Summer Programs for Children at Marin Art and Garden Center
30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd, Ross, CA 94957
About
Summer Programs for Children at Marin Art and Garden Center include time for children to splash in the sprinkler, dig in the garden, and explore nature. The program days include free play, play, and exploration, with activities that also feature sprinkler fun. Summer Sprouts is a joyful, outdoor summer camp for children ages 3–5, and Twos Try It Camp offers young children a gentle introduction to preschool in a relaxed, low-pressure setting.
• Ages: 2–5 years old
• Schedule: Monday through Thursday, June 8–July 16, with Summer Sprouts meeting 8:30 am–1 pm and Twos Try It meeting 9 am–12 pm
• Price: There is a $100 hourly fee for professional portrait photography on the grounds.
Summer Sprouts is designed to celebrate everything that makes summer magical, with days spent mostly outside. Through simple summer routines, hands-on activities, and time to move and explore, children build confidence, independence, and connection. Twos Try It is designed for two-year-olds who want to “try out” school and focuses on play, simple routines, and relationship-building rather than structure or expectations. Days in Twos Try It are spent mostly outside with plenty of time for free play, exploration, and sprinkler fun, and diapers are welcome so children do not need to be potty trained to participate. Twos Try It Camp and the equipment logistics both state that diapers are welcome and that children do not need to be potty trained to participate in Twos Try It Camp.
Summer Sprouts is a separate program from the Garden School, and acceptance into Summer Sprouts is not an acceptance to the Garden School Preschool. Marin Art and Garden Center has been celebrating community for over 80 years and is described as a special gathering place that celebrates learning, growth, and the beauty of nature; a place to be inspired, educated and entertained—or to just be. It is a welcoming place for the entire community to learn about ourselves, about each other, and about our world, where people gather to celebrate milestone events, attend art and garden shows, learn to conserve landscaped and natural worlds, and hear music from around the world. The campus is an 11-acre certified green campus that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its architectural and landscape design significance and for the Center’s pivotal role in the women’s garden club movement that started in the 1940s. Marin Art and Garden Center sits within the unceded ancestral homeland of the Coast Miwok people, and its grounds are open to foot traffic from sunrise to sunset, seven days a week, with no fee to visit.
The leadership team includes Iris Lax (Executive Director), Cindy Barath (Events Coordinator), Jenny Board (Garden Manager), Michael Bogart (Director of Grounds & Facilities), Patty Carr (Gardener), Tanya DiRoma (Programs & Development Coordinator), GiGi Henry (Teacher | Garden School), Katie Hodgson (Assistant Director | Garden School), Bernadette Marshall (Teacher | Garden School), Kelly Miller (Director of Development), Katy Negrin (Admin Manager), Emma Norris (Director | Garden School), Rosaura Pinones (Teacher | Garden School), Svetlana Savinova (Director of Finance), Audrey Shapiro (Director of Events & Programs), Sofia Vazquez (Teachers' Aide | Garden School), Thomas (Tom) Ross Perry (President, Board of Trustees), Edward (Ned) Purdom (Vice President, Board of Trustees), Bill Bishop (Treasurer, Board of Trustees), and Rebecca Sylla (Secretary, Board of Trustees).
Last updated May 15, 2026.
• Ages: 2–5 years old
• Schedule: Monday through Thursday, June 8–July 16, with Summer Sprouts meeting 8:30 am–1 pm and Twos Try It meeting 9 am–12 pm
• Price: There is a $100 hourly fee for professional portrait photography on the grounds.
Summer Sprouts is designed to celebrate everything that makes summer magical, with days spent mostly outside. Through simple summer routines, hands-on activities, and time to move and explore, children build confidence, independence, and connection. Twos Try It is designed for two-year-olds who want to “try out” school and focuses on play, simple routines, and relationship-building rather than structure or expectations. Days in Twos Try It are spent mostly outside with plenty of time for free play, exploration, and sprinkler fun, and diapers are welcome so children do not need to be potty trained to participate. Twos Try It Camp and the equipment logistics both state that diapers are welcome and that children do not need to be potty trained to participate in Twos Try It Camp.
Summer Sprouts is a separate program from the Garden School, and acceptance into Summer Sprouts is not an acceptance to the Garden School Preschool. Marin Art and Garden Center has been celebrating community for over 80 years and is described as a special gathering place that celebrates learning, growth, and the beauty of nature; a place to be inspired, educated and entertained—or to just be. It is a welcoming place for the entire community to learn about ourselves, about each other, and about our world, where people gather to celebrate milestone events, attend art and garden shows, learn to conserve landscaped and natural worlds, and hear music from around the world. The campus is an 11-acre certified green campus that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its architectural and landscape design significance and for the Center’s pivotal role in the women’s garden club movement that started in the 1940s. Marin Art and Garden Center sits within the unceded ancestral homeland of the Coast Miwok people, and its grounds are open to foot traffic from sunrise to sunset, seven days a week, with no fee to visit.
The leadership team includes Iris Lax (Executive Director), Cindy Barath (Events Coordinator), Jenny Board (Garden Manager), Michael Bogart (Director of Grounds & Facilities), Patty Carr (Gardener), Tanya DiRoma (Programs & Development Coordinator), GiGi Henry (Teacher | Garden School), Katie Hodgson (Assistant Director | Garden School), Bernadette Marshall (Teacher | Garden School), Kelly Miller (Director of Development), Katy Negrin (Admin Manager), Emma Norris (Director | Garden School), Rosaura Pinones (Teacher | Garden School), Svetlana Savinova (Director of Finance), Audrey Shapiro (Director of Events & Programs), Sofia Vazquez (Teachers' Aide | Garden School), Thomas (Tom) Ross Perry (President, Board of Trustees), Edward (Ned) Purdom (Vice President, Board of Trustees), Bill Bishop (Treasurer, Board of Trustees), and Rebecca Sylla (Secretary, Board of Trustees).
Last updated May 15, 2026.
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