Hitchcock Center for the Environment

Nature Discovery Preschool: Our Rainbow World (Morning)
2024-06-07 09:30 - 11:30, 2024-06-14 09:30 - 11:30 (America/New_York)
Nature Discovery Spring Preschool Series: Our Rainbow World
Colleen Kelley – Last chance to join a program with Colleen before she retires!
Ages 3-5 (Adult required to attend with child)
Fridays, April 5-June 14 (no class April 19)
Morning session: 9:30 AM – 11:30 AM (please note earlier start time for Spring)
Afternoon session: 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Fee per child/adult pair: Tier A-$486 | Tier B-$405 | Tier C-$344 | Tier D-$263
Limited to 8 families. Limit of 2 children per adult.
Please note: This ten-week series will take place outdoors unless there is extreme weather.
We will welcome Spring and all its colors at our Nature Preschool at the Hitchcock Center with Colleen Kelley. Children will fill their art palettes with natural colors and discover how colors affect animals, plants and our own lives. Through movement, songs, crafts and live animal observations, children will investigate camouflage, natural plant dyes, plant patterns, chlorophyll and much more.

Nature Discovery Preschool: Our Rainbow World (Afternoon)
2024-06-07 13:00 - 15:00, 2024-06-14 13:00 - 15:00

Spring Birding Course
2024-06-08 05:00 - 14:00
Spring Birding Course with Scott Surner
February 24 – June 8 2024
Classes and field trips
Sliding scale tickets: $375, $325, $280
Up to 15 participants. Registration required.
June 8: Travel day. 5 am – 2 pm. October Mountain/Berkshire County. Nesting birds. It’s been a few years since the class has visited this area. Past highlights have been Barred Owl, Winter Wrens, and serval species of Warblers.
REGISTER HERE

Forest Bathing and Art Workshop
2024-06-08 09:00 - 15:00
with Todd Lynch
Saturday June 8 – 9am – 3pm
Sliding scale fee: $80, $100, or $120
Limited to 12 participants
Join Forest Bathing guide and ecological artist Todd Lynch for a refreshing day of discovery and art making and leave with ways you can integrate these practices into your own rhythms. Forest Bathing combined with ecological art-making can offer us ways to explore our relationships across many levels. These practices root us in our senses in the present moment.

Birding by Ear with John Green 2/2
2024-06-09 08:00 - 10:00
Wednesday, May 15, 8 – 10 AM
And/Or
Saturday, June 9, 8 – 10 AM
Sliding Scale $15, $25, $35

Sometimes the most amazing birds you can’t spot, but their song gives them away! Join naturalist John Green and his great ear to see what birds you can find by sight or sound during this special time of year for birds, the height of bird migration and nesting.

Fireside Chat: Firefly Ecology
2024-06-13 20:30 - 21:30
with John Green
Thursday, June 13, 8:30 PM
Do you love the ephemeral season of fireflies? Or maybe you call them lightning bugs, either way come and learn about and enjoy some guided firefly watching. We will have a fire going and snacks so we can talk about fireflies in Hitchcock gardens before we head to fields to revel in them together.

Battle of the Botanicals 2024
2024-06-20 18:00 - 21:00
For the first time since 2019, join us for an evening of botanically inspired cocktails and appetizers from our area’s top mixologists and chefs to benefit the Hitchcock Center’s sustainability, environmental justice, natural history and STEM programming! All proceeds help to provide year-round education for a healthy planet to over 13,000 people of all ages. LEARN MORE.

Chickadee Camp
2024-06-24 08:45 - 13:00, 2024-06-25 08:45 - 13:00, 2024-06-26 08:45 - 13:00, 2024-06-27 08:45 - 13:00, 2024-06-28 08:45 - 13:00
Chickadee Camp
Entering grade Kindergarten* See our Summer Camp page for more info
Mondays – Fridays, 8:45 am – 1 pm
Session 1: June 24 – June 28 (one week)
The Chickadee program is a safe, nurturing first outdoor day camp experience for young ones. Attentive and loving counselors facilitate safe and curious exploration of the Discovery Yard and Hitchcock trails while sharing enthusiasm and joyful nature connection. Our “Nest” (the gazebo) and pollinator gardens are our home base. Each day has a specific nature theme and includes free play, morning circle, snack time, songs, stories, lunch time, chores and games.. Sand kitchen play and sprinkler time are also part of each day! Our goals for our Chickadees are to use all their senses to explore nature, to feel comfortable and safe learning and playing outdoors, and to be part of a caring and respectful group.

