For all ages. Exercise and enjoy the great outdoors on some of the park’s hiking trails. Each program takes you on a different path. Hikes may include trail sections that are not accessible to strollers or persons with limited mobility.
You’ll feel better about that Thanksgiving indulgence if you come join us for a hike over the Blueberry and Moon Hills of Bradley Palmer State Park in Topsfield! Best for children ages 7 and up. We will be hiking for a couple of hours on moderate trails. Wear clothing for hiking; bring rain gear as appropriate. Only pouring rain cancels.
Join Essex County Trail Association and Ipswich River Watershed Association on a guided walk around the Ipswich River Watershed Association’s Riverbend headquarters and neighboring properties.
The Essex County Greenbelt Association and the their community partners will host a FREE Earth Day celebration at the Cox Reservation in Essex, Massachusetts! This free event will celebrate the environment, and build connections to our natural world by offering family-friendly activities. The event will also showcase local non-profit organizations that share a commitment to building an environmentally sustainable community.
Are there fairies and gnomes at Ravenswood Park? Using only all natural materials found on the forest floor, kids can create your their own secret home. Elves, gnomes or fairies will love them! Even our littlest wildlife friends will enjoy checking out your wee secret home. Wear your faery frock and dance along the children's trail with wee secret homes!
Join Joppa Flats Education Center on the 100th day of the year to celebrate 100 years of Mass Audubon Wildlife Sanctuaries! Enjoy free admission, "ask a naturalist" opportunities, the occasional guided walk around our grounds and free cake! Back in 1916, the Moose Hill Bird Sanctuary was established in Sharon when Dr. George W. Field offered his estate to Mass Audubon to attract birds and people interested in birds. Fast forward to 2016 and there are 56 wildlife sanctuaries to explore in Massachusetts!
Create a decoupage flower container for your summertime arrangements, and then explore the sanctuary to look for wildflowers and learn the important role butterflies and bees play in producing new flowers. We'll use hand lenses and nets to observe insects and share a butterfly story in the meadow.
Join educators from Joppa Flats Education Center with your preschooler for an adventure to collect acorns, pine cones, lichen, bark, and moss at Newburyport's Mosely Woods! We'll use our imaginations to create woodland homes and creature friends with the natural materials we find. You'll go home with your fairyland dwellings and a new excitement for finding natural treasues and turning them into creative projects.
Join Artist and Art Teacher Mary Ann McCurdle for one or more of these new family art classes this fall. Each class will begin with a short story, followed by a nature walk, and finish up with a related art project as we celebrate the beauty of the season.
Let's celebrate winter as we look at this beautiful season through storybooks, art, and music. Weather permitting, we'll take a riverside walk in Joppa Flats' backyard and experience the frozen artistry of the season. Later we'll create artwork that reminds us of the winter joys we found together.
