Hitchcock Center for the Environment

10:00am-12:00pm Art in the Forest Wednesday Series
2020-12-09 10:00 - 12:00, 2020-12-02 10:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York)
The natural world has served as inspiration for artists of all varieties for all of humankind’s history. While surrounded by the undeniable beauty of the outdoors, children in the Art in the Forest program will be encouraged to develop awareness of the details in the natural world and learn how to utilize its beauty in artistic expression. Throughout the fall and into winter we will explore our own imagination and expression with activities that include drawing, poetry, structure building, painting and sculpture. We’ll spend part of our time, in-person, working together towards creating works of art and part free time in the woods, playing, talking and building community. This series is being offered two times per week on Mondays and Wednesdays. Please sign up for one of the two days.
with Aemelia Thompson
Ages 7–10 or Grades 2–4
Wednesdays, 10am–12pm
September 16–December 16
Fee per Child: Tier A-$437 | Tier B-$349 | Tier C-$252 | Tier D-$131
Limited to 10 participants

3:30-5:30 pm Games in Nature Afterschool Series
2020-12-08 15:30 - 17:30
Play is an essential part of childhood, and playing games can cultivate social-emotional skills that keep us connected. Games in Nature After School will use a combination of structured games and free nature play to build interpersonal skills and to just have fun in an increasingly stressful world. Each week the group will spend time together beginning with games and move into nature play and free game building. Structured games will focus on confidence building, leadership, communication, laughing. Free nature play will give individuals time to observe, experiment, and play, using the inspiration of the natural world. It will also be an opportunity for the co-creation of new simple games (think racing sticks down a river) and an opportunity for kids to practice rule negotiation and boundary set up. This program will provide a space to continue important social-emotional learning during a time of social distancing.
with Aemelia Thompson
Ages 9–11 or Grades 4–6
Tuesdays, 3:30–5:30pm
September 22–December 15 (no class November 3)
Fee per Child: Tier A-$254 | Tier B-$203 | Tier C-$152 | Tier D-$76
Limited to 10 participants

1:00-2:00pm Class Program (Virtual)
2020-12-08 13:00 - 14:00, 2020-12-07 13:00 - 14:00, 2020-12-02 13:00 - 14:00, 2020-12-01 13:00 - 14:00, 2020-11-30 13:00 - 14:00
Have a Hitchcock educator pay a virtual visit to your classroom or home! Our virtual class programs will be focused on specific topics to fit with your science curriculum. You will receive special topic-focused, take-home resources, and a remotely accessible video of a Hitchcock educator that will spark student interest. This will be paired with a 40-minute interactive lesson on Zoom with a Hitchcock educator that will end with a fun game that will check for students’ understanding and reinforce lesson goals.
When registering, choose your first and second preference for a date and time and one of the Virtual Class Program themes below:

Life Underground
Predator and Prey
Flowers and Plants
Insects
Animal Observations
Decomposers
Metamorphosis

with Aemelia Thompson
Ages 5–8 or Grades K–2
Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, 1–2pm
September 21–December 18 (no program September 28 or November 2)
Fee per program: Tier A-$61 | Tier B-$50 | Tier C-$37 | Tier D-$18
Group size: up to 22 students, including at least one adult

9:30am-12:30pm Morning Nature Play Series
2020-12-08 09:30 - 12:30, 2020-12-01 09:30 - 12:30
Spend Tuesday mornings playing outside in the woods! Challenge your body by balancing on logs and climbing trees. Get as dirty as you like as we romp through the forest, explore under logs, make mud pie feasts and splash in puddles. Notice the changes in nature as we go through the season together. Instructor Katie Koerten will lead kids to our favorite places to play in the forest, such as Stump Town, the Ferns, and the Faraway Woods. Please note: lunch is not part of this program, so please pack a robust snack that includes protein for a mid-program snack.
with Katie Koerten
Ages 6–8 or Grades 1–3
Tuesdays, 9:30am–12:30pm
September 22–December 15
Fee per Child: Tier A-$604 | Tier B-$483 | Tier C-$363 | Tier D-$181
Limited to 10 participants per day

