Hitchcock Center for the Environment

Little Bear Nature Walk
2025-05-29 10:00 - 11:15, 2025-05-19 10:00 - 11:15, 2025-05-13 10:00 - 11:15 (America/New_York)
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. Click here to find today’s theme, location, and to register!

Nature Play Afterschool: Spring
2025-05-28 15:30 - 17:30, 2025-05-21 15:30 - 17:30, 2025-05-14 15:30 - 17:30
With Jeff Mazur
Grades 2-4
Wednesdays, 3:30-5:30 p.m.
March 26 – June 11 (no program April 23)
Fee per Child: Tier A-$332 | Tier B-$288 | Tier C-$245
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. In spring Nature Play Afterschool we will explore, watch the trees bud, celebrate the green and blooming springtime, and play in the mud. Our instructors provide a safe setting for children to explore nature and encourage children to stretch their limits.

Junior Nature Play Afterschool: Spring
2025-05-28 15:30 - 17:30, 2025-05-21 15:30 - 17:30, 2025-05-14 15:30 - 17:30
With: Lauren Dausch
Grades K-2
Wednesdays, 3:30-5:30 p.m.
March 26 – June 11 (no program April 23)
Fee per Child: Tier A-$332 | Tier B-$288 | Tier C-$245
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 Spring Junior Nature Play we will play in the mud and spring rains, look for bugs, and enjoy the warming outdoors. Our instructors provide a safe setting for children to explore nature and encourage children to stretch their limits.

Nature Play Afterschool: Spring
2025-05-27 15:30 - 17:30, 2025-05-20 15:30 - 17:30, 2025-05-13 15:30 - 17:30
With Jeff Mazur
Grades 2-4
Tuesdays, 3:30-5:30 p.m.
March 25 – June 10 (no program April 22)
Fee per Child: Tier A-$328 | Tier B-$285 | Tier C-$242
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. In spring Nature Play Afterschool we will explore, watch the trees bud, celebrate the green and blooming springtime, and play in the mud. Our instructors provide a safe setting for children to explore nature and encourage children to stretch their limits.

Girls into the Wild: Spring
2025-05-27 15:30 - 17:30, 2025-05-20 15:30 - 17:30, 2025-05-13 15:30 - 17:30
with: Katie Koerten
Grades 4-6
Tuesdays, 3:30-5:30 p.m.
March 25 – June 10 (no program April 22)
Fee per Child: Tier A-$328 | Tier B-$285 | Tier C-$242
Limited to 12 participants
Girls into the Wild continues into 2025 for more romping wildly through the field and forests of the Hitchcock Center. As always we’ll visit our favorite places to play in the forest, such as Stump City, the Ferns, and the Faraway Woods – exploring the seasonal beauty of nature as we go. Play games, make friends, and create nature projects in the outdoors! Come build your confidence and show your wild side! Any young people with an experience of gender marginalization are welcome!

Mushroom Class
2025-05-25 10:00 - 12:00
Mushroom Classes
with Jessica Benson Evans
Sunday, May 25, 10-12 – Mt. Toby
Saturday, July 19, 10-12 – Cadwell Forest
Saturday, October 4, 10-12 – Morse Hill

Join mushroom enthusiast Jessica Benson Evans of the Pioneer Valley Mycological Association as she explores and teaches us about the ecology and magic of fungi. Jessica has a conservation approach so this will be an educational and identification course rather than foraging. Meeting locations and further instructions provided with registration, sign up for 1 class or for the series for a discount. One class $25 or All 3 for $65.

REGISTER HERE

Nature Discovery for ages 3-5 (PM)
2025-05-23 13:00 - 15:00, 2025-05-16 13:00 - 15:00, 2025-05-09 13:00 - 15:00
Nature Discovery for 3-5 year olds (Adult/Child)
Nature Did It First! (How nature inspires creative design)
With Chrissy Larson
Ages 3-5 (Adult required to attend with child)
Fridays, March 28-June 6 (no class April 25)
Morning session: 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. (please note earlier start time for Spring)
Afternoon session: 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Fee per child/adult pair: Tier A-$399 | Tier B-$347 | Tier C-$295
Limited to 12 families. Limit of 2 children per adult.
Please note: This ten-week series spends time outdoors each class unless there is extreme weather. ​​
Did you know that hitchhiking burdock seeds inspired velcro? Or that snakeskin inspired safer shoes with better grip? Noticing how things are done in nature and using those ideas to solve human problems is called biomimicry. You might be surprised by the many ways that nature’s own problem solving inspires us to have new ideas and invent new things. Join us this spring to explore the world around us, learning about actual examples of biomimicry and investigating nature to find a new example each class. Lessons include stories, songs, hands-on activities, outdoor adventures, and play.

