with John Green, naturalist Wednesday, October 14, 9am-11am FREE • Registration required • Space is limited, location provided with registration

Do you just wanna play outside? Do you love mud puddles and muck, climbing trees and making friends? Need more outdoor recess in your life? Then Nature Play Afterschool at the Hitchcock Center is for you! Each Wednesday afterschool we play outside in rain or shine, building shelters, playing games and exploring the woods. Bus transportation is available from Amherst schools.

Get to know nature, and make friends at the same time! This afterschool program is designed to bring girls together in a supportive environment that fosters creativity, nature skills and inquiry. Each afternoon will consist of hands-on projects and free outdoor exploration at the Larch Hill Conservation Area. Through playing games, exploring nearby habitats, and connecting with nature, we will develop our confidence, build friendships and have a lot of fun learning!

This season we will travel back in time to the days of the dinosaurs. Children will learn about dinosaurs through stories, songs, movement and crafts. We will compare different dinosaurs, dig for bones, and learn about the plants they munched on. Come have a dinomite time!

This season we will travel back in time to the days of the dinosaurs. Children will learn about dinosaurs through stories, songs, movement and crafts. We will compare different dinosaurs, dig for bones, and learn about the plants they munched on. Come have a dinomite time!

Join Ted for a hike up Mount Holyoke in Skinner State Park. We’ll meet at the entrance gate and hike the auto road part way and then take the New England National Scenic Trail to the summit of the mountain. Along the way we’ll look at geologic formations and discuss the formation of our Valley and the many forces that have acted on this area over time. At the summit we’ll enjoy the panoramic view and make geologic sense of what we see. Wear sturdy hiking shoes and dress for the weather; some steep sections of trail families welcome; recommended for young people fourth grade and up.

Join local bird expert Scott Surner for this special fall birding course. There will be an evening class component to prepare for each following field trip. Evening classes will be held at the Hitchcock Center. For all field trips bring binoculars and guides, food and water and dress for the weather. Carpooling will be arranged in class. Space is limited.

Honey, we shrunk the homeschoolers! Get ready to become very tiny this fall as we get down on a bug’s level. At Homeschool I we’ll discover the insects and other arthropods, such as spiders, millipedes and crustaceans that share our home with us. From butterfly to bumblebee, and cockroach to click beetle we’ll find out the characteristics that make these animals amazing survivors. We’ll learn about insect defense strategies, communication, and how many insects help humans in our everyday lives! Through collection and observation, field trips and art projects, we will study the insects and arthropods of our local habitats and beyond. By the end of our class, you might just ask yourself, where would the world “bee” without insects?

Join us this fall as we travel deep into the past to explore the age of the dinosaurs. Dinosaurs were one of the dominant groups of animals on Earth for 140 million years – that’s 700 times longer than modern humans have existed! Our class will take a journey from dinosaur’s humble beginnings as dog-sized predators, through their glory days when herbivores the size of a house battled with hungry carnivores longer than a school bus, all the way to their sudden extinction. Through outdoor activities, crafts, games and field trips we’ll become familiar with the amazing variety of dinosaur groups, become detectives of life past as we learn the techniques of paleontology, and examine the evidence of dinosaurs that lived right here in western Massachusetts.

Do you just wanna play outside? Do you love mud puddles and muck, climbing trees and making friends? Need more outdoor recess in your life? Then Nature Play Afterschool at the Hitchcock Center is for you! Each Wednesday afterschool we play outside in rain or shine, building shelters, playing games and exploring the woods. Bus transportation is available from Amherst schools.