9:30am-12:30pm Eco-Quest Discovery Day: Marvelous Mapping
2020-12-08 09:30 - 12:30
Join us for a quest! You can drop in for one class or all three. We will be completing a quest each week using different skills during the first half of the class, and the second half, after a hearty snack, will be full of nature exploration and games. This series is being offered two times per week on Tuesdays and on Thursdays. Please sign up for one of the two days.
with Jeff Mazur
Ages 9–11 or Grades 4–6
Tuesdays, 9:30am–12:30pm
December 1, 8 and 15
Fee per Child: Tier A-$55 per day | Tier B-$44 per day | Tier C-$33 per day | Tier D-$17 per day
Limited to 10 participants

3:30-5:30pm Nature Play Afterschool Monday Series
2020-12-07 15:30 - 17:30, 2020-11-30 15:30 - 17:30
Our Nature Play Afterschool Program is designed to let kids be kids. Together we will run, jump, climb, invent, imagine, play and be free-range children, all while developing self-confidence and learning valuable social skills. We will explore wooded trails and fields, play in the leaves, build forts, climb trees, make new discoveries about ourselves and the world around us and use our imaginations. Children will be provided with a safe setting for children to explore nature and stretch their limits as they balance on logs, hold salamanders, or co-create new games with their peers.
with Aemelia Thompson
Ages 6–8 or Grades 1–3
Mondays, 3:30–5:30pm
September 21–December 14 (no class October 12)
Extended days: September 28 and November 2, 1:30–5:30pm
Fee per Child: Tier A-$335 | Tier B-$268 | Tier C-$201 | Tier D-$101
Limited to 10 participants

10:00am-12:00pm Junior Nature Play Series
2020-12-07 10:00 - 12:00, 2020-11-30 10:00 - 12:00
We are pleased to offer for the first time a new Nature Play program that includes kindergartners— Junior Nature Play! Children in kindergarten and first grade may sign up for this immersive, lightly-structured program that lets kids be “free-range” while being safely supervised. Instructor Katie Koerten will lead us to our favorite places to play in the forest, such as Stump Town, the Ferns, and the Faraway Woods. Each day includes games, free play, a story and snack time.
with Katie Koerten
Ages 5–7 or Grades K–1
Mondays, 10am–12pm
September 21–December 14 (no program October 12)
Fee per Child: Tier A-$470 | Tier B-$376 | Tier C-$282 | Tier D-$141
Limited to 8 participants per day

10-11:30am Chain Reactions and Creative Contraptions (Virtual)
2020-12-05 10:00 - 11:30
Playful Engineer, Jay Mankita, promotes play-centered exploration from in-school to un-school! The program engages children and families in a hands-on, thought-provoking, and open-ended STEM and STEAM exploration using chain reaction machines with household materials, tools and toys. Jay offers a live demonstration and presentation session where kids will engage with him through Zoom with questions and comments. Following the program, children and families can continue to explore using his online library of pictorial instructions, video demonstrations, and thematic slide shows for inspiration.
Children will have ample opportunities to learn and explore:

Physics principles: force and motion, scale, cause and effect
Engineering practice: plan, build, test, improve
Values: trial and error, persistence, growth mindset

with Jay Mankita
Saturday, December 5
10:00am-11:30am
FREE, thanks to funding from the Amherst Cultural Council
Registration required
About Jay
Jay Mankita has presented hundreds of in-person, hands-on, school and library programs for grades K-8, including a virtual STARS residency for 6-8 graders at the Greenfield Commonwealth Virtual School. His work dovetails well with Next Generation Science and National Core Arts curriculum, but is not tied to it.

10:00am-12:00pm Nature-based Field Trip: Mountains and Valleys
2020-12-04 10:00 - 12:00
Discover the stories in the stones around us! The Holyoke Range can tell us much about how the Earth’s crust is shaped. It is a geologically unique area, where we can find evidence of shifting tectonic plates, earthquakes, volcanoes, glaciers, and erosion, all in one day’s field trip! We will learn how fascinating geology can be and how the everyday landscape provides intriguing clues to the past. This trip is based at Skinner State Park and involves mostly light hiking with several short steep sections of trail.
with Helen Ann Sephton
Minimum Age 8
Fridays, 10am–12pm
October 23 – December 11
No program November 27
Fee per Child: Tier A-$24 per trip | Tier B-$19 per trip | Tier C-$14 per trip | Tier D- $7
Fee per Adult: Tier A-$28 per trip | Tier B-$23 per trip | Tier C-$18 per trip | Tier D- $9
Limited to 12 participants. Children must be accompanied by an adult (limit 1 adult and up to 4 children).
Register here

