These fun-filled morning programs are perfect for you and your active preschooler! Our structured activities include hands-on science, music and movement, a thematic snack, and an outdoor adventure if the weather complies. Keep learning with coloring pages and follow-up activities to continue the fun at home! This week we'll focus on life in the deep sea and the special creatures that live there!
Joppa Flats Education Center helps families beat the blahs and keep minds active and hands busy during school break! Head out into the wild with kids and families for great outdoor explorations this April vacation. For families with children ages 3 and up, School and Youth Education Coordinator Lisa Hutchings heads a program where kids will to learn all about the "nursery of the sea" with our salt marsh science stations including live minnow ID, salinity experiments, and a chance to meet some of the live inhabitants of the salt marsh.
Joppa Flats Education Center invites teens and tweens to explore a mountaintop and the ocean in one day - it's the best of both worlds! We'll start at Long Sands Beach, where we'll investigate the tide pools for marine life. The, we'll hike up Mount Agamenticus, where we'll keep an eye out for plants and animals unique to mountain habitats, and for evidence of the glaciers that covered the area thousands of years ago. We promise a lunch break, raptor search, and games at the summit! The two-mile hike is a combination of gentle and moderately hilly terrain. This is a great mountain for beginners and is full of natural history interest for more experienced hikers.
Come to Mill Pond in West Newbury for dipnetting with Mass Audubon Joppa Flats Center during April Vacation Week! It’s vacation week, so let's head for the hills and the marsh and the pond! Miss Lisa and Miss Kirsten are ready for an out-of-school adventure, and they have all the field equipment we'll need to go on a mini-trek to explore some of our favorite habitats. At Mill Pond, we'll bring the buckets, scoops, nets, microscopes, and guides to see what freshwater life is springing forth. At Rough Meadows, we’ll set fish traps and search for tiny snails and scud, then go on a salt marsh scavenger hunt. All materials are provided, so come on out and meet us for some treks and trails!
Whales! Let's pretend to go on a whale watch and learn how to breach and belly roll like humpbacks and find out how whales feed and handle some real whale teeth and baleens and bones. We'll also listen to whale sounds underwater and learn how people are protecting whales in the ocean. This program includes a take-home craft and a fruity "whale" snack!
Why do we have seasons? Why is it hotter in summer and colder in winter? What is wind? How is it measured? How do clouds form? Where do snowflakes come from and why do they fall to Earth? Join us for fun, interactive learning activities to answer these questions about wind, weather, and snow. Learn how to make your own weather vane. Be a snowflake engineer (with the help of toothpicks and marshmallows) and take your tasty construction home!
These 90-minute sessions are for both you and your active preschooler! Each week, our structured activities will include original songs, movement, dramatic play, hand-on science, and a thematic snack. We'll give you coloring pages to take home and lots of fun materials via an electronic goody bag after each class. This session will focus on the looking for signs of Spring!
Beat the winter blahs during school break! Drop in for an hour or stay all day, either one or both days, for a vacation destination that suits your schedule. Participate in half-hour presentations at 11:00 am or 1:00 pm. We'll show you how to blend science and art based on the day's theme. It's free-flow learning for the whole family. This vacation week fly by will focus on life in the deep sea and the special creatures that live there!
Where do animals go in the winter? How do they survive? Where do they find shelter? What food do they find? Who migrates, who seeks shelter in burrows or dens, and who sleeps soundly through the cold and snow? What signs can we look for of animals that are "toughing it out" on the refuge or in your backyard? You'll learn about fur, tracks, and scat.
Join Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary in the old tradition of fireside storytelling to pass the time through the cold and dark days of winter. We will start inside around the warm crackle of the fireplace with a seasonal story, and then head outside to collect materials to make a nature bookmark.
