Gloucester

Kids are invited to Ravenswood Park to explore the wonder of snowflakes during this hands-on winter workshop. Attendees start inside to learn how to make ice crystal models and paper flakes and view the famous snowflake photographs of Wilson Bentley, who discovered that no two snowflakes are alike. Then, we'll get outside to explore the wintry landscape in person and catch some real snowflakes, if we're lucky!

Maritime Gloucester invites kids in pre-k through first grade to a vacation week session about Plankton - part of a week full of educational sessions during February vacation! What is plankton? Many sea creatures begin their lives as tiny, floating beings.  Children will be introduced to the plankton found right in Gloucester Harbor, from miniscule lobsters to high-speed copepods.

The Cape Ann Families program at Pathways for Children will present Nicolette Nordin Heavey, storyteller and teaching artist, in three performances. The event is free and open to any family in the community.

Maritime Gloucester invites kids to a vacation week workshop on microphotography - part of a week full of educational sessions during February vacation! What does a penny look like under a microscope?  What about grains of sand?  Take a closer look with microphotography!  Using our digital microscope lab, children will get to view and photograph various natural and manmade objects using video microscopes. 

Hammond Castle will be open during most of February Vacation, so pack up the knights and maidens and voyage to this medieval castle for a vacation adventure that your kids are sure to remember! Weather permitting, visitors will enjoy exploring this eclectic collection of Roman, medieval, and Renaissance artifacts in a castle setting complete with a great hall, courtyard and secret passages! Guided tours are available daily, and a knighting ceremony will take place on Friday, February 22!

Maritime Gloucester invites kids to a vacation week session about amazing creatures lived in the ocean millions of years ago - part of a week full of educational sessions during February vacation!. Children will learn about mega-sized sharks, sea scorpions bigger than people, dinosaur-like sea lizards and other prehistoric animals that once lived in Earth’s ancient seas.  They will construct and color their own paper prehistoric sea creature to take home.  A story will be read about horseshoe crabs, a “living fossil” older than any dinosaur, and we’ll examine horseshoe crab exoskeletons.

The Children's Library at invites kids to our "Valentine's Craft Afternoon".  Children are invited to come make something special for a loved one including cards, love bugs, tiaras, and more! Refreshments available.  

The Children's Library at invites kids to Friendship Yoga with Miss Betsy.  This program is for kids ages 6-10, combining yoga poses, music and stories to promote friendship, harmony, acceptance, relaxation and fun! Betsy Reid is a library assistant at Peabody Institute Library anb a certified children'syoga instructor.  Come enjoy a peaceful morning at the Sawyer Free Library!

Understanding Wildlife will present a live animal show  at the Gloucester High School Auditorium, giving people a chance to see live creatures of the rainforest up close. Animal trainer Mike Kohlrieser will offer the audience a chance to see exotic birds, kinkajous, jungle cats, monkeys and snakes.  Come to this fun and entertaining show, and learn about the importance of the rainforest ecosystem through the creatures that live there!

Sawyer Free Library hosts a puppet show that tells the story of Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the beautiful. The story is an old russian folk tale of a young woman named Vasilisa who uses a magic doll to weather the trials posed upon her by a witch named Baba Yasa who lives deep in the woods.  Your kids will love this wonderful fairy tale, told by 'Round the World Puppets that's full of fantasy and fun!