Historic Sotterley, Southern Maryland Folklife Center, St. Mary’s County Public Library, and author Nocola Williams are partnering for a week of low-cost activities during Spring Break to keep kids active and engaged in learning while having fun on their days off. Each day is a different activity for your family to enjoy. Explore how early Marylanders used the natural resources available to them to survive and thrive.

Registration is required for each day’s activity. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are $5 per attendee per day. Monday is free thanks to St. Mary’s County Public Library and a generous donation from an anonymous donor.

Please note: Parents are required to purchase a ticket and stay with their children throughout the duration of the event.

Register here!

Monday – Pollinator Party!
Kick off the week with a celebration of pollinators! Children will meet a local author and beekeeper for a reading of Bugzee and the Bees, a story that introduces young readers to the important role pollinators play in our environment. After the story, students will rotate through hands-on learning stations. Campers will explore how pollination works, discover how bees see the world, practice the famous waggle dance, and plant pollinator-friendly seeds to take home. Along the way, they’ll learn why pollinators are so important to Southern Maryland’s ecosystems and how even kids can help protect them.Join local author and educator, Nocola Williams, the team from the St. Mary’s County Mobile Library, and educator Dorothy Birch for a fun filled day of exploration and hands-on learning opportunities.

Tuesday – Wild Food, Wild Fiber, Wild Medicine
We will explore the woods and fields of Sotterley plantation, learning to identify the plants and fungi that were used by Native, colonist, and enslaved peoples as food, fiber, and medicine!

Wednesday – Gardening for Good Healthy
We will explore, pot up, and take home the plants that the women of olden times grew in their gardens and used as medicine for their families!

Thursday – A Wild Year in Maryland
We will create a calendar of natural happenings, month by month, in this part of Maryland, when early people could harvest wild plants and catch wild animals, how they knew when to plant various seeds, and all of the secret cues that nature gives us all year!

Friday – Dyeing from Nature
We will use plants and other natural items to dye fabric the way people used to before commercial fabric dye was available; they dyed clothes, but we’re dyeing bandanas to take home and keep!