Nature

Nature's Gifts Free for All

This program was canceled due to the Winter Storm! Season's greetings! Come to Joppa Flats during this festive time of year to create clever and whimsical gifts, toys, and ornaments for the holidays using natural materials. We'll make everything from hand puppets and animal masks, to jewelry and frames, to sculptures and mobiles with simple, easy to follow instructions. Or use our materials to create your own original gift of nature. We'll provide sand, seashells, twigs, stones, bark, driftwood, pinecones, and more at our age-appropriate stations. Bring your imagination and enjoy a day of hand-crafting with your family.

When:

Canceled! Sunday, December 15, 2013 10am - 3pm

Location:

Joppa Flats Education Center

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Nature Art Classes at Joppa Flats: Make a Friend

Kids will use nature as a muse to express themselves through art at Mass Audubon

Any season is a great time to notice nature's beauty and to make it come to life with amazing works of art! The summer sessions feature nature journaling, underwater scenarios, and nature critters. Move over, Michelangelo - make room for all our Joppa artist superstars!

When:

Monday, August 12, 2013 9:30 - 11:00 am

Monday, August 19, 2013 9:30 - 11:00 am

Monday, August 26, 2013 9:30 - 11:00 am

Location:

Joppa Flats Education Center

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Nature Art Classes at Joppa Flats: Watery Water Paints

When:

Monday, July 22, 2013 9:30 - 11:00 am

Monday, July 29, 2013 9:30 - 11:00 am

Monday, August 5, 2013 9:30 - 11:00 am

Location:

Joppa Flats Education Center

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Vacation Week Flyby: Birds and Buds

Buds are a certain sign of Spring, and appear magically at the turn of the Seaso

Joppa Flats Education Center offers April vacation programs offering a wide variety of indoor and outdoor activities - keeping minds active and hands busy during school break! Come all day or as your schedule allows! This Vacation Week Flyby will focus on the birds and Spring buds.

When:

Wednesday, April 17, 2013 10am-3pm

Location:

Joppa Flats Education Center

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Weekday Little Explorers: Animals in Winter

What animals do you see in winter? Find out at IRWS in Topsfield Massachusetts

What animals do you see in winter? Where do they find their food? We will hike to the woods and look for clues of what they have been eating and where they have been sleeping. Discover tracks in the snow and try to guess what animals have been on the trails.

When:

Wednesday, Jan 9, 2013 10-11:30 am

Location:

Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary

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Vacation Week Flyby: Get Ready, Gather, and Go!

Lots of fun activities are part of every Fly-by at Joppa Flats Education Center!

Our school vacation programs offer a wide variety of indoor and outdoor activities while we keep minds active and hands busy during break! Each session offers a different theme, with art activities, experiments, group games, and more. It's free-flow learning for the whole family. Come once or make it a multi-day experience! Fly by for an hour or stay all day for a vacation activity that suits your family schedule.

When:

Thursday, December 28, 2012 10 am - 2 pm

Location:

Joppa Flats Education Center

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Celebrate the Coast Free-for-All!

Celebrate the Coast at Joppa Flats Education Center with your Family!

Let's celebrate our beaches, tide pools, and salt marshes with a full day of fun outdoor/indoor activities! Handle live tide pool animals from our 110-gallon touch tank, go on a guided salt marsh walk, and enjoy a virtual whale watch trip.

When:

Sunday, September 23, 2012 10am - 3pm

Location:

Joppa Flats Education Center

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Family Flyby: Boats Afloat!

Make your own boat, then see if it floats at Joppa Flats Education Center!

Free-flow learning at Joppa Flats is fun for the whole family. There's simple science fun with coloring pages, crafts, and toys for ages 2 to 6; science experiments and group challenges for ages 7 and up; and outdoor exploration, seasonal live animals, and scheduled family presentations for everyone. Fly by for an hour or stay all day for family time that suits your schedule. There's something different to see and do with every visit! This week, kids are encouraged to be a pirate for the day, learn the skills a sailor needs at sea, and learn about ocean conservation!

When:

Saturday, July 7, 2012 10am - 2pm

Location:

Joppa Flats Education Center

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Family Flyby: Return of the Touch Tank

You can look at, AND touch the creatures in Joppa Flats touch tank!

Free-flow learning at Joppa Flats is fun for the whole family. There's simple science fun with coloring pages, crafts, and toys for ages 2 to 6; science experiments and group challenges for ages 7 and up; and outdoor exploration, seasonal live animals, and scheduled family presentations for everyone. Fly by for an hour or stay all day for family time that suits your schedule. There's something different to see and do with every visit! This week we're thrilled to have our touch tank back for the season. Come look AND touch the creature that live in our tank!

When:

Saturday, June 2, 2012 10am - 2pm

Location:

Joppa Flats Education Center

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Family Flyby: Gardening for Wlildlife

What you plant in your yard determines the kid of wildlife that visits!

CANCELED: 5/5 8 a.m. Note to all readers: Lisa Hutchings & Elyssa Davis want to inform you that we had to cancel the gardening family flyby that was scheduled for Sat May 5th.

