Wings of Fancy will be on view through September 25
Wings of Fancy, Brookside Garden’s wonderful butterfly and caterpillar exhibit is back to dazzle visitors this summer. And one lucky KFDC reader can win a four-pack of tickets to experience it — and I can assure you, it’s fantastic.
Studying caterpillars before entering the butterfly garden
Nearly 20 different species of butterflies from North America, Central America, and Asia flutter around the garden full of colorful flowers and plants. There are also cases on display containing cocoons and opportunities for visitors to learn about their amazing metamorphosis. We just visited a couple of weeks ago, and even though we go every year, the exhibition never ceases to amaze.
The glasswinged butterfly – I never even knew these existed before this
And I have to note that Brookside is great beyond the butterflies — the gardens are lovely, there are wildlife sightings galore, and the Children’s Garden will delight little ones. During our visit, we saw chipmunks, tadpoles, frogs, polliwogs, turtles, geese, even snakes!
Gorgeous grounds to roam
Frog sightings guaranteed
Wings of Fancy will be on display through September 25. Hours are 10am – 4pm daily. Tickets are $8/ages 13 and up, $5/ages 3-12, free for 2 and under. Admission to the rest of Brookside is free.
Giveaway: For a chance to win the four-pack of tickets to the Wings of Fancy exhibit at Brookside Gardens, simply leave a comment telling me your or your child’s favorite recent exhibit in the area — art, science, nature, anything. To be eligible, you must like KidFriendly DC on Facebook and be a blog subscriber (see the sign-up to the left). This giveaway will run through Friday, June 3, then a winner will be drawn at random and notified shortly thereafter. Good luck!
We love the botanical gardens best!
We just “hatched” 5 butterflies this morning! We would LOVE to see more butterflies! Thanks for the chance!
The exhibit that my daughters can’t wait to go see is the doll house exhibit at the National Building Museum. Hopefully this week!
We recently saw Wonder at the Renwick. Very cool!!
My daughter loves the botanical gardens. All the colors and textures she can see… She just loves the flora!
Wonder!
My kids love the animal encounters!
My 3yo son has been learning about the butterfly life cycle at day care and this would be the perfect outing!
We go to Meadowlark Gardens often, but we would love to see the butterflies at Brookside.
Our 15month old is fascinated by animals and bugs of all types. This would definitely be a neat excursion that he would enjoy 🙂
We just loved Watkins Nature Center! The playground was amazing!!
We recently did the butterfly enclosure at the Museum of Natural History and my 3-year old loved it!
Our recent favorite has been the new Glen Echo Park Aquarium.
It’s not really an exhibit but our favorite thing to do is visit the smithsonian zoo. 🙂
Favorite exhibit was Wonder at the are Renwick.
Tudor House tour with the twins and loved seeing old toys (cars and dolls) and then visiting the real old car (race car!). Loved checking out the fountains and pretty flowers in the gardens.
Most recently went to the Renwick Gallery to see Wonder. Incredible!
I don’t know if it’s an exhibit or not, but DC’s Truck Touch is a must-see event in our house!
The butterflies and dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum!
One of our favorites is the outdoor sculpture gardens at the Smithsonian. Also a perfect picnic lunch spot.
My sons favorite exhibit is the Glen Echo Park Aquarium
We recently checked out the Hillwood estate and gardens. My children were enchanted by the gardens and mansion.
Wonder at the Renwick!
the beach at the Nat’l Building
Wonder @ Renwick
My son loved Wonder at the Renwick and is also a huge fan of pretty much everything at the Baltimore Science Center!
Most favorite recent activity was the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum in Chantilly!
Dinosaurs @ National History Museum
We recently went to the STEMosphere event at the KIPP school – at your suggestion. What a fun time we had. The quality of the activities were so much better than many events we’ve been to. Thanks for the tip!
We recently visited the Fire Museum of MD in Timonium. We had a blast from the past seeing vintage fire trucks, videos showing the evolution of fire fighting, and playtime in the Discovery room.
My kids loved the Dupont Underground, building with the plastic balls we played at the BEACH (NBM) last year:)
Our favorite exhibit recently is definitely Wonder at the Renwick!
My kids love all the nature centers in this area
We are new to DC form Australia and your blog has been a godsend. We loved going to the Dumbarton Oaks Gardens with our 3 kids recently.
We are new to DC from Australia and your blog has been a godsend. We loved going to the Dumbarton Oaks Gardens with our 3 kids recently.
We love the Air & Space Museum…either one.
My 4 year old loves turtles at the zoo and nature center at the Potomac overlook regional park. They are growing butterflies in their school for project
My daughter loved the butterflies at the Natural History Museum.
We’re BIG fans of the Strathmore Family Jazz Sessions! Can’t wait for another next weekend!
We love everything Brookside Gardens! We also recently checked out the Music of the African Diaspora exhibit at the American History museum, which was great.
We went to see “Wonder” at the Renwick back in March and my girls really liked it. Their favorite was the bug room =)
The zoo! My son loves strolling through the zoo! It’s hot now, but we ran to the zoo the moment we had the first rain break.
My kids loved the Wonder exhibit!
Natural History Museum human genome exhibit.
Not an exhibit, but we absolutely love hiking Pataspco Valley State Park, and dipping our feet in the cool, clear water!
The Hall of Human Origins at the Museum of Natural History is always top on my son’s list:-) Would love to go back to “Wings of Fancy”!
My family just loves to visit the National Zoo and visit all the animals.
Meadowlark Botanical Gardens!
Both of my children report that their recent favorite was Wonder at the Renwick…
National Aquarium in Baltimore!
Walks in Rock Creek Park, and visits to the nature center.
We loved our recent visit to the National Arboretum! The azaleas were blooming and it was an stunning burst of colors!!!!
The Q?URIOUS exhibit is great for little kids, even if it was designed for teens. Lots of hands-on specimens kids can examine under the easy-to-use microscopes.
At the Natural History Museum, of course!
My kids loved the Wonder exhibit. (I have liked your site on Facebook but use a different email address for my Facebook site for work reasons.)