Exploration

Family Campout: Owl Prowl

Explore the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary after hours for a night. Photo Scott Santino

Explore the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary after hours and join us for a night of camping under the stars. Have an early dinner at home and then come with your family and your tent. We will explore nature through games and hands-on activities, set up our tents near the Barn before sundown, and tell stories after the sun sets. All campouts include an evening and a morning activity or hike and a light breakfast.

When:

Saturday, September 15 6pm - Sunday, September 16, 2018 9am

Location:

Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary

Read more about Family Campout: Owl Prowl

Meet a Sandpiper!

Come meet a sanpiper and learn about shore birds at Parker River Wildlife Refuge!

You're invited to Sandy Point State Reservation to celebrate World Shorebird Day. Come see a shorebird up close and personal. Every year, tens of thousands of shorebirds stop over at Parker River to eat and rest on their journey from the Arctic to South America. Refuge biologists are studying how and where these birds migrate. Come learn more about this research and these amazing birds up close. Meet at the Bill Forward Blind. Docents will escort visitors to the banding site on a rotating basis.

When:

Saturday, September 8, 2018 1:30pm

Location:

Parker River National Wildlife Refuge

Read more about Meet a Sandpiper!

Watercolor Wednesdays at CAM

Families are invited to come paint at this drop in activitiy at the Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester

Ready, set, paint! Drop by the activity center for art supplies and enjoy painting inside or outside the Museum. Offered on Wednesdays in July and August starting July 11. No registration required. Free for members or with Museum admission.

When:

Wednesdays through August 2018

Location:

Read more about Watercolor Wednesdays at CAM

Meet Beach Creatures All Summer Long!

Discover and explore the facts of the creatures you find at the beach at Joppa

Drop in at Joppa Flats BEFORE the beach, AFTER the beach, or INSTEAD of the beach! What is that spiky thing I almost stepped on? How do starfish – or is it sea stars – eat? Are those baby fish, or is that as big as they get? You have the questions, Joppa Flats Education Center has the answers – and the animals – and the touch tanks! Themes will change weekly!

When:

Thursdays - Sundays, June 28 - August 26, 2018 10am-3pm

Location:

Joppa Flats Education Center

Read more about Meet Beach Creatures All Summer Long!

Beach Discovery at Parker River

Parker River National Wildlife Refuge and Mass Audubon team up to teach visitors about the different creatures that live on the beach

Parker River National Wildlife Refuge and Mass Audubon's Joppa Flats Education Center are collaborating to offer visitors an opportunity to discover the different animals that live on the beach. Visitors can stop by the tent adjacent to the first boardwalk to the beach. Through hands-on educational activities, visitors will discover different habitat zones and what animals use these habitats. Visitors will have an opportunity to explore and touch live tide pool animals such as crabs, hermit crabs and sea urchins provided by Mass Audubon's Joppa Flats Education Center.

When:

Wednesdays, August 1, 8, 15 & 22, 2018 2-4 pm

Location:

Parker River National Wildlife Refuge

Read more about Beach Discovery at Parker River

Life on a Layer Cake

Find out the story behind the granite at Halibut Point State Park in Rockport!

What makes up the ground below what’s at our feet? This program at Halibut Point State Park serves as a gentle introduction to stratigraphy, the branch of geology about dealing with the position of strata and its meaning within the geological time scale. We’ll visit some of the park’s soil/bedrock contact points and explore the story they tell. Most appropriate for those twelve and over. Entails over a mile of walking. Rain cancels.

When:

Wednesday, August 8, 2018 10-11am

Location:

Halibut Point State Park

Read more about Life on a Layer Cake

Bound for Butterflies

Joppa Flats Education Center will have Free indoor and outdoor activities for kids and families!

Join the park interpreter and special guest Russ Hopping on a walk to view and identify various butterfly species at Maudslay. Russ is an active member of the Massachusetts Butterfly Club and enjoys sharing his knowledge of butterflies with others. Russ is the Ecology Program Director for The Trustees of Reservations. He has worked for The Trustees since 1997, overseeing the stewardship of ecological resources at The Trustees’ more than 26,000 acres.

When:

Saturday, August 11, 2018 10am-Noon

Location:

Read more about Bound for Butterflies

Owl Power at Harold Parker

Kids and families are invited to learn about owls at Harold Parker state forest!

Meet at the Nature Center. Learn about what makes owls unique in the bird world. Activity Includes a short demonstration of owl adaptations and owl pellet dissection.

When:

Saturdays through August 18, 2018 4:30-5:30pm

Location:

Harold Parker State Forest

Read more about Owl Power at Harold Parker

Dragonflies in the Park

Kids will explore and learn about the dragonflies at Halibut Point State Park.

Explore the world of odonata, one of the oldest life forms on Earth. This is a great kids’ program and most appropriate for families. Best for kids 8 and up. Meet at the Parking Lot Kiosk

When:

Mondays through August 20, 2018 9-10am

Location:

Halibut Point State Park

Read more about Dragonflies in the Park

Butterflies & Bugs Free-for-All

Drop in at Joppa Flats and meet live caterpillars, moths, and butterflies! You’ll learn smart practices to attract birds and wildlife to your own yard as well as how to safely identify insects. Enjoy a "Backyard Bug Hunt' with our naturalists, join in a "Monarch Migration Relay Race," and take home a fun craft or two.

When:

Sunday, July 22, 2018 10am-3pm

Location:

Joppa Flats Education Center