Free-flow learning at Joppa Flats is fun for the whole family. There's simple science fun with coloring pages, crafts, and toys for ages 2 to 6; science experiments and group challenges for ages 7 and up; and outdoor exploration, seasonal live animals, and scheduled family presentations for everyone. Fly by for an hour or stay all day for family time that suits your schedule. There's something different to see and do with every visit! This week we'll focus on how to make your back yard more inviting to wildlife by choosing the right plants and planting them to create shelter.

When:

Saturday, May 5, 2012 10am - 2pm

Location:

Joppa Flats Education Center

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Babson Farm Quarry Self-guided Walking Tour at Halibut Point

Take a self guided tour at one of Massachusetts most beautiful locations!

Where: Halibut Point State Park

7:00 am to 6:00 pm

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Saugus Iron Works Park Grounds & Estuary Walk

Learn about the natural world in Saugus while ecploring the park ground ast the Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site in Massachusetts.

Where: Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site

7:00 am to 7:00 pm

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Flying Horse Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit at Pingree School

Pingree School hosts the 16th annual Flying Horse Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit on their campus in South Hamilton, Massachusetts .

Where: Pingree School

8:00 am to 6:00 pm

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Crescent Farm Corn Maze

Imagine the biggest puzzle you’ve ever seen. Now imagine a day in the sunshine with your friends or family. Now add an adventure that takes teamwork and memory skills. All these things and more can be found at Crescent Farms Corn Maze. Crescent Farm Corn Maze trails cut into 9 acres of corn. Inside...

Where: Crescent Farm

9:00 am to 9:00 pm

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Salem Witch Hunt Walking Tour

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....

Where: Downtown Salem

9:00 am to 5:00 pm

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Sing & Dance with the Music Man

Come join the fun at Community House Of Hamilton & Wenham Monday, Thursday and Saturday mornings at 10am for 30 - 45 minutes of great music with Brian Doser! Sing and dance with the Music Man during a family concert, featuring familiar and original tunes, performed by local dad and musician,...

Where: Community House Of Hamilton & Wenham

10:00 am to 10:45 am

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Beverly Farmers' Market

The Beverly Farmers’ Market supports local agriculture while making healthy food available to all members of the Beverly community at affordable prices; the market promotes sustainable living practices and fosters community connections through our vendors, free activities and events. The market...

Where: Odell Park

3:00 pm to 7:00 pm

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Wednesday, October 8

Crescent Farm Corn Maze

Where: Crescent Farm

9:00 am to 9:00 pm

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Topsfield Fair

The Topsfield Fair is a perennial favorite for us. We're not the biggest fans of the midway, although it is always worth a walkthrough and a ride or two. We love fruits and vegetables, and are always on the lookout for the winning 'biggest pumpkin'. Another favorite is checking out the pigs and...

Where: Topsfield Fairgrounds

10:00 am to 10:00 pm

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Sing & Dance with the Music Man

Where: Community House Of Hamilton & Wenham

10:00 am to 10:45 am

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Saugus Iron Works House Tours

Join National Park staff at Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site for a 30-minute tour of The Iron Works House.

Where: Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site

11:00 am

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Saugus Iron Works Tours

Join the National Park staff at Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site for a tour of the colonial industrial site. On select days, you may be able to stick around and witness pop-up molten iron pour, blacksmithing, waterwheel demonstrations, and take part in hands-on river stewardship activities.

Where: Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site

2:00 pm

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The Backyard Growcery

Stop by Gloucester’s new weekly farmers market, the Backyard Growcery, managed by Backyard Growers. The Backyard Growcery is located at Burnham's Field, an urban park near Gloucester’s thriving waterfront, and features small-scale North Shore farmers, bakers, a seafood vendor, an artisanal pizza...

Where: Burnham's Field

2:30 pm to 6:30 pm

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Topsfield HomeGrown Market

The mission of the HomeGrown Market is to provide the Topsfield community with a series of family-friendly events that emphasize supporting local and offer the opportunity for Topsfield and surrounding North Shore farmers, gardeners, artisans, creators, performers, musicians, nonprofits, young...

Where: Topsfield Town Common

4:00 pm to 7:00 pm

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Halloween on the Hill

The Trustees of Reservations invite you to tour the gardens at Long Hill Gardens in Beverly, Massachusetts to celebrate Autumn and Halloween! Long Hill is excited to bring back our annual Halloween on the Hill event! Come explore our beautiful property as we transform the Long Hill gardens into a...

Where: Long Hill and Sedgwick Gardens

5:00 pm to 8:30 pm

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Stargazing at Mendel Observatory

The Observatory, with the support of volunteers from the North Shore Amateur Astronomy Club, hosts public stargazing every Wednesday night (weather permitting) starting at dusk or 7:30 pm, whichever is later. When special astronomical events of interest occur (total lunar eclipses, etc.) the Obs

Where: Mendel Observatory at Merrimack College

7:00 pm

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