lovely loyal Cape Town readers: We have been given two free spots to a craft session of your choice, with Nicolette Lotter!!! All you have to do is leave a comment and we will select our winners from the comments and get back to you…

This GiveAway works in the usual way, we will give you a couple of days, until the 18 June 2012, We will draw and publish the winner on the 19 June 2012. I won’t respond to your comments as I do on our other posts because I don’t want to be included in our own giveaway. Our GiveAways are open to everyone: If you have won a GiveAway before never fear – enter away. Leave a comment and enter!!!

Thank-you so much to Kirstenbosch Gardens for their fun Winter Wonders Program and Hippo Communications for organizing the tickets for this GiveAway.