Montgomery Parks’ Unique Activities and online programs offer an online portal to some of our cool and engaging programming that just doesn’t fit one bucket. Montgomery Parks’ mission is to protect and interpret our valuable natural and cultural resources; balance demand for recreation with the need for conservation; offer various enjoyable recreational activities that encourage healthy lifestyles; and provide clean, safe, and accessible places and this online hub will be a place that showcases our efforts.

Learn more about our sustainability efforts, program access team, or our arborists, along with unique programs that Montgomery Parks’ programmers have recently created.

Montgomery Parks' Pollinator Week - June 22-28, 2020

Graphic illustration for Montgomery Parks' Pollinators Week, June 22-23

In celebration of National Pollinators Week, Montgomery Parks is bringing you fun and engaging online presentations. We will post new content all week long, so check back often to learn more about the important role pollinators play in our daily lives.

Butterfly Life Cycle

Brookside Gardens’ Kathy Stevens talks about the life cycle of a butterfly, focusing on the native Eastern tiger swallowtail.

Mason Bees

Alex, a volunteer Master Naturalist, introduces the Mason Bee, their importance, and their solitary nature.

All That Buzz

Celebrate National Pollinator Week! Are honeybees your favorite pollinator? Enjoy a visit to the Brookside Nature Center bee yard in this video courtesy Montgomery Blair High School students.

Magnolia Pollinators

Beetles are not the only pollinators of magnolia trees. Watch this video to learn about the amazing pollinator-plant relationship.

Pawpaw Pollinators

Join one of Meadowside Nature Center’s naturalists and find out what pollinates the paw paw patch!

Beetle Craft Pollinators

Join Meadowside Nature Center Naturalist Jenny and find out how to make a beetle craft!

Introducing Hummingbirds

Maydale Nature Classroom Naturalist, Glenn Rice, explains the hummingbird’s role and importance as a pollinator.

The Great Migration Challenge

Visit the Maydale Nature Classroom to play the Great Migration Challenge, a fun game that teaches the challenges migrating birds encounter throughout their long migration route.

Lepidoptera and Host Plants

Locust Grove Nature Center’s Marianne talks about lepidoptera, the insect order for butterflies, skippers, and moths. And, she explains about host and super host plants and their importance to the insects and their larvae.

Pollinators in Your Garden

These creatures play a critical role in our lives! Pollinators range from honeybees, flies, beetles, moths, and bats, and, combined, they pollinate one out of every third bite of food we eat. Take some time this week to notice all of the pollinators in your garden and download this helpful guide from the Brookside Gardens staff to get you started.

Maryland Native Plants

You can take care of wildlife in your backyard by choosing native plants, like this trout lily! Native plants provide habitat for native pollinators and other wildlife. Stroll through your yard and make a native plant wish list! Use this list as a reference.

Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly

In honor of Pollinator Week, we are shedding light on Maryland’s State Insect, the Baltimore Checkerspot butterfly. This beautiful black butterfly is covered in covered in white and orange spots and flutters around wet meadows in the summer. This once common butterfly, is now a rarity here in Maryland due to habitat loss. But do not worry, volunteers across the state are getting together to bring back our state butterfly by planting its native host plant, the white turtlehead. If you would like to learn more about the Baltimore Checkerspot and how you can become involved in its conservation efforts, check out these resources from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (Rare, Threatened and Endangered Animal Fact Sheet and Protecting Maryland’s State Insect) and the Chesapeake Bay Program.

Butterfly Drawing

It is National Pollinator Week, and it’s a great time to get your family outdoors to look for pollinators! One of our favorites is the butterfly. Enjoy looking for butterflies visiting flowers and have your children draw their favorite and post it in the comments of the post on the Brookside Gardens Facebook page.

How many different butterflies can you spy? Will it be a swallowtail, white or sulphur, gossamer, metalmark, brushfoot, wood nymph, or skipper? We look forward to seeing your favorite!

Other Activities

Learn to Say “I Love to Skate” in Ten Languages
Learn how to say “”I Love to Skate!”” in the ten most spoken languages in Montgomery County.

Instructions:
-Match the “”I love to skate!”” phrase on the right with the correct language listed on the left.
-Whether you write them down or try pronouncing them aloud, you will learn a new way to tell your neighbors and friends about an activity that you love to do!

Tip: Use Google Translate to learn how to pronounce the phrase in each language.
-Visit translate.google.com
-Click the speaker button in the translation box to hear the correct pronunciation.”

Post a photo of your completed work or a video of you saying “I love to skate” in another language!

Virtual Visit of Black Hill Regional Park

Missing the park? Take a virtual visit with Chronolog and see the back of the Visitor Center looking over the lake, the meadow, the forest fire area and Little Seneca Creek. All the photos were taken by our visitors on their cell phones (and added to the site.)

To see nature change every day, visit the Black Hill Regional Park Chronolog website.

Word Searches

Our ice skating rinks and historical sites staffs have created word searches to keep your family busy and learning while at home. Click below for a collection of word search puzzles.

Speed Skating Math Problems

We all know that speed skaters are fast. Try solving the math problems in this worksheet from education.com to discover just how much ice they can cover in different scenarios.

Ice Skating Spelling Activity

How good is your spelling? Put your spelling skills to the test with this ice skating spelling activity sheet from our friends at Cabin John Ice Rink.

Text, Font

Bird Bingo

Bird Bingo Card Want to find a fun way to get to know your local birds? Then play Bird Bingo! See which bird species like to hang out in our own backyard.

If you see a bird you do not recognize, mark it in the “Mystery Bird” space. You can later try to identify your “Mystery Bird” using one of these resources: The Cornell Lab Online Bird Guide or download the free Merlin Bird Identification app by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Vignettes: Let’s Play a Victorian Parlor Game

The Victorian era, spanning from the 1830s to 1901, embraced a love of art, music, literature, and clothing that captured a grandeur and beauty inspired by the interests of England’s Queen Victoria, for whom the era was named.

Art, in particular, became more accessible to the masses during this period, and no less than six major artistic movements arose from this time: Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, Symbolism, Post-Impressionism, and Art Nouveau. Because of this rise in interest in the arts, a common pastime at parties was a game called Vignettes.

Visit the Agricultural Farm History Park Facebook page for instructions on how to play their Vignettes game.

Montgomery Parks

Unique Activities & Archive

Topics