Hitchcock Center for the Environment

Chickadee Camp
2024-07-01 08:45 - 13:00 (America/New_York)
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.

Climate Collaborative Camp
2024-06-28 08:45 - 15:00, 2024-06-27 08:45 - 15:00, 2024-06-26 08:45 - 15:00, 2024-06-25 08:45 - 15:00, 2024-06-24 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!

Nature Summer Camp: Micro World
2024-06-28 08:45 - 15:00, 2024-06-27 08:45 - 15:00, 2024-06-26 08:45 - 15:00, 2024-06-25 08:45 - 15:00, 2024-06-24 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.

Chickadee Camp
2024-06-28 08:45 - 13:00, 2024-06-27 08:45 - 13:00, 2024-06-26 08:45 - 13:00, 2024-06-25 08:45 - 13:00, 2024-06-24 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.

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.

Nature Discovery Preschool: Our Rainbow World (Afternoon)
2024-06-14 13:00 - 15:00, 2024-06-07 13:00 - 15:00
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 (Morning)
2024-06-14 09:30 - 11:30, 2024-06-07 09:30 - 11:30

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.

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.

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.

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

Girls into the Wild: Spring
2024-06-06 15:30 - 17:30
Girls into the Wild: Spring
with Katie Koerten
Grades 4 – 6
Thursdays, 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM
March 21 – June 6 (no program April 18)
Fee per Child: Tier A-$350 | Tier B-$292 | Tier C-$248 | Tier D-$190
Limited to 12 participants
Girls into the Wild continues into 2024 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!

Nature Play Afterschool: Spring
2024-06-06 15:30 - 17:30
Nature Play Afterschool Series: Spring
with Lauren Dausch
Grades 3 – 5
Thursdays, 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM
March 21 – June 6 (no program April 18)
Fee per Child: Tier A-$350 | Tier B-$292 | Tier C-$248 | Tier D-$190
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 After School 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.

Nature Play Afterschool: Spring
2024-06-05 15:30 - 17:30
Nature Play Afterschool Series: Spring
with Jeff Mazur
Grades 2 – 4
Wednesdays, 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM
March 20 – June 5 (no program April 17)
Fee per Child: Tier A-$346 | Tier B-$288 | Tier C-$245 | Tier D-$187
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 After School 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
2024-06-05 15:30 - 17:30
Junior Nature Play Afterschool Series: Spring
with Lauren Dausch
Grades K – 2
Wednesdays, 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM
March 20 – June 5 (no program April 17)
Fee per Child: Tier A-$346 | Tier B-$288 | Tier C-$245 | Tier D-$187
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.

Homeschool Discovery Days: Pollination Station
2024-06-04 10:00 - 14:00
Pollination Station
With Lauren Dausch
June 4, 2024 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Ages 6 – 12 or grades 1 – 6
Tier A:$81 | Tier B:$67 | Tier C:$57 | Tier D:$44
Limited to 12 participants
Did you know that pollinators are the reason we have most of our food?!?! Together we’ll learn about honeybees and other endangered pollinators who are vital to our health and wellness, and discover what we can do to support them!