3:30-5:30pm Girls into the Wild Series (In-person)
2020-12-03 15:30 - 17:30
Sometimes you just need to run, explore and play outdoors! Girls into the Wild is designed to get girls outside, playing and engaging with nature in their own way. Instructor Katie Koerten offers games and activities that each girl can participate in at her own comfort level, from climbing trees, to playing camouflage in the forest, to running and whooping wildly through fields. Come build your confidence and show your wild side!
with Monya Relles
Ages 8–11 or Grades 3–5
Thursdays, 3:30pm-5:30pm
September 24–December 17 (no program November 5 or 26)
Fee per Child: Tier A-$289 | Tier B-$232 | Tier C-$174 | Tier D-$87
Limited to 10 participants

3:30-5:30pm Girls into the Wild Series
2020-12-03 15:30 - 17:30
Sometimes you just need to run, explore and play outdoors! Girls into the Wild is designed to get girls outside, playing and engaging with nature in their own way. Instructor Katie Koerten offers games and activities that each girl can participate in at her own comfort level, from climbing trees, to playing camouflage in the forest, to running and whooping wildly through fields. Come build your confidence and show your wild side!
with Katie Koerten
Ages 8–11 or Grades 3–5
Thursdays, 3:30pm-5:30pm
September 24–December 17 (no program November 5 or 26)
Fee per Child: Tier A-$289 | Tier B-$232 | Tier C-$174 | Tier D-$87
Limited to 10 participants

10:00am-12:00pm Junior Nature Play (In-person)
2020-12-03 10:00 - 12:00
We are pleased to offer for the first time a new Nature Play program that includes kindergartners— Junior Nature Play! Children in kindergarten and first grade may sign up for this immersive, lightly-structured program that lets kids be “free-range” while being safely supervised. Instructor Katie Koerten will lead us to our favorite places to play in the forest, such as Stump Town, the Ferns, and the Faraway Woods. Each day includes games, free play, a story and snack time.
with Katie Koerten
Ages 5–7 or Grades K–1
Thursdays, September 24–December 17 (No program November 5 and 26)
Fee per Child: Tier A-$432 | Tier B-$345 | Tier C-$259 | Tier D-$129
Limited to 8 participants per day

9:30am-12:30pm Eco-Quest Discovery Day: Tracks and Signs
2020-12-03 09:30 - 12:30
Join us for a quest! You can drop in for one class or all three. We will be completing a quest each week using different skills during the first half of the class, and the second half, after a hearty snack, will be full of nature exploration and games. This series is being offered two times per week on Tuesdays and on Thursdays. Please sign up for one of the two days.
with Jeff Mazur
Ages 9–11 or Grades 4–6
Thursdays, 9:30am–12:30pm
December 3, 10, and 17
Fee per Child: Tier A-$55 per day | Tier B-$44 per day | Tier C-$33 per day | Tier D-$17 per day
Limited to 10 participants

3:30-5:30pm Games in Nature Afterschool Wednesday Series (In-person)
2020-12-02 15:30 - 17:30
Play is an essential part of childhood, and playing games can cultivate social-emotional skills that keep us connected. Games in Nature After School will use a combination of structured games and free nature play to build interpersonal skills and to just have fun in an increasingly stressful world. Each week the group will spend time together beginning with games and move into nature play and free game building. Structured games will focus on confidence building, leadership, communication, laughing. Free nature play will give individuals time to observe, experiment, and play, using the inspiration of the natural world. It will also be an opportunity for the co-creation of new simple games (think racing sticks down a river) and an opportunity for kids to practice rule negotiation and boundary set up. This program will provide a space to continue important social-emotional learning during a time of social distancing.
with Aemelia Thompson
Ages 9–11 or Grades 4–6
Wednesdays, 3:30-5:30pm
September 23–December 16
Fee per Child: Tier A-$254 | Tier B-$203 | Tier C-$152 | Tier D-$76
Limited to 12 participants

