Each week Maritime Gloucester offers kids a different hands-on marine-themed program that integrates marine engineering, biology and maritime history. For kids ages 6-12 with an adult!
Each week we will highlight one of the fascinating creatures living in the Sea Pocket Touch Tank Aquarium. Students will participate in hands-on explorations, craft activities, and stories that introduce all the fun features that make the creature unique. Check-in at our Admission Desk at Maritime Gloucester’s Entrance is required due to space limitations.. For kids pre-k through age 6.
Maritime Gloucester kicks off Shark Week with a great experiential learning craft that's as fun as it is educational! Visitors of all ages are invited to participate in the Shark Week Chalkquarium! Drop by for this free event to draw a "Great White Chalk" and other life-sized sharks and rays on the pavement around Maritime Gloucester! All of our regularly-scheduled drop-in programs will also be shark-themed until August 10.
Celebrate World Oceans Day with Salt! Salt is a real humpback whale who spends her summer in the waters off Massachusetts and is among the most famous whales in the world today. She was first seen in the mid 1970s here in Massachusetts Bay and has been seen just about every year since. Explore inside a 40 foot inflatable replica of Salt and learn about her and her whale family-she has had at least ten calves since researchers started studying her. Hosted by Salem Coordinated Family & Community Engagement
Discover one of Gloucester's most vital ecosystems - the salt marsh. Learn about all of the wildlife that depend on it for survival, and investigate its importance for coastal communities. Get up close with some salt marsh flora and fauna, and play a game to learn more about what it take. For kids ages 6-10.
Maritime Gloucester invites kids in grades 2-5 to a vacation week session about Wind Turbines and Sail Power - part of a week full of educational sessions during April vacation! Do you want to build a snowflake? With salt and ice, we'll create a variety of ice sculptures using colorful frozen shapes!
Maritime Gloucester invites kids to a vacation week session where they'll make a 'Rube Goldberg' machine - part of a week full of educational sessions during February vacation! Cartoonist Rube Goldberg was known for drawing complex yet impractical machines, involving multiple steps to accomplish simple tasks. After looking at Goldberg’s humorous comics for inspiration, students will engineer a Rube Goldberg machine. Using marbles, Lego bricks, wooden blocks, dominoes, and much more, we’ll build and test intricate machines as we learn about energy, momentum, and engineering.
Canceled due to weather. 2/17/2014
Maritime Gloucester invites kids to a vacation week session about scrimshaw and whale bones - part of a week full of educational sessions during February vacation! Did you know that humpback whales are named after patterns on their tails? We’ll look at whale bones and learn about whale and dolphin species found in New England and beyond. Students will also learn about sperm whales and scrimshaw by handling real whale teeth and creating their own scrimshawed candles to take home.
Maritime Gloucester invites kids in grades 2-5 to a vacation week session about the structures and their limits - part of a week full of educational sessions during April vacation! What's the biggest structure you can build using toothpicks and styrofoam? Can you construct a sturdy fort from newspaper? What's the heaviest thing a bendy straw structure can support?
Maritime Gloucester invites kids in pre-k through first grade to a vacation week session about boats that float - part of a week full of educational sessions during February vacation! Foam floats, but does it make a good boat? How about a popsicle stick raft? We'll explore why boats float through building projects using a variety of household materials. We'll learn about the different types of boats in Gloucester Harbor and read some fun boat books as well.
