Games

Kids in grades k-8 who have an interest in chess are invited to come to the Salem Public Library to play chess with other enthusiasts of the game! Novice players are welcome and there are no instructors present. This two hour session is designed to provide a friendly environment for kids to test their skills against other opponents! Come to the library and play!

Hammond Castle will be open during most of February Vacation, so pack up the knights and maidens and voyage to this medieval castle for a vacation adventure that your kids are sure to remember! Weather permitting, visitors will enjoy exploring this eclectic collection of Roman, medieval, and Renaissance artifacts in a castle setting complete with a great hall, courtyard and secret passages! Guided tours are available daily, and a knighting ceremony will take place on Friday, February 22!

Our afternoon starts off with self-guided activities, challenges, or puzzles that lead us to our topic for the day. As a group, we'll observe, investigate, and compare wildlife, their adaptations, and the changes that they undergo in autumn. Participants may play the role of entomologist, ornithologist, astronomer, or even glaciologist throughout this series. Each experience will leave your young naturalist eager for the next session. And we always end with a tasty, thematic treat that the participants make!  This week we'll learn about the wonders of the Arctic.

Our afternoon starts off with self-guided activities, challenges, or puzzles that lead us to our topic for the day. As a group, we'll observe, investigate, and compare wildlife, their adaptations, and the changes that they undergo in autumn. Participants may play the role of entomologist, ornithologist, astronomer, or even glaciologist throughout this series. Each experience will leave your young naturalist eager for the next session. And we always end with a tasty, thematic treat that the participants make!  This week we'll learn about the wonders of the Arctic.

Saturday Jan 26 is the Super Bowl of Birding at Joppa Flats – a birding competition to find the most birds on Plum Island in 24 hours! Which birds had the most frequent flyer miles? Which birds were the most elusive? How did THAT bird end up on the East Coast? All the answers will be revealed and we’ll also play games, practice with scopes and binoculars and make some take home bird treats!

What do you like to do in the fall? What do you think animals are doing? Before winter, most animals are very busy getting ready for winter. What are they doing? How does your heart rate compare to a woodchucks? Why can’t people hibernate? In this class we are going to learn how creatures develop survival strategies, play a migration game, avoid predators chipmunk style, and test our skills at camouflage, hibernation and keeping warm!

Come to  Spencer Peirce Little Farm for a mid-winter open house to celebrate the official purchase of the town of Newbury on January 13, 1701. As part of this community-wide event, tour the Spencer-Pierce-Little House, enjoy hot cider and donuts for sale in the visitor center, and then walk to the nearby town-sponsored bonfire in the growing fields of Tendercrop Farm!

This week's program will be about the ocean's Abyss! The abyssopelagic layer starts at a depth around 12000 feet and ends at the ocean floor or the 'Abyssal Plain' a completely darkened habitat under extreme pressure with pressure consistently just above freezing. The creatures that live at these depths have adapted to survive the extremes of the zone and include the angler fish, the viper fish and the giant squid.

Celebrate local author, illustrator and artist Virginia Lee Burton with story time, playing and art making in the Children's Activity Center. Burton authored and illustrated some of the most memorable books ever written for children, and won the 1942 Caldecott Medal for The Little House (Sandpiper Books) .