3:30-5:30pm Nature Play Afterschool Wednesday Series
2020-12-02 15:30 - 17:30
Our Nature Play Afterschool Program is designed to let kids be kids. Together we will run, jump, climb, invent, imagine, play and be free-range children, all while developing self-confidence and learning valuable social skills. We will explore wooded trails and fields, play in the leaves, build forts, climb trees, make new discoveries about ourselves and the world around us and use our imaginations. Children will be provided with a safe setting for children to explore nature and stretch their limits as they balance on logs, hold salamanders, or co-create new games with their peers.
with Jeff Mazur
Ages 6–8 or Grades 1–3
Wednesdays, 3:30–5:30pm
September 16–December 16 (no class November 11 or 25)
Extended days: October 21, November 18, and December 16, 1:30–5:30pm
Fee per Child: Tier A-$315 | Tier B-$252 | Tier C-$189 | Tier D-$94
Limited to 10 participants

10:00am-12:00pm Junior Discovery Day: Gnome Homes
2020-12-02 10:00 - 12:00
Attention kindergartners and first graders! Junior Discovery Days are one-time nature programs where we notice what’s happening in nature and explore specific topics. Sign up for as many days as you like. Our morning includes snack time, story, a nature project and a game.
With Katie Koerten
Ages 5–7 or Grades K–1
Wednesdays, 10am–12pm
September 23–December 16
Fee per Child: Tier A-$46 per day | Tier B-$37 per day | Tier C-$27 per day | Tier D-$14 per day
Limited to 8 participants per day

September 23: Colors of Nature
September 30: Catching Crickets
October 7: Insect Life Cycles
October 14: A Leaf Rainbow
October 21: Wonderful Water
October 28: Spiders Are Friends
November 4: Being Birds
November 11: Super Cool Seeds
November 18: White-Tailed Deer Games
December 2: Gnome Homes
December 9: Faraway Woods Foray
December 16: Gifts from Nature

3:30-5:30pm Games in Nature Afterschool Series
2020-12-01 15:30 - 17:30

9:30am-12:30pm Eco-Quest Discovery Day: Tracks and Signs
2020-12-01 09:30 - 12:30

9am-12pm Nature All Year: Geology of the Pioneer Valley
2020-11-29 09:00 - 12:00
Join us for an in-depth natural history course to develop your naturalists skills. Each month, in our series of nature explorations with different local naturalists, we explore a focused, seasonal, natural history topic. We’ll look at nature in new ways, from broad habitat perspectives to close details of individual species. Over the course of the year we’ll visit a variety of natural habitats in the greater Pioneer Valley area. Identification skills, ecological connections, adaptations, and life cycles of organisms will be the focus of our observations. Bring your curiosity and observation skills. Dress for the weather for 3 hours as we rarely cancel due to inclement weather. Bring binoculars and a hand lens, water and snacks if you would like. These will be outdoor only programs and please bring masks and plan to wear them when within 6 feet of others.
With Steve roof
At location TBD
Join us on a walk through time! Come and explore the earth-shaping history of the Pioneer Valley as Steve delves into geologic processes and the ways in which land and humans interact and affect one another.
Biography: Steve Roof, professor of earth and environmental science, focuses his research and teaching on environmental issues such as climate change, pollution, and land conservation.

10:00am-12:00pm Nature-based Field Trip: Mountains and Valleys
2020-11-28 10:00 - 12:00
Discover the stories in the stones around us! The Holyoke Range can tell us much about how the Earth’s crust is shaped. It is a geologically unique area, where we can find evidence of shifting tectonic plates, earthquakes, volcanoes, glaciers, and erosion, all in one day’s field trip! We will learn how fascinating geology can be and how the everyday landscape provides intriguing clues to the past. This trip is based at Skinner State Park and involves mostly light hiking with several short steep sections of trail.
with Aemelia Thompson
Minimum Age 8
Saturdays, 10am–12pm
October 17 & November 28 only
Fee per Child: Tier A-$24 per trip | Tier B-$19 per trip | Tier C-$14 per trip | Tier D- $7
Fee per Adult: Tier A-$28 per trip | Tier B-$23 per trip | Tier C-$18 per trip | Tier D- $9
Limited to 12 participants. Children must be accompanied by an adult (limit 1 adult and up to 4 children).

Hitchcock Center Closed -- Thanksgiving Holiday
2020-11-27, 2020-11-26
