Little Bear Nature Walk
2025-11-15 10:00 - 11:15, 2025-11-20 10:00 - 11:15, 2025-11-25 10:00 - 11:15, 2025-12-01 10:00 - 11:15, 2025-12-10 10:00 - 11:15 (America/New_York)
Ages 0-5 (Adult required to attend with child)
10:00 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.
See dates and locations below
Fee per child (adults and younger siblings under 16 months are free): Tier A-$15 | Tier B-$13 | Tier C-$11
NEW for 2025, Come along on a Little Bear Nature Walk! Little Bear Nature Walks are a way for toddlers, preschoolers and their caregivers to explore nature in an age-appropriate way. While on the walk, children borrow a backpack filled with simple tools for exploring. Nature educators guide children in small groups and explore plants, animals, rocks, and soil. Walks incorporate observation, inquiry, and sensory learning, but also make space for imagination and play. Each walk has a loose theme and includes a story or a song if time.
Learn more and register

Wild Children of the Woods
2025-11-17 15:30 - 17:30, 2025-11-24 15:30 - 17:30, 2025-12-01 15:30 - 17:30, 2025-12-08 15:30 - 17:30, 2025-12-15 15:30 - 17:30, 2025-12-22 15:30 - 17:30
Wild Children of the Woods
Grades 3-5
Mondays 3:30-5:30 PM
September 8 – December 22 (no class October 13)
Tier A: $438 | Tier B: $381 | Tier C: $324
Limited to 12 participants
We go to the woods to think, learn, play, and explore in this afterschool series for upper-elementary schoolers. We will roam the grounds of the Hitchcock Center as we watch Fall turn to Winter. We will visit stump city, ferns, and the far-away woods, play some organized games, and learn about the animals, plants, and life in these woods, including ourselves.

Nature Play Afterschool
2025-11-18 15:30 - 17:30, 2025-11-25 15:30 - 17:30, 2025-12-02 15:30 - 17:30, 2025-12-09 15:30 - 17:30, 2025-12-16 15:30 - 17:30
Nature Play Afterschool Series
Grades 1-3
Tuesdays, 3:30-5:30 PM
September 2 – December 16 (no program November 11)
Fee per Child: Tier A-$438 | Tier B-$381 | Tier C-$324
Limited to 12 participants
Hitchcock’s Nature Play Afterschool Program is designed to let kids be kids. Together we will run, jump, climb, invent, imagine, play and be free-range kids all while developing self-confidence and learning valuable social skills. During Fall Nature Play we will explore wooded trails and fields, jump in leaf piles, build forts, climb trees, and make new discoveries about ourselves and the world around us. Our instructors provide a safe setting for children to explore nature and encourage children to stretch their limits.

Girls into the Wild
2025-11-18 15:30 - 17:30, 2025-11-25 15:30 - 17:30, 2025-12-02 15:30 - 17:30, 2025-12-09 15:30 - 17:30, 2025-12-16 15:30 - 17:30
Girls into the Wild
Grades 4-6
Tuesdays, 3:30-5:30 PM
September 2 – December 16 (no program November 11)
Fee per Child: Tier A-$444 | Tier B-$386 | Tier C-$328
Limited to 12 participants
Girls into the Wild is for girls and nonbinary kids in fourth through sixth grade. Together we build a space where kids can be themselves, make friends, and take a few risks in nature. This fully outdoor afterschool program is a mix of structured and unstructured fun as we play games, do nature projects and explore nature in all weather. We’ll do our favorite activities that have been invented over the years, such as trading nature goods at the fairy market, building hotels for slugs, and fencing with staghorn sumac poles. We’ll visit our favorite places to play such as Roots, Jumping Rock, and the Faraway Woods. What new activities will we invent together?!

Junior Nature Play Afterschool
2025-11-19 13:00 - 17:30, 2025-12-03 15:30 - 17:30, 2025-12-10 15:30 - 17:30, 2025-12-17 13:00 - 17:30
Junior Nature Play Afterschool Series
Grades K-2
Wednesdays, 3:30-5:30 PM
September 3 – December 17 (Extended day (1 PM) on September 24, October 29, November 19 and December 17, no program November 26)
Fee per Child: Tier A-$570 | Tier B-$496| Tier C-$422
Limited to 12 participants
Hitchcock’s Junior Nature Play Afterschool Program is designed to let kids be kids. Together we will run, jump, climb, invent, imagine, play and be free-range kids all while developing self-confidence and learning valuable social skills. During Fall Junior Nature Play we will explore wooded trails and fields, play pretend in our mud kitchen, and make leaf crowns. Our instructors provide a safe setting for children to explore nature and encourage children to stretch their limits.

Nature Play Afterschool
2025-11-19 13:00 - 17:30, 2025-12-03 15:30 - 17:30, 2025-12-10 15:30 - 17:30, 2025-12-17 13:00 - 17:30
Nature Play Afterschool Series
Grades 3-5
Wednesdays, 3:30-5:30 PM
September 3 – December 17 (Extended day (1 PM) on September 24, October 29, November 19 and December 17, no program November 26)
Fee per Child: Tier A-$570 | Tier B-$496 | Tier C-$422
Limited to 12 participants
Hitchcock’s Nature Play Afterschool Program is designed to let kids be kids. Together we will run, jump, climb, invent, imagine, play and be free-range kids all while developing self-confidence and learning valuable social skills. During Fall Nature Play we will explore wooded trails and fields, jump in leaf piles, build forts, climb trees, and make new discoveries about ourselves and the world around us. Our instructors provide a safe setting for children to explore nature and encourage children to stretch their limits. For those parents deciding between the junior and nature play programs, the latter often travels further and is away from the Hitchcock Center’s play yard longer.

Fall Nature Discovery Preschool (Group A)
2025-12-05 09:30 - 11:30
Nature Discovery Preschool Series for 3-5 year olds (Adult/Child) Fall 2025
The Secret Life of Trees
with Chrissy Larson
Ages 3-5 (Adult required to attend with child)
Fridays, 9:30-11:30 AM
Alternating Weeks (activities are the same for Group A and Group B):
Group A Sessions: 9/12, 9/26, 10/17, 10/31, 11/14, 12/5
Group B Sessions: 9/19, 10/3, 10/24, 11/7, 11/21, 12/12

Fee per child/adult pair: Tier A-$352 | Tier B-$306 | Tier C-$260
Limited to 12 children. Limit of 2 preK children per adult. Each preK student must register. Siblings under 3 are free.
Spend six weeks uncovering the secret lives of trees! Learn tree anatomy, explore the science of leaves and roots, hunt for tree homes, and try to figure out who might live in a tree. Trees are an important part of our ecosystems, and through crafts, experiments, and hands-on activities, we will discover the ways trees help animals (and plants and fungi) survive! This program encourages learning through exploration, movement, songs, stories, and crafts. An adult caregiver must attend with the child.
