BATH — It was a great round of show and tell.

“Tomatoes!,” one child exclaimed as Becky Kolak, education coordinator with the Kennebec Estuary Land Trust, held up a picture of a partridge berry.

Then Kolak showed the dandelion, whose name stems from the French term “dent de lion,” or “lions tooth.”

“They look more like shark teeth,” another child said, adding that he didn’t have to see what one looked like, since there are a bunch around his school.

The May 7 program was the first part of “Young Green Thumbs: Spring Fling,” held at the Patten Free Library, 33 Summer St., each Wednesday afternoon this month for children age 4 and older.

Aside from learning about flowers, kids are making spring-themed smoothies, hearing about the life stories of amphibians, and writing poetry about pollinators.

Local Farms-Local Food, a collaboration of the Kennebec Estuary and Brunswick-Topsham land trusts, is offering the free after-school program to advocate local food and protection of farmland.

Along with reading a story, the children learned about common flowers they might see while hiking in a preserve, and created flower identification books to take home, Kolak said last week.

The four-part series takes place at the library’s children’s room from 4-5 p.m., and pre-registration is not necessary. Log onto kennebecestuary.org or call 442-8400 for more information.

Alex Lear can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 113 or alear@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @learics.

Sidebar Elements

---

Siblings Henry and Lewella Francis make flower identification books May 7 at Patten Free Library in Bath. They were among several children who took part in a “Young Green Thumbs: Spring Fling” after-school program.

Becky Kolak, education coordinator with the Kennebec Estuary Land Trust, shows a wintergreen plant to an enthusiastic group of children at Patten Free Library in Bath.