Do you love science and nature? Do you want to see what the Hitchcock Homeschool program is all about? Sign up for our Discovery Days, our one-time programs about science and nature. In a mixed-age setting, we explore cool topics at the Hitchcock Center, meet science experts, and sometimes go on field trips. Our Discovery […]

Spring fever is in the air, and it is time to get the kids outside to let out some of their energy! Have them join Hitchcock’s Nature Play Afterschool Program, which is designed to let kids be kids. Together we will run, jump, climb, invent, imagine, play and be a free-range kids all while developing self-confidence […]

Sometimes you just need to run, explore and play! That’s what we do at Girls into the Wild, and lots more. Now in its fourth year, Girls into the Wild is designed to get girls outside, playing and engaging with nature in their own way. Instructor Katie Koerten strives to offer games and activities that […]

We depend on local populations of insect pollinators for most seed and fruit production in agriculture, horticulture, and wild plants. Come learn about the diversity of plant species that appeal to these important insects throughout the growing season. Along with our new building, we have a number of new planting beds. We made a lot […]

Spineless Wonders - Animals without Backbones Pretend to shrink down real small to explore the spineless wonders of our natural world! This Spring, Colleen will introduce children to the crawling, sliding, hopping, flying world of worms, spiders, snails, pill bugs and insects. All those spineless wonders are animals without backbones. Through live observations, puppets, stories, model […]

Spineless Wonders - Animals without Backbones Pretend to shrink down real small to explore the spineless wonders of our natural world! This Spring, Colleen will introduce children to the crawling, sliding, hopping, flying world of worms, spiders, snails, pill bugs and insects. All those spineless wonders are animals without backbones. Through live observations, puppets, stories, model […]

Come meet our newest educator – our building! It is designed to model systems in nature, it is net zero energy, net zero water, has composting toilets, and has been made with responsibly sourced non-toxic materials, come check it out at one of our bi-monthly tours. Tours typically last from 1-1.5 hours. Spring tour schedule: […]

We depend on local populations of insect pollinators for most seed and fruit production in agriculture, horticulture, and wild plants. Come learn about the diversity of plant species that appeal to these important insects throughout the growing season. Along with our new building, we have a number of new planting beds. We made a lot […]

Join award-winning musician Sarah Pirtle for a fun family concert this spring! A favorite with Hitchcock staff, Sarah's music connects children with nature using beautiful harmonies, varying instruments and often multiple languages. Bring your family! There will be room for dancing and a chance to see Sarah's instruments! Space is limited. Sarah Pirtle brings songs […]

Feathers to Flight It’s spring! What better time of year is there to discover the birds all around us? At Homeschool I we will explore the wonderful adaptations that makes a bird a bird, and how specialized beaks, feet and feathers make them suited for their habitats. We’ll learn tools for identifying a bird by […]

Rocks and Water: The Shaping of Our Valley Discover the stories in the stones around us!  We live in a geologically unique area, and the landscape provides intriguing clues to the past. At Homeschool II we will find evidence of shifting plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes, glaciers, and the power of water. We will hike up […]

Curious about electric vehicle (EVs)s? How they work, how far they can go on a charge? An increasing number of electric vehicles on the market are competitively priced and can go over 100 miles on a charge. This workshop will start with a brief ride around the parking lot in a plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt. […]

Spring fever is in the air, and it is time to get the kids outside to let out some of their energy! Have them join Hitchcock’s Nature Play Afterschool Program, which is designed to let kids be kids. Together we will run, jump, climb, invent, imagine, play and be a free-range kids all while developing self-confidence […]

Join this Hitchcock tradition, Scott has been leading since 1979. Space is limited and in high demand. Class and fieldtrip schedule. Classes: 4 Wednesdays, January 31 – May 9, 6:30pm-8pm Weekend Field Trips: February 10-June 10 see online for all dates Register here. Online registration opens on January 9 at 9am. Members $295/Non-members $325

Pete Westover will open the Hitchcock Center’s 2018 Environmental Justice series with a dramatic illustrated examination of Native land loss and recovery efforts in New England, the battle for control of the Penobscot River, threats to national monuments and sacred sites, urban and rural “food deserts,” Connecticut Valley energy and air-quality issues, Hydro-Quebec and its […]

Sometimes you just need to run, explore and play! That’s what we do at Girls into the Wild, and lots more. Now in its fourth year, Girls into the Wild is designed to get girls outside, playing and engaging with nature in their own way. Instructor Katie Koerten strives to offer games and activities that […]

Anne has been surveying timber rattlesnake populations in western Massachusetts. She is one of the most up-to-date and well-informed people to help us understand the life history and amazing adaptations of this fascinating reptile.  She will share images of the snakes she has located and explain how she tracks individual animals. You will leave with […]

Spineless Wonders - Animals without Backbones Pretend to shrink down real small to explore the spineless wonders of our natural world! This Spring, Colleen will introduce children to the crawling, sliding, hopping, flying world of worms, spiders, snails, pill bugs and insects. All those spineless wonders are animals without backbones. Through live observations, puppets, stories, model […]