Nature Summer Camp: Micro World
2024-06-24 08:45 - 15:00, 2024-06-25 08:45 - 15:00, 2024-06-26 08:45 - 15:00, 2024-06-27 08:45 - 15:00, 2024-06-28 08:45 - 15:00
Our Little Micro World
Entering grades 1 – 6
Mondays – Fridays, 8:45 am – 3 pm
Session 1: June 24 – June 28 (one week)
Get ready to get very tiny this week as we explore all things small. Who are the creatures that can fit in your hand, or on a penny? We’ll investigate teeny tiny ants, pillbugs, worms, and other invertebrates that have important jobs in nature. We’ll pay attention to the tiniest flowers and plants and discover their importance to their ecosystems. Through live animal visits, exploration, hikes, and art projects, campers will investigate the tiny things in life! There will be no field trips this week.

Climate Collaborative Camp
2024-06-24 08:45 - 15:00, 2024-06-25 08:45 - 15:00, 2024-06-26 08:45 - 15:00, 2024-06-27 08:45 - 15:00, 2024-06-28 08:45 - 15:00
Climate Collaborative Camp
Entering grades 7-9 only
Mondays – Fridays, 8:45 am – 3 pm
Session 1: June 24 – June 28 (one week)
Fees for 1 week session: Tier A $534; Tier B $445; Tier C $378; Tier D $289

Do you have a teen who still wants to be part of Hitchcock Summer Camp but isn’t interested in LTC? Climate Collaborative is the camp for them! Climate Collaborative is just like summer camp but with even more of a hopeful, climate-oriented twist. Over the course of the week, campers will play games and explore the science and art of climate action. We’ll ask questions about the history and future of the land and our connection to it as a community and be inspired by the Hitchcock Center Living Building. The week will culminate in a camper-led climate action. This week will be fun, hands-on, and outdoors!

Chickadee Camp
2024-07-01 08:45 - 13:00, 2024-07-02 08:45 - 13:00
Chickadee Camp
Entering grade Kindergarten* See our Summer Camp page for more info
Mondays – Fridays, 8:45 am – 1 pm
Session 2: July 1 – July 12 (two weeks)
The Chickadee program is a safe, nurturing first outdoor day camp experience for young ones. Attentive and loving counselors facilitate safe and curious exploration of the Discovery Yard and Hitchcock trails while sharing enthusiasm and joyful nature connection. Our “Nest” (the gazebo) and pollinator gardens are our home base. Each day has a specific nature theme and includes free play, morning circle, snack time, songs, stories, lunch time, chores and games.. Sand kitchen play and sprinkler time are also part of each day! Our goals for our Chickadees are to use all their senses to explore nature, to feel comfortable and safe learning and playing outdoors, and to be part of a caring and respectful group.

Nature Summer Camp: Making & Tinkering
2024-07-01 08:45 - 15:00, 2024-07-02 08:45 - 15:00
Making and Tinkering
Entering grades 1 – 6
Mondays – Fridays, 8:45 am – 3 pm
Session 2: July 1 – July 12 (two weeks)
Become a nature-inspired inventor! Campers will spend this week outdoors exploring science and biomimicry, and then applying what they learn to create! And yes, chain reaction machines (a.k.a. Rube Goldberg machines) will be part of the fun too! Through investigation and play, campers will discover nature’s smartest lessons and use them to playfully solve problems. We will also have field trips for the two older groups. By learning from the world around us, we can become sustainable engineers!

Leadership Training Camp
2024-07-01 08:45 - 15:00, 2024-07-02 08:45 - 15:00
Leadership Training Camp
Entering grades 7 – 9
Mondays – Fridays, 8:45 am – 3 pm
Session 2: July 1 – July 12 (two weeks)

LTC is a place where teens can develop their skills as naturalists, problem solvers, and community members, and returning leaders can strengthen the skills they’ve been working on. It is designed for those who may want to be a Counselor-in-Training or Junior Counselor at Hitchcock or other camps, who want a chance to build leadership skills in life, or who just want to learn new skills and have some fun. This is done through our “spiral” system, with spirals representing your experience in LTC (spiral 1 for first-year campers, spiral 2 for second-year campers, etc.) and each spiral holding different expectations and skills.
Please note that drop-off and pick-up times for LTC may change on some days depending on our schedule for that day.
