Family Forest Day: Trees Are Homes

Family Forest Day: Trees Are Homes

Date/Time
Date(s) - July 12, 2025
9:00 am - 1:00 pm

Categories


Celebrate with Us!

In our first FREE Family Forest Day of the 2025 season, we will be gathering under the Stevens Pavilion to celebrate the many ways that trees are homes!

Participants of all ages are invited to learn about and connect with nature through playing games, hands-on activities, nature crafts, book readings, poet-tree, guided nature walks on the trails, and so much more! Activities and nature walks will be led in both English and Spanish.

A Hoyt Arboretum Nature Educator with a dark braid and a Hoyt Arboretum name tag teaches a young child with a brown mullet and their caregiver wearing a straw sunhat about a bird nest on the table. The table with a green table cloth is covered in nature items to explore and a microscope.

Hoyt Arboretum educators will lead interactive stations focused on forest habitats and hands-on crafts including nature painting and a maraca bar with natural materials. Hoyt Arboretum Nature Educators will lead activities and nature walks in both English and Spanish.

Community Partners

Fern Wrexler, weating a dark long-sleeved tshirt, and with dark short hair holds up their book Families of a Feather, looking and smiling directly to the camera. They are standing in front of a bookshelf lined with many childrens books.We’re honored to host Fern Wrexler, local author of Families of a Feather, a beautiful story of the diversity of family structures by exploring a variety of bird families and the many ways they care for and raise their young. Fern will be doing book readings throughout the event, and will also lead activities about caring for injured birds.

Families of a Feather is available at the Hoyt Arboretum Visitor Center- get a copy and have it signed by the author at the event!

A young person with a dark curly mullet, a green button down shirt, and a slight smile, holding an ape-like stuffed animal holds a pole alongside famous biologist Jane Goodall who is also holding an ape-like stuffed animal and is wearing her silver hair pulled back, a white turtle neck, and an ornate necklace. They are standing in front of a grassy hill where people are gathering around a white tent.

Do leaf rubbings with Washo Shadowhawk, the ‘Portland Basecamp Coordinator’ from Roots and Shoots– the Jane Goodall Institute’s Youth Movement. Washo will share educational resources about protecting the region’s rich variety of cultures and ecosystems.

 

A blue logo with a swirl next to text that reads "Leave No Trace"

Portland Parks & Recreation will also join us to share about their Leave No Trace program.

 

 

This is a free family-friendly program. Drop by 9am – 1pm to celebrate trees and the wildlife they support with us!

 

Bring a Picnic!

Several families sit on a grassy hillside in the shade behind Stevens Pavilion at Hoyt Arboretum. There are several distinct family units on their own blankets, a variety of sizes and ages.

Hoyt Arboretum Friends will provide picnic blankets and reading circles in the shady meadow behind Stevens Pavilion during the event. Feel encouraged to bring picnic-style snacks to enjoy under a protective canopy of Doug-firs!

 

Getting Here

This event will take place at Stevens Pavilion across the street from the Hoyt Arboretum Visitor Center at 4000 SW Fairview Blvd. There are 2, all-gender, accessible bathrooms available outside the building. Pay-to-park lots are located on Fairview Blvd adjacent to the Visitor Center. See our Plan Your Visit page for more information about parking.

Pro-tip: Skip the parking lot and take public transit!
Hoyt Arboretum is located in Washington Park and is easily accessed from the Washington Park MAX station by Blue or Red MAX lines. Then, you can take the Free Washington Park Shuttle OR walk up to the Visitor Center.

A logo that reads Explore Washington Park next to a green tree and a phone with an arrow cursor next to the text Transit Pass Program.

Request free TriMet Passes to get to Washington Park from Explore Washington Park’s Transit Pass Program.

This free event is hosted by Hoyt Arboretum Friends and sponsored by International Paper Foundation.

            

Web Design by Watermelon Web Works