Spineless Wonders - Animals without Backbones Pretend to shrink down real small to explore the spineless wonders of our natural world! This Spring, Colleen will introduce children to the crawling, sliding, hopping, flying world of worms, spiders, snails, pill bugs and insects. All those spineless wonders are animals without backbones. Through live observations, puppets, stories, model […]

Have you heard the telltale peep of the woodcock looking for a mate to do its early spring sky dance? If not you are in for a treat that will likely become an annual tradition, you’ll be hooked. Join bird song radio personality and our favorite garden advisor Dan Ziomek to enjoy this special spring […]

Second Saturdays: December 9, January 13, February 10, March 10, April 14, May 12, June 9 The Hitchcock Center is open to families and the community second Saturdays of the month, December thru June from 9am-1pm. Stop by to explore our building, talk with an educator, read a book with your kids or grandkids in our […]

Second Saturdays: December 9, January 13, February 10, March 10, April 14, May 12, June 9 The Hitchcock Center is open to families and the community second Saturdays of the month, December thru June from 9am-1pm. Stop by to explore our building, talk with an educator, read a book with your kids or grandkids in our […]

Join the Hitchcock Center for this Amherst tradition of sharing ways to make our world a better place. Learn more… Saturday, April 14, 10am-4pm Amherst Town Common

The protection of Massachusetts forests is vital in: storing carbon to help mitigate and reverse climate change; providing critical habitat for native plants and wildlife; saving historic and sacred sites; and offering opportunities for nature-based tourism. Yet, almost all of our forests are currently open to resource extraction, thereby undermining these values. With more than 30 years of experience working […]

Spend your days off from school learning and playing outside at the Hitchcock Center! We’ll explore topics in spring ecology while playing games, making crafts and spending time with our live animals. Sign up for as many days as you wish. Online registration opens January 14. Ages 6-10, Grades K-5 Monday through Friday, April 16-20 […]

Spend your days off from school learning and playing outside at the Hitchcock Center! We’ll explore topics in spring ecology while playing games, making crafts and spending time with our live animals. Sign up for as many days as you wish. Online registration opens January 14. Ages 6-10, Grades K-5 Monday through Friday, April 16-20 […]

Spend your days off from school learning and playing outside at the Hitchcock Center! We’ll explore topics in spring ecology while playing games, making crafts and spending time with our live animals. Sign up for as many days as you wish. Online registration opens January 14. Ages 6-10, Grades K-5 Monday through Friday, April 16-20 […]

Come meet our newest educator – our building! It is designed to model systems in nature, it is net zero energy, net zero water, has composting toilets, and has been made with responsibly sourced non-toxic materials, come check it out at one of our bi-monthly tours. Tours typically last from 1-1.5 hours. Spring tour schedule: […]

Spend your days off from school learning and playing outside at the Hitchcock Center! We’ll explore topics in spring ecology while playing games, making crafts and spending time with our live animals. Sign up for as many days as you wish. Online registration opens January 14. Ages 6-10, Grades K-5 Monday through Friday, April 16-20 […]

Spend your days off from school learning and playing outside at the Hitchcock Center! We’ll explore topics in spring ecology while playing games, making crafts and spending time with our live animals. Sign up for as many days as you wish. Online registration opens January 14. Ages 6-10, Grades K-5 Monday through Friday, April 16-20 […]

Lawn is not simply grass. It is a relationship between grass plants, soil conditions, and a complex soil ecology. This ecology is known as the soil food web. A handful of healthy soil has billions of microflora and fauna, fungi, earthworms, micro and macro arthopods, etc. Not every green lawn is a healthy lawn. This living system is in stark contrast […]

The Hitchcock Center is expanding its nature play area. Join this community effort and come help us dig, weed, plant, mulch, haul, etc. Bring tools and gloves if you have them. Saturday, March 31, 12-3pm Sunday, April 22, 12-3pm Saturday, May 5, 12-3pm Sunday, June 3, 12-3pm Registration appreciated

Repair Public is an exercise in community resourcefulness. The basic idea is to encourage people to learn how and/or where to fix broken items instead of tossing them into a landfill and buying replacements. The participants and facilitators are local community members just like you. You bring a broken item that you want help repairing […]

Rocks and Water: The Shaping of Our Valley Discover the stories in the stones around us!  We live in a geologically unique area, and the landscape provides intriguing clues to the past. At Homeschool II we will find evidence of shifting plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes, glaciers, and the power of water. We will hike up […]

Feathers to Flight It’s spring! What better time of year is there to discover the birds all around us? At Homeschool I we will explore the wonderful adaptations that makes a bird a bird, and how specialized beaks, feet and feathers make them suited for their habitats. We’ll learn tools for identifying a bird by […]

Maintaining living plant cover is one of the essential practices of building soil health. This workshop provides practical guidance on using cover crops in a small-scale, non-mechanized, no-till context to improve soil health for growing more nutritious food, more vibrant ornamentals and for sequestering atmospheric carbon into the soil. Sharon is a homesteader /organic grower/educator 38+ years […]

Spring fever is in the air, and it is time to get the kids outside to let out some of their energy! Have them join Hitchcock’s Nature Play Afterschool Program, which is designed to let kids be kids. Together we will run, jump, climb, invent, imagine, play and be a free-range kids all while developing self-confidence […]

