Trolls: A Field Study at the NC Arboretum

From the Field Study guide: "Not long ago, we trolls were baffled by little humans - zipping around in metal beasts, scrolling on your pocket stars. But then we saw how your eyes still light up when you see a handsome snail or a beautiful leaf, and we thought... maybe you're not so strange after all! So we've come to study you further, and see if we can find some wild treasure together (much better than shiny coins). You in?"

The North Carolina Arboretum and Explore Asheville are celebrating the arrival of Trolls: A Field Study, which made its North American debut on November 10, 2025 at the Arboretum. Produced by Imagine in collaboration with Danish artist Thomas Dambo, twelve friendly troll sculptures are scattered throughout the Arboretum in a scavenger hunt of epic proportions!

We previously explored one of Dambo's troll exhibits at the Morton Arboretum in Illinois and were so excited to have another chance to see one of his art installations!

The sculptures range from seven to nine feet tall, and are crafted from wooden materials like fallen branches, pallets and twigs. They are created to be interactive, and my kids had so much fun crawling into nets for photo ops, taking up-close looks at the materials used, and learning each troll’s name and story!

"On the night he was born, a little troll named Taks wandered into the human world. What he saw left him puzzled—strange machines, noisy boxes, people rushing around without stopping to talk to the trees. When he returned to the forest, he shared his discoveries with his eleven siblings - and so it started: Trolls: A Field Study!”

Make sure to get the map from the education center, it has activities corresponding to each site for the kids to complete, as well as providing a checklist of sorts, so that you can locate all 12 trolls without too much backtracking.

Admission to Trolls: A Field Study is included in the standard Arboretum parking fee, and no advance tickets are required. However, be aware that on weekends you may encounter crowds and a longer wait to enter the Arboretum and should plan accordingly.

The exhibit is at the NC Arboretum from November 15, 2025 through February 17, 2026. As Winter Lights is also currently running at the Arboretum, daily hours have been shortened to 8am to 5pm, with last admission at 4pm. After the holidays normal business hours will resume: 8am to 7pm starting January 5, 2026. A Winter Lights/Daytime combo ticket is available, but those ticket holders must also exit at 5:00 p.m. and return at the entry time listed on their Winter Lights ticket.

While you’re at the Arboretum, make sure to check out the children’s exhibit Snow: Tiny Crystals, Global Impact in the Baker Exhibit Hall, which runs through January 4, 2026. Visitors can peek inside the snowpack to find animals that make their homes in the snow, walk through a snowstorm, or even build a snowman! The outdoor “Playing Woods” area is always a hit with our family; we plan for snack time and a rest there. The NC Arboretum is also a participant in the ecoEXPLORE citizen science program and the Kids in Parks TRACKTrail program, both of which make a visit even more immersive.

Location: NC Arboretum, 20 Frederick Law Olmsted Way, Asheville, NC 28806

Admission: Free, but there is a parking fee for non-members ($20 for standard vehicle)

Hours: 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., with the last entry at 4 p.m.

Exhibit runs from November 15, 2025 through February 17, 2026

Website: Trolls: A Field Study - The North Carolina Arboretum

This article first appeared on Kidding Around Greenville as Trolls Take Over the Arboretum: A New Family Experience.

The article Hunting for trolls at the Morton Arboretum, on the topic of Dambo's "Hunting for Trolls" exhibit can be found here.

Hunting for trolls at the Morton Arboretum

My last visit to the Morton Arboretum was a lifetime ago, but when I heard about the new art installation “Troll Hunt,” I knew we would be making the trek to Lisle during our sojourn in the Midwest. What more appropriate way to become reacquainted with the arboretum and hunt for trolls, than with best friends from my days in the UIUC forestry program? Of course a relaxing day strolling the paths of this Chicagoland institution wasn’t in the books – we hit the trails with three moms and eight kids, severely outnumbered but in for a fantastic adventure.

Meet Little Arturs!

The six trolls and one troll hideout is the work of Danish artist Thomas Dambo, and are crafted entirely from reclaimed wood and natural materials. The 15 to 30 foot tall sculptures serve as protectors of our environment: “The trolls share the Arboretum's desire to care for trees; however, they seem suspicious of humans. We need you to join the investigation and help trolls and humans come to understand each other. What will you discover when you join the hunt?”

Sneaky Socks Alexa had a 'human trap' set up, and was lying in wait to set it off...

