Come explore what nature has in store at some of our most amazing wild places on the North Shore. Joppa Flats' engaging and experienced staff will introduce families to local beaches, forests, and wetlands to make observations in nature, identify wildlife, and enjoy hands on science activities outdoors. Sign up for one, some, or all!
This program has been canceled! Join this interactive program to make music in the peaceful pine grove, learn about the sounds of nature, and about how music has filled the air at The Crane Estate throughout the years. Enjoy a creative lesson and then create your own music using provided instruments, your own brought from home, or your own homemade instrument made from natural objects using the provided materials.
Joppa Flats Education Center invites families to drop in to meet live caterpillars, moths, and butterflies! Learn how to attract birds and other wildlife to your own yard and 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.
Bring your little ones for a day of family friendly fun! This is an effort to connect families to bring youth closer to nature through learning, exploration and creating art. Start at the Joppa Flats Education Center (10am-12:30pm) to meet tide pool critters. Then, bring your bagged lunch over to the Parker River Visitor Center for a picnic in the pollinator garden at noon, followed by creating a nature-themed mural (1-2:30pm).
The Trustees of Reservations hosts the Butterfly Encounter in the gardens at Castle Hill Estate in Ipswich Massachusetts. You will hear directly from a giant monarch butterfly puppet, who will recount the adventures growing up in the milkweed patch, metamorphosis and then the amazing journey across continents.
Bring your little ones to the visitor center to create a nature-themed craft with a refuge ranger. Registration required, limited spots available. Feel free to Drop in and Leave at your leisure.To register, please e-mail parkerriver@fws.gov.
Celebrate the arrival of springtime with this exciting, family-friendly drop-in art project! Take inspiration from all the new blooms in the garden and craft your very own flower. Feel free to arrive anytime between 10AM and 1PM to participate.
Live turtles, eels, and fish like mummichogs will be available for viewing, so come meet some of our favorite river dwellers! Join us at our Downtown Pop-Up at Naimo Gallery, 24 Central Street, Ipswich, MA
NBPT Cornhole and the Merrimack River Watershed Council present the 1st Annual "Save Our River Festival". This event will take place at the outdoor pavilion of the Newburyport Elks, and will feature a Giant Cornhole Tournament, BBQ, a cash bar, live music, an art show, games and more. This will be a family friendly event for all ages, and will help to raise money for the Merrimack River Watershed Council (MWRC).
Take a deep breath and thank the trees! Families are invited to join us for a celebration of all things arboreal, on a guided hike through the Castle hill grounds, woodland trails, and pine grove, while learning all about both the natural and non-native/introduced trees living here. Participants will use all five senses to meet a tree; learn to ID trees via their leaves, bark, and seeds; discover unique adaptations for survival; and gain an expanded appreciation for all the benefits and ecosystem services that trees provide.
