Exploration

STEAM TEAM at Joppa

STEAM comes to the Mass Audubon Joppa Flats Education Center in Newburyport!

Join the Joppa Flats STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) Team, where you will work together with other creative and curious students for a weekly engineering challenge! We'll study how scientists and engineers have designed prosthetic legs for elephants, prosthetic beaks for eagles, and the prosthetic tail for "Winter" the Dolphin from Dolphin Tales. In collaboration with other creative and curious students, we'll work on problem-solving skills, increase your awareness of design elements in nature, and unleash your inner scientist!

When: 
Thursdays, September 13 - October 18, 2018 4:30-5:30PM

Weir Hill 50th Anniversary

Come celebrate Weir Hill's 50th anniversary as a Trustees property and the grand opening of the Weir Hill Stevens street parking lot.

Come celebrate Weir Hill's 50th anniversary as a Trustees property and the grand opening of the Weir Hill Stevens street parking lot. In partnership with Friends of North Andover Trails join us for a beautiful fall foliage hike to celebrate Weir Hill! The hike will be somewhat hilly and strenous but definitely family friendly and leashed dogs welcome. Enjoy cider and other fall harvest goodies to kick off the hike. The ribbon cutting will take place at 1:15 and the hike will leave shortly after. Come celebrate this special place! This is a free event.

When: 
Sunday, October 21, 2018 1-3pm
Location: 

The Hidden Life of Trees

Come learn about the secret life of trees at Halibut Point State Park.

Come to Halibut Point State Park to learn about trees! Often, what we do see of the natural world is less significant than what we don’t see. An exploration into the wood wide web of the perennials around us, revealing surprises of communities, environmental influences and conscious behavior. Bring sunscreen, clothing layers and hydration. Rain cancels. Best for those eight and over.

When: 
Sunday, October 7, 2018 10-11am

Wee Ones Paddle

Take a paddle on the with your little ones and explore the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary!

The Ipswich River is the perfect place to start your children canoeing. We'll pair up two adults and two children per canoe and take a leisurely paddle up the river. We'll stop off in one of the backwater areas and do some dipping in the river to get a closer look at the creatures that live under the surface. On our return, we'll enjoy a snack at the picnic tables by the Nature Center and talk about what we discovered. Bring a blanket and we'll provide a sweet treat.

When: 
Sunday, October 7, 2018 1-3pm

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

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

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

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

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

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Summerquest Camp for kids aed 5-14 at the Crane Estate in Ipswich Massachusetts

Saugus Iron Works Park Grounds & Estuary Walk

Take a hike along the Saugus River Estuary ande explore the Saugus Iron Works Park grounds in Massachusetts
Learn about the natural world in Saugus while ecploring the park ground ast the Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site in Massachusetts.
7:00 am to 7:00 pm

Babson Farm Quarry Self-guided Walking Tour at Halibut Point

Kids will enjoy this tour of the Halibut Point State Park and Quarry with a focus on its stone-cutting history!
Take a self guided tour at one of Massachusetts most beautiful locations!
7:00 am to 6:00 pm

Breakfast with Santa

Kids will enjoy breakfast with Santa at the Hamilton Wenham Community House
Come and enjoy a continental style breakfast and get your picture taken with Santa. We will also have a letter writing station and music entertainment.
8:00 am to 12:30 pm

Salem Witch Hunt Walking Tour

Learn about the true reality of the Salem Massachusetts Witch Trials Salem Massachusetts on a self guided walking tour with Essex Heritage
This self-guided walking tour is designed to help explain the true history behind the Salem Witch Trials. After more than three centuries of storytelling through countless books, movies, and television shows, the line between historical fact and dramatic fiction has become increasingly blurred....
9:00 am to 5:00 pm

Middle Street Walk 2025

The lighting of the Lobster Trap Tree is part of Middle Street Walk's finale in Gloucester Massachusetts.
The Annual Middle Street Walk is a great way to experience Gloucester's Historic District and waterfront while having Holiday fun with the family.
9:00 am to 5:00 pm

Boot Camp For Birth Support & Beyond

Boot Camp For Birth Support & Beyond for caregivers at Beverly Hospital in Massachusetts
Most education surrounding childbirth focuses on the person carrying the child, as it rightly should. Those in the role of supporting childbirth (spouses, significant others, couples using a surrogate, etc) should be equally as prepared for the joys and challenges in store. In this class you’ll...
9:00 am to 11:00 am

