How wonderful to have kids view the world through a 64-color box of Crayola Crayons instead of an 8-color box, and the Children's Festival is here to help bring out the artist in every child. The Children’s Festival is a unique "hands on" arts-based program of activities directed toward children aged ten years and younger. . All activities are free of charge and all children should be accompanied by an adult.
Brave the dark of the night in the Dunes of the Crane Wildlife Refuge! We start with an introduction to night sounds, so you are prepared to identify the sounds you will hear, then we hike silently through the darkness, letting our ears make up for our lack of sight. What will you hear? Frogs? Owls? Foxes? Who knows! Debrief and relax with a drink around the campfire to wrap up the evening’s adventure.
The North Andover Festival Committee is inviting you to the 47th annual Sheep Shearing Festival being held on the North Andover Common. The event is held from 10am to 4pm, and includes Sheep shearing and herding demonstrations, crafters, food vendors, pony rides, and much more! There will be free parking and a free shuttle from the Franklin and Middle Schools for your convenience. Hope you can join us for this fun and entertaining family event. See you there!
A creative afternoon of great food and activities for all ages! Located in Downtown Haverhill the event will include a full day of live music, local theater, dance performances, and family-friendly entertainment. There will be lots of fun and interactive activities including face painting, sand art, martial arts and much more!
Spend an hour with Jane Kelly, and several of her live birds of prey, in the refuge auditorium, while learning about the habits and habitats of these fascinating creatures. Kelly, of On the Wing Raptor Rehabilitation, will reprise the hugely popular program that she delivered as part of last year’s Earth Day celebration. No preregistration for this program.
Kids are invited to come to NPL to make their own custom birdfeeders! Make your neighborhood birds happy! We’ll create super-simple feeders with pipe cleaners & Cheerios.
Calling all LEGO lovers! Join us on Wednesday, April 17th during April Vacation for an exciting LEGO "Friendship Make & Take" event co-hosted by Essex Heritage and the National Park Service! Gavin Gardner, our special NPS instructor and local LEGO expert, is leading this family friendly activity where guests will have the chance to make and take home their very own "mini" Friendship. Guests are invited to come by any time between 10AM-12PM to build their Friendship and only those who wish to "make & take" are required to register.
Did you know that all of Essex County is considered a very special place? Essex County is a National Heritage Area, which are regions known for having a lot of important natural, historic and cultural resources. With so many different things to do, see and explore, National Heritage Areas are pretty cool places to live! At Essex Heritage, we want to help people who live in Essex County get outside and discover new sites close to home, something we like to call…Exploring Your Own Backyard!
Celebrate spring by building a bluebird house with your child. We’ll supply all the materials and instruction to build a nest box for bluebirds and tree swallows. These wonderful nest boxes also attract chickadees, tufted titmice, house wrens, and woodpeckers. A short slide presentation will introduce families to the natural history and behavior of birds in Massachusetts, and we’ll discuss where and how to place your nest box. Dress for the weather because we will take a short walk to look and listen for bluebirds.
Warmer spring weather means its sheep shearing time on the farm. But what to do with all that wool? Learn about the time honored tradition of wool felting. We’ll start by learning how to “card” the raw wool into soft fiber for spinning or felting. Afterwards, we’ll try our hand making twisted wool bracelets and felt balls to be used for farm-fun necklaces. Wool, wood beads and decorative string will be provided, but feel free to bring anything special of your own to add to your necklace. Afterwards meet our three woolly sheep and feed them a snack! Recommended for ages 6-9 but all are welcome.
