Events

Do you just wanna play outside? Do you love mud puddles and muck, climbing trees and making friends? Need more outdoor recess in your life? Then Nature Play Afterschool at the Hitchcock Center is for you! Each Wednesday afterschool we play outside in rain or shine, building shelters, playing games and exploring the woods. Bus transportation is available from Amherst schools.

Join local bird expert Scott Surner for this special fall birding course. There will be an evening class component to prepare for each following field trip. Evening classes will be held at the Hitchcock Center. For all field trips bring binoculars and guides, food and water and dress for the weather. Carpooling will be arranged in class. Space is limited.

Get to know nature, and make friends at the same time! This afterschool program is designed to bring girls together in a supportive environment that fosters creativity, nature skills and inquiry. Each afternoon will consist of hands-on projects and free outdoor exploration at the Larch Hill Conservation Area. Through playing games, exploring nearby habitats, and connecting with nature, we will develop our confidence, build friendships and have a lot of fun learning!

This season we will travel back in time to the days of the dinosaurs. Children will learn about dinosaurs through stories, songs, movement and crafts. We will compare different dinosaurs, dig for bones, and learn about the plants they munched on. Come have a dinomite time!

This season we will travel back in time to the days of the dinosaurs. Children will learn about dinosaurs through stories, songs, movement and crafts. We will compare different dinosaurs, dig for bones, and learn about the plants they munched on. Come have a dinomite time!

Have you ever looked at a tree in winter and wondered what it might be? For nearly half the year bark provides the best clues to tree ID. We’ll be keying out the trees using bark characters, among others, to see what we can learn. Poet’s Seat is a dry ridge top with a variety of habitats. We’ll hike up the paved access road, with a mostly gentle up-hill grade, heading to the tower and the top of the cliffs. This area was named by Frederick Goddard Tuckerman, a poet, who spent many hours writing and being inspired by the location. This is one of the most visited sites in this area and the west view across the valley to the Berkshire foothills is spectacular.

Follow your nose to the Hitchcock Center for a program all about smells in nature. We’ll discover plants, birds, insects and mammals that rely on the sense of smell for their survival! We’ll play games, explore the forest and do experiments to test our own sense of smell. By the time you leave, it will all make scents!

Do you just wanna play outside? Do you love mud puddles and muck, climbing trees and making friends? Need more outdoor recess in your life? Then Nature Play Afterschool at the Hitchcock Center is for you! Each Wednesday afterschool we play outside in rain or shine, building shelters, playing games and exploring the woods. Bus transportation is available from Amherst schools.

In the 1980's, educational programs about tropical rainforests and other conservation efforts to help slow accelerating deforestation helped spawn a new industry, ecotourism. Promoted as a solution in struggling economies, this form of travel has grown large in many countries. Critics, however, say that ecotourism causes more harm than help.

This season we will travel back in time to the days of the dinosaurs. Children will learn about dinosaurs through stories, songs, movement and crafts. We will compare different dinosaurs, dig for bones, and learn about the plants they munched on. Come have a dinomite time!