Teacher Resources

The VBGA is pleased to offer Private Teacher Professional Development Workshops at VanDusen Botanical Garden for your full staff team this upcoming school year!

Design your perfect day of customized learning and skill-building for your team by selecting from a menu of workshop themes best suited to your team. Our workshops are facilitated by our dynamic VBGA education staff, using the 55-acre garden as our classroom for the day. Programs will run out of the Guides Classroom in the Visitor Centre.

Choose from half day (3hrs) or full day (5hrs) programs.

Themes include:

• Iconic BC Trees
• Natural Heritage Walk
• Flowers & Pollinators
• A Seasonal Sense of Nature
• Coastal BC Native Plants
• Nature Play in the Garden
• Birds & Plants

*Please confirm availability of  seasonal programs.

We look forward to welcoming your staff team to the Garden!

With a limited number of dates available each year, booking well in advance is highly recommended.

How to Book: For inquiries, please send an email with your preferred workshop date, name, school and district, estimated number of staff, to Jessica Henry, Assistant Director of Education: jhenry@vandusen.org.

2024 Program Fees:  

*A non-refundable deposit of $250.00 for half-day/ $450.00 for full-day programs is required to reserve your program date at the time of booking. The booking deposit will be applied towards the remaining fee for the program. The remainder of the program fee; (+gst) and charges for all additional participants (over the 20 participants included in the base fee) will be invoiced on the day of the program, to be paid in full within 2 weeks of the program date.

Cancellation Policy:
Due to high demand for these programs on professional development days, we are unable to offer refunds of the booking deposit fee. If you need to cancel your program, please notify us of your cancellation in writing to jhenry@vandusen.org.

If you are a K – Grade 12 teacher, you may be eligible for free adult education courses to aid in your classroom teaching or development of a school garden. Take a look at our Adult Education courses then please complete this Bursary Application form. Confirmation of your enrollment is subject to availability. 

Are you interested in learning from the comforts of your classroom? Try our Nature Kits, which are “field trips in a box” designed for grades K-4 that come with lesson plans, learning materials, books, and other supplies to support educational activities that can be completed at your school! Each kit costs $250 is themed after one of the four seasons: spring, summer, fall, and winter. These kits are a great way to enhance learning before and after a field trip, as well as serving as an alternative to physical visits to the garden.

Click here to purchase a kit or to learn more about them. Please contact Youth Programs Manager, Dennis Chen, via email at dchen@vandusen.org or by phone at (236) 477-2152 if you have any questions or would like to inquire about our Bursaries for Nature Kits.

Have you been to the Yosef Wosk Library & Resource Centre at VanDusen?  You’ll find it’s an excellent resource for learning and teaching about plants, people, and the places that support them.  Download our Books by Theme Teacher Catalogue to explore titles to help you prepare lessons before or after your trip to the Garden Catalogue or borrow our Strong Stories Indigenous book bundles including Coast Salish, Métis, Kanyen’keha:ka, Kwakwaka’wakw, Tlingit, and Dakelh series.

Join us at VanDusen Botanical Garden or Bloedel Conservatory for a safe and interactive learning experience for school and community groups looking for local field trip opportunities. Visit our Field Trips page for more information.