Newburyport Holiday House Tour 2025

Newburyport Holiday House Tour hosted by the Newburyport PTO Kitchen Tour
Enjoy touring private residences and unique spaces throughout Greater Newburyport, all decorated in holiday style both inside and out. Your self-guide tour will lead you through each of our homes all decked out both inside and out in holiday style reflecting the homeowner’s individual celebrations...
9:30 am to 4:00 pm

Middle Street Walk Gingerbread Contest 2025

Middle Street Walk Gingerbread Contest entries can take any shape.
Everybody is invited to enter the Gingerbread Contest for the Middle Street Walk in Gloucester this year! Groups and individuals are encouraged to get creative and come up with entries that can take any shape.  All entries will be judged prior to the start of the Middle Street at 10am. 
10:00 am to 3:00 pm

CraneExplorer: Coastal Holiday Crafts

Make holiday gifts with beach treasures from the Crane Wildlife Refuge in Ipswich Massachusetts
This holiday season, give a gift from the sea! Beach treasures make beautiful holiday ornaments, jewelry, and keepsakes. Join this workshop to take a beach walk to collect coastal treasures and then make some coastal crafts with our educators. Bring your own shells and beach treasures and we will...
10:00 am to 3:00 pm

Deck The Halls: Hammond Castle

A holiday themed tour of Hammond Castle Museum in Gloucester Massachusetts
Travel back in time to a castle filled with lush, opulent textures inspired by the great medieval and Renaissance castles of Europe. Wander through rooms adorned with White Birch and Christmas trees, sparkling fairy lights, hydrangea-lace garlands, and elegant bows, each space transformed with its...
10:00 am to 8:00 pm

Discover Saturdays at Cape Ann Museum

Discover Saturdays for Families at Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester Massachusetts
Enjoy a FREE guided activity (ages 4+) in the gallery. Learn about Cape Ann’s Granite Industry, try a fun art making activity, and join in gallery tour designed for kids and their caregivers, led by a CAM Educator. Afterwards grab a scavenger hunt to explore the property and enjoy the lawn.
10:00 am to 12:00 pm

Christmas at Castle Hill | A Nod to Nature

Christmas at Castle Hill | A Nod to Nature is a weekend of festivities hosted by the Trustees of Reservations at Castle Hill in Ipswich Massachusetts
Visiting Castle Hill at Christmas is a time-honored tradition. Don’t miss this year’s event celebrating the beauty of the natural world. You’ll see birds, flowers, snowflakes, and more as you view 18 spaces decorated for the holidays.
10:00 am to 8:00 pm

Ipswich Jingle Bell Walk

Join friends and family for a day of holiday festivities and cheer! Sing carols with Buddy the Elf while waiting for Santa’s arrival.
Get ready for a day full of holiday magic and cheer! Join us at the Ipswich Town Wharf to welcome Santa as he makes his grand entrance. Sing along to festive carols with Buddy the Elf while we wait for the big moment! You can even buy your own jingle bells to ring as we follow Santa and Buddy on a...
11:00 am to 1:00 pm

Santa's Workshop

Santa's Workshop in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Visit Newburyport MA during the holidays
Newburyport is a favorite local town to shop - especially during the holidays. Bring the family to Newburyport to visit Santa in his traditional workshop, share your wish list, and snap a photo with Mr. Claus!
11:00 am to 2:00 pm

Take a Trolley Ride with Scrooge!

Salem Trolley Christmas Carol, Fun Holiday Events north of Boston, Trolley Ride with Scrooge
Join Scrooge on the Salem Trolley as you ride through Salem Massachusetts in this rolling production performed by the Griffen Theater . Now entering into it's 39th Season, this humorous & whimsical interactive performance reanimates Dickens’ timeless seasonal holiday classic. Experience...
2:00 pm to 9:30 pm

The Nutcracker Panto - Matinee

Come enjoy a Nutcracker Panto performed by Theater in the Open at the Firehouse Center for the Arts!
The tree is lit up and the stockings are hung and Clara’s Christmas is perfect…except for her Uncle Drosselmeyer sitting up on that clock and the sudden rat infestation…sounds like panto time!Edward Speck and Joshua Shack return to direct another cracking holiday panto, this time seizing on...
3:00 pm