Sometimes you just need to run, explore and play! That’s what we do at Girls into the Wild, and lots more. Now in its fourth year, Girls into the Wild is designed to get girls outside, playing and engaging with nature in their own way. Instructor Katie Koerten strives to offer games and activities that […]

Too often, the stories behind conducting science are kept within the science community. Conducting wildlife science research inevitably involves facing adversity like dangerous field conditions, risky data collection methods, and confrontations with mother nature, and this makes for some great stories. Adversity can also create unexpected moments of beauty, adventure, and emotional power that can […]

Spineless Wonders - Animals without Backbones Pretend to shrink down real small to explore the spineless wonders of our natural world! This Spring, Colleen will introduce children to the crawling, sliding, hopping, flying world of worms, spiders, snails, pill bugs and insects. All those spineless wonders are animals without backbones. Through live observations, puppets, stories, model […]

Spineless Wonders - Animals without Backbones Pretend to shrink down real small to explore the spineless wonders of our natural world! This Spring, Colleen will introduce children to the crawling, sliding, hopping, flying world of worms, spiders, snails, pill bugs and insects. All those spineless wonders are animals without backbones. Through live observations, puppets, stories, model […]

Spring migration is the most exciting time of year to get out and see birds! Come learn the new species returning from the south wearing their spring colors. Be the next generation of birders! with Dan Ziomek, Local Birder and WRSI’s Bird Songs Radio Program For young people ages 8-13 and their families Saturday, April […]

Saturdays, 10:30am-11:30am April 28: Looking for a Moose May 19: A Fairy Went A-Marketing June 16: Turtle Splash! FREE Register here Looking for a fun Saturday morning activity with your young children? This spring, we are excited to be offering a free StoryWalk series with Dawn Ward! Designed for pre-readers and their families, Dawn’s StoryWalks […]

Join us for our fifth year of offering an in-depth natural history course for naturalists and citizen scientists. Each month, in our series of nature explorations with different local naturalists, we explore a focused, seasonal, natural history topic. We’ll look at nature in new ways, from broad habitat perspectives to close details of individual species. […]

Join naturalist and photographer John Green to explore one or all three of these themes of nature photography. Bring tripods and extra lenses if you have them, but they are not necessary. with John Green, naturalist and photographer ROCK: Sunday, April 29, 9-11:30am at Sunderland Falls - Cancelled for April 29 only FLOWER & TREE: Sunday, May […]

Learn about the importance and ease of creating native gardens which are long-lasting, lovely and bolster biodiversity by supporting native insects, including pollinators and other wildlife such as nesting or migrating birds and mammals including us. Dan’s discussion will include underutilized native shrubs for rural, suburban and urban gardens and why plants are better than […]

Do you love science and nature? Do you want to see what the Hitchcock Homeschool program is all about? Sign up for our Discovery Days, our one-time programs about science and nature. In a mixed-age setting, we explore cool topics at the Hitchcock Center, meet science experts, and sometimes go on field trips. Our Discovery […]

Spring fever is in the air, and it is time to get the kids outside to let out some of their energy! Have them join Hitchcock’s Nature Play Afterschool Program, which is designed to let kids be kids. Together we will run, jump, climb, invent, imagine, play and be a free-range kids all while developing self-confidence […]

Sometimes you just need to run, explore and play! That’s what we do at Girls into the Wild, and lots more. Now in its fourth year, Girls into the Wild is designed to get girls outside, playing and engaging with nature in their own way. Instructor Katie Koerten strives to offer games and activities that […]

Spineless Wonders - Animals without Backbones Pretend to shrink down real small to explore the spineless wonders of our natural world! This Spring, Colleen will introduce children to the crawling, sliding, hopping, flying world of worms, spiders, snails, pill bugs and insects. All those spineless wonders are animals without backbones. Through live observations, puppets, stories, model […]

Spineless Wonders - Animals without Backbones Pretend to shrink down real small to explore the spineless wonders of our natural world! This Spring, Colleen will introduce children to the crawling, sliding, hopping, flying world of worms, spiders, snails, pill bugs and insects. All those spineless wonders are animals without backbones. Through live observations, puppets, stories, model […]

Come meet our newest educator – our building! It is designed to model systems in nature, it is net zero energy, net zero water, has composting toilets, and has been made with responsibly sourced non-toxic materials, come check it out at one of our bi-monthly tours. Tours typically last from 1-1.5 hours. Spring tour schedule: […]

Warbler migration is a May treat not to missed. John has a great ear and will teach you the calls of birds even if you can’t get your binoculars on them. All birding levels welcome. Bring binoculars if you have them. Saturday, May 5, 7-10am $15 members/$20/Non-members Registration required  

The Hitchcock Center is expanding its nature play area. Join this community effort and come help us dig, weed, plant, mulch, haul, etc. Bring tools and gloves if you have them. Saturday, March 31, 12-3pm Sunday, April 22, 12-3pm Saturday, May 5, 12-3pm Sunday, June 3, 12-3pm Registration appreciated