Kew Science Festival, Royal Botanical Gardens

Join world-class horticulturists at Kew's Royal Botanical Gardens for a programme of plant-based fun at the Kew Science Festival. Families are invited to the greenhouse to flex their green thumbs with a programme of fascinating talks, tours and workshops, housed in a huge marquee in front of the majestic Kew Palace.

We’ve rounded up some of the best activities on offer for big and small garden gnomes alike – read on for our top picks.

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Discover DNA
10am – 5pm daily

What makes plants green and leafy? What makes them grow? In this interactive workshop, little scientists will have the chance to explore the inner workings of the botanical world. So, get ready to don your lab coat and goggles, extract genes from vegetables grown in the Royal Botanical Gardens, and muck around with DNA models and toys.

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Paint a rainbow with plants
10am – 5pm daily

What do cabbage, carrots and peas have in common? It's not just that they get left on the plate: budding artists will bloom at this painting session for all ages, which teaches kids to extract naturally occurring dyes from plants for an all-natural art fest.

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Bananarama!
10am – 5pm daily

Junior botanists with a global perspective will go bananas for this workshop. Peel back the layers of a major scientific discovery and learn how a relative of the banana family might just be able to feed many of the world’s populations and solve food scarcity. This is one for all inquiring minds.

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Travel to the Tropics
10am – 5pm daily

As part of Kew Gardens’ programme of talks and tours for kids, witness the tropical greenhouse’s weirdest and wackiest residents. Watch Venus flytraps snap, pitcher plants feed, and brilliant orchids bloom. There’s also an educational element: little ones can learn about how horticulturists are working to protect some of the world’s rarest plants.

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Crawly Stories
10:30, 11:30, 14:00 daily

From the Ladybird Books to The Very Hungry Caterpillar, everybody loves a good insect-related tale. Your kids can invent their own at Kew’s interactive storytelling sessions, and get the facts on their critter characters as they do. Spin a spidery yarn or make an epic out of an anthill: either way, you’ll learn heaps about the tiny creature world beneath our feet.

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We’re seeing double: cauliflower cloning
10am – 5pm daily

It’s been 20 years since Dolly the Sheep proved the possibilities of cloning and there’s still plenty more to be discovered. Kew want to teach your kids how plant cloning is saving plant species from extinction: after that they’ll get to try things out on their very own cauliflower.

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Fungus among us
10am – 5pm daily

Did you know that mushrooms and plants are buds? Build your own fungal-powered plant and learn more about the relationship between the two organisms that are best friends. ‘Mycologist’ might be a mouthful, but there’ll be plenty of those on hand with everything you need to know about fungus.

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Hearing from Hans Sloane
11:30, 13:00, 15:00 daily

We’ve got a lot to thank explorer Hans Sloane for. He first brought the UK its first recipe for chocolate after a trip to Jamaica in the 18th century. He’ll be making an exclusive appearance at Kew with all the stories from his travels, from collecting animals to discovering plants. This is a man who knows how to find the perfect souvenir.