Nature Discovery Series for ages 3-5 (AM)
2025-05-23 09:30 - 11:30, 2025-05-16 09:30 - 11:30
Nature Discovery Series for ages 3-5 (AM)
Nature Did It First! (How nature inspires creative design)
With Chrissy Larson
Ages 3-5 (Adult required to attend with child)
Fridays, March 28-June 6 (no class April 25)
Morning session: 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. (please note earlier start time for Spring)
Afternoon session: 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Fee per child/adult pair: Tier A-$399 | Tier B-$347 | Tier C-$295
Limited to 12 families. Limit of 2 children per adult.
Please note: This ten-week series spends time outdoors each class unless there is extreme weather.
Did you know that hitchhiking burdock seeds inspired velcro? Or that snakeskin inspired safer shoes with better grip? Noticing how things are done in nature and using those ideas to solve human problems is called biomimicry. You might be surprised by the many ways that nature’s own problem solving inspires us to have new ideas and invent new things. Join us this spring to explore the world around us, learning about actual examples of biomimicry and investigating nature to find a new example each class. Lessons include stories, songs, hands-on activities, outdoor adventures, and play.

Junior Nature Play Afterschool: Spring
2025-05-22 15:30 - 17:30, 2025-05-15 15:30 - 17:30
With: Lauren Dausch
Grades K-2
Thursdays, 3:30-5:30 p.m.
March 27 – June 12 (no program April 24)
Fee per Child: Tier A-$328 | Tier B-$285 | Tier C-$242
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. In spring Junior Nature Play Afterschool we will explore, watch the trees bud, celebrate the green and blooming springtime, and play in the mud. Our instructors provide a safe setting for children to explore nature and encourage children to stretch their limits.

Wild Children of the Woods: Spring
2025-05-19 15:30 - 17:30, 2025-05-12 15:30 - 17:30
With: Monya Relles
Grades 3-5
Mondays 3:30-5:30 p.m.
March 24 – June 9 (no program April 21 and May 26)
Tier A:$299 | Tier B:$261 | Tier C:$222
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 the seasons change in our beautiful woods. 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.

Planting for Pollinators Demo
2025-05-18 10:00 - 11:30
Planting for Pollinators Demo with My Home Park Native Plant Kit
Sunday, May 18th 10am – 11:30am
As part of our native plant sale collaboration with My Home Park, we will be demonstrating how to plant your kit and generally how to plant well for pollinators as we expand one of our many pollinator gardens. Teaching participants what plants support what pollinators throughout the season. Space is limited, and come ready to try out some planting yourself. This is for folks who have purchased a kit from My Home Park.

Planting for Pollinators Demo
2025-05-18 10:00 - 11:30
with Casey Beebe
Sunday, May 18th
10am – 11:30am
As part of our native plant sale collaboration with My Home Park, we will be demonstrating how to plant your kit and generally how to plant well for pollinators as we expand one of our many pollinator gardens. Teaching participants what plants support what pollinators throughout the season. Space is limited, and come ready to try out some planting yourself.

Spring Birding Course
2025-05-17 05:00 - 17:00, 2025-05-10 07:00 - 12:00
(February – June 2025) The Hitchcock Center’s annual Spring Birding course! The class focuses on identification and migration of New England birds. Click here to get information about today’s session, from location to the birds we hope to identify.

Ticks & Tickborne Diseases: Separating Fact from Fiction
2025-05-14 18:00 - 19:00
Ticks & Tickborne Diseases (Including Lyme): Separating Fact from Fiction
Wednesday, May 14
6:00 PM at Hitchcock Center
Join us for a presentation by Dr. Steve Rich, Professor of Microbiology at UMASS Amherst, on tick-borne diseases and how to prevent them. Lyme Disease is the most prevalent infectious disease in Massachusetts and is now considered to be a public health crisis. In addition to Lyme, deer ticks can carry the pathogens which cause Babesiosis, Anaplasmosis, Relapsing Fever and Powassan virus, all of which can be very serious and are on the increase. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure! So come learn how you can protect yourself and your family during tick season.
REGISTER HERE