“Troll Hunt” first opened in the spring of 2018, and will be on exhibit through 2018 and possibly into 2019. Bearing a resemblance to the trolls of European folklore, the enormous statues were a huge hit with the kids; we spent all day at the arboretum, split between troll hunting and the Children’s Garden.

Rocky Bardur is right off the parking lot - seems like someone parked a little too close!

Step one: Pick up the Troll Hunter's Handbook when you arrive. The trolls are located between two feet and ¾ of a mile from the nearest parking lot, spread over the Arboretum’s 1,700 acres; to see all the trolls, the total hiking distance is six to seven miles. A Morton map and the Handbook will help you find a logical route to visit the trolls, as well as provide prompts to find a clue for each troll; this will allow you to locate the Troll's ‘secret hideout,’ the seventh part of the installation. We opted to visit a few of the closer trolls by foot, and then drive to the remaining sites; see this link for info on accessibility and closest parking lots. You can also rent bicycles (or bring your own), as well as buy tickets to the troll tram; the 1½ hour tour takes you to 4 trolls with less than ½ mile walk at each.

The Troll Hideout

Step two: Try not to spend all day at the Troll Hideout! Once you’ve found all the trolls and filled in the blanks in the Troll Hunter’s Handbook, put your heads together to figure out where the hideout is located. It’s a short hike in but worth every step! There is a giant tepee structure for troll strategy sessions, and everything from a giant-sized mancala game board with pine cone pieces, to a troll-size toothbrush and other troll essentials! The kids took turns posing in the cauldron, banging the giant drum, cooping one another up in the human-size trap, and holding conferences in ‘troll court’. I spent my time admiring the imagination and craftsmanship behind every little detail of the hideout, photographing the shadows created by the tepee, and covering my ears whenever someone found the drum!

FYI: Morton Aroboretum has a Reciprocal Admissions Program with Hatcher Woodland Gardens in Spartanburg and the South Carolina Botanical Gardens, as well as the North Carolina Arboretum – please visit the website for more details. http://ahsgardening.org/gardening-programs/rap/find/statebystate Or, visit on a Wednesday for $5 off an adult ticket.

Troll Hunt, a Fairy Tale

New exhibit at TCMU: Fun & Games!

There’s another new exhibit at the Children’s Museum of the Upstate! Hot on the heels of the grand opening of the permanent exhibit Bib’s World comes Fun & Games, a STEM-inspired exhibit in which children can play games while learning their rules, origins and historical significance.

Femme au Foyer for the #triplewordscore

The kids had a great time playing giant replicas of Scrabble, checkers and chess, although the biggest hit was an arcade booth stocked with all the classic favorites: Ms Pac Man, Donkey Kong and one of the space shooter games among others.

Some games focused on chance (such as Candyland), while others gravitated towards skill (Skeeball). The strategy games (tic-tac-toe etc.) were popular, but almost all of the games encouraged group learning and play.

Lauris enjoyed the station that allowed guests to create their own game, and while a couple of older children played a rather impressive game of Scrabble we hung out at one of the group activity tables and let the kids explore at their own speed. There are activities suitable to toddlers as well - Vilis stuck mostly to the Tangrams and Ker plunk.

We easily spent several hours exploring. All three boys had a great time, so it’s not a question of if we’ll be returning to the new exhibit for more Fun & Games, but when!

Fun & Games replaces the traveling exhibit Trivial Pursuit, A 50-StateAdventure. It will be open until September 5^th, so make sure to add it to your Upstate summer bucket list! For more information please visit the TCMU website. 

Treehouses and the fall harvest festival at the RMSC

As I wrote in my post about the Latvian holiday of Mārtiņi, it is expected that by this time every year all preparations for the winter are finished; luckily the temperatures here in the Upstate are far warmer than in Latvia, and I still have a few weeks to finish everything (or at least so I tell myself)! Of course the preparations nowadays are far different than those celebrated with the fall harvest celebrations - shutting off outdoor water spigots, replacing furnace filters and putting storm windows back in lieu of salting meat & fish, making preserves and storing the harvest). We opted to procrastinate another weekend on some of those modern preparations in exchange for learning about the fall harvest on the Living History Farm at Roper Mountain Science Center’s Second Saturday.