The Musary presents A Charlie Brown Christmas

The Musary performs A Charlie Brown Christmas at the The Community House in Hamilton Massachusetts
The Musary brings Charlie Brown's Christmas to The Community House! We are absolutely thrilled to welcome you back to one of our most cherished traditions— Charlie Brown Christmas!
3:00 pm

The Nutcracker Panto

Come enjoy a Nutcracker Panto performed by Theater in the Open at the Firehouse Center for the Arts!
Theater in the Open is happy to be back at the Firehouse for our production of A Nutcracker Panto, written by Edward F. Speck and adapted from the classic holiday ballet. Presented in the traditional British panto style, this holiday send-up is a family friendly romp through Clara’s adventure with...
7:00 pm

Tuesday, December 30

Saugus Iron Works Park Grounds & Estuary Walk

Take a hike along the Saugus River Estuary ande explore the Saugus Iron Works Park grounds in Massachusetts
Learn about the natural world in Saugus while ecploring the park ground ast the Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site in Massachusetts.
7:00 am to 7:00 pm

Babson Farm Quarry Self-guided Walking Tour at Halibut Point

Kids will enjoy this tour of the Halibut Point State Park and Quarry with a focus on its stone-cutting history!
Take a self guided tour at one of Massachusetts most beautiful locations!
7:00 am to 6:00 pm

Salem Witch Hunt Walking Tour

Learn about the true reality of the Salem Massachusetts Witch Trials Salem Massachusetts on a self guided walking tour with Essex Heritage
This self-guided walking tour is designed to help explain the true history behind the Salem Witch Trials. After more than three centuries of storytelling through countless books, movies, and television shows, the line between historical fact and dramatic fiction has become increasingly blurred....
9:00 am to 5:00 pm

Deck The Halls: Hammond Castle

A holiday themed tour of Hammond Castle Museum in Gloucester Massachusetts
Travel back in time to a castle filled with lush, opulent textures inspired by the great medieval and Renaissance castles of Europe. Wander through rooms adorned with White Birch and Christmas trees, sparkling fairy lights, hydrangea-lace garlands, and elegant bows, each space transformed with its...
10:00 am to 8:00 pm

CraneOutdoors: Family Winter Wildlife Walk

Come explore the dunes on Castle Neck and Crane Beach in Ipswich Massachusetts to learn about winter wildlife.
A CraneOutdoors Family Winter Wildlife Walk will take you on a stroll through the Crane Beach dunes while learning about the plants and animals that call this special place home. You may be familiar with Crane Beach, but have you ever visited the dune trails? The dunes of Castle Neck are a much...
1:00 pm to 3:00 pm

Wednesday, December 31

New Years Eve

12:00 am to 11:59 pm

Saugus Iron Works Park Grounds & Estuary Walk

Take a hike along the Saugus River Estuary ande explore the Saugus Iron Works Park grounds in Massachusetts
Learn about the natural world in Saugus while ecploring the park ground ast the Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site in Massachusetts.
7:00 am to 7:00 pm

Babson Farm Quarry Self-guided Walking Tour at Halibut Point

Kids will enjoy this tour of the Halibut Point State Park and Quarry with a focus on its stone-cutting history!
Take a self guided tour at one of Massachusetts most beautiful locations!
7:00 am to 6:00 pm

Salem Witch Hunt Walking Tour

Learn about the true reality of the Salem Massachusetts Witch Trials Salem Massachusetts on a self guided walking tour with Essex Heritage
This self-guided walking tour is designed to help explain the true history behind the Salem Witch Trials. After more than three centuries of storytelling through countless books, movies, and television shows, the line between historical fact and dramatic fiction has become increasingly blurred....
9:00 am to 5:00 pm

CraneOutdoors: Family Winter Wildlife Walk

Come explore the dunes on Castle Neck and Crane Beach in Ipswich Massachusetts to learn about winter wildlife.
A CraneOutdoors Family Winter Wildlife Walk will take you on a stroll through the Crane Beach dunes while learning about the plants and animals that call this special place home. You may be familiar with Crane Beach, but have you ever visited the dune trails? The dunes of Castle Neck are a much...
1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
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