This autumn has seen no shortage of clear, crisp days ideal for outdoor play, and the day of the Fall Harvest Festival wasn't any different. We skipped the indoor labs and discovery rooms of the Harrison Hall of Natural Science to enjoy the sun and fall colors of the farm, while learning about trades and chores of the days of yore. Demonstrations of woodturning, basket and soap making (our friends from Red Clay Soap!), blacksmithing, weaving and pottery provided the boys plenty of opportunity to watch and learn, even having a chance to make a pinch-pot out of clay that is currently awaiting a coat of paint on a shelf in the living room.

Grinding and husking corn, and a lesson in the one room schoolhouse

Hands-on activities included corn husking and grinding (if only I could get Mikus to participate so enthusiastically in picking up toys!), draft horse plowing (we just watched) and pressing fresh apple cider. The experts at the woodturning station were producing little tops for the kids to color that are now being spun on the dining room table before and after most meals. We tried out various toys such as rolling hoops and stilts, and then engaged in some back and forth with the game of graces; equipped with a pair of wands we sent small hoops back and forth like little comets, colorful ribbons trailing behind.

Watching the field being plowed

Ducking into the woods on one of the many trails, we cut through to the butterfly garden, on our way passing the pond and one of the new tree houses. Four "ultimate cool green tree houses" have been built along the nature trails and were officially initiated during the center's Second Saturday on July 12, but we’ve only found two of them. The one overlooking the pond is “Treetop-Clinic” by Batson Associates and Triangle Construction Company. On the Rainwater Platform we learned about the water cycle through illustrations, and discussed the water collection and distribution feature. Meanwhile the Solar Deck demonstrates the sun’s path and provides a lesson on the solar cycle.

There were several chemistry-related activities taking place at the Symmes Hall of Science in honor of National Chemistry Week. Adhering to a theme of “the Sweet Side of Chemistry!” we experimented with Skittles and M&Ms in “Candy Chromatography,” made jello-type sweets, and discovered the chemistry of sour candy while learning about acids and bases. The boys were a little too young for many of the concepts explored and a little too hungry to watch all that candy being wasted on experiments, so we headed back towards the parking lot passing another tree house on the way.

This one is located between the butterfly garden and the loop road, but it is currently flagged with caution tape and off limits while the Science Center explores ways to make “Anatomy of a TREEHouse” a little safer for the public. Representing a tree with exposed concrete “roots” and a roof and rainwater collection system “canopy, the treehouse has an elevated deck complete with rope ladder, bucket pulley, fireman’s ladder, tunnel slide and actual tree growing through the “squirrel’s deck.” With a living roof irrigated by rainwater and constructed with salvaged and reclaimed materials, the result is something I want to play in – I hope the treehouse is opened to the public sooner than later. 

Sophie, la girafe

I’ve heard every child in France has one*. I also restrained from buying one until about six months ago. Finally I caved in to the pregnant-questioning-my-mothering-abilities guilt and got one for Lauris, although he is a little older than usual to receive his first Sophie. And what is Sophie? La girafe! Born in France in 1961, I’ve heard rumors of desperate American moms seeking to be in the “in” crowd paying up to $50 for this 10 euro toy (but this just can’t be! Amazon.com has them for under $20.). 

So what ended up as an impulse buy has me pleasantly surprised. Six months later and Lauris still enjoys playing with it! The squeaker isn’t that annoying, and everything I’ve read about this toy is so very different from the mass-produced plastic toys of today. The pattern is supposed to be beneficial to a baby’s developing sight, and as the giraffe is made of 100% natural rubber it is advertised as safe to chew on: perfect for teething. There is also a distinct smell, which I thought might be obnoxious but as it turns out, doesn’t bother me at all. And for a small child, it would be incredibly easy to grab and play with, all those gangly legs and neck… Final verdict? I’m glad I finally bought one for Lauris; it’s a great toy for him to share with Mikus! And if any of our friends in the US decide their child absolutely must have this toy, get in touch and we’ll see if Femme au Foyer Inc. can’t import one for you!

Lauris and Sophie enjoying the view this morning

Mikus has already received his very own Sophie from my friend Marine and family who came to visit after we came home from the hospital. Not the same as Lauris’s, it wears an inner tube and is meant for bathtime. There’s all kinds of Sophie gear available, from teething rings to dish sets but I think this household has enough Sophie for now… one per child seems to be about perfect.

"Aw, mom! Enough with the pictures already!"

* From what I’ve seen, almost all French babies Lauris has met do have a Sophie. Most of them look well-loved, and a few mothers tell stories of lost Sophies wreaking havoc upon the household.