Youth Programs

Red Fox

Adventures await children and their families
year-round at the Harris Center!

• Small Wonders for families invites preschoolers and their caregivers to explore the Harris Center’s meadows and forests.

• Small Wonders for preschools share the excitement of learning outside with a whole preschool class.

• After school programs both at the Harris Center and at area schools keep kids thinking and moving in the fresh air throughout the seasons.

• Vacation Camps bring the fun of summer programs to winter and spring.

• Kinder Wonders offers an outside laboratory to support Kindergarten and First Grade science studies.  From walking like bears to scooping insects out of our pond, an hour and a half at the Harris Center brings natural science into daily life.

• We invite groups such as homeschoolers and scouts to help us design a program that will complement their projects and studies.

To find out more, or to register for any of our programs call (525-3394) or email spikol@harriscenter.org Susie Spikol, Youth and Family Program Coordinator.

Winter 2010

For Families

Families Hike! Feb 7th, March 7th and April 11th
Meeting at the Harris Center’
2pm-4pm
Free

Did you know that families that hike together, can develop in their children a life long love of the outdoors and help children develop a healthy life style. The Harris Center wants to help families get outside together and hike their way into health and enjoyment of the out of doors. Join the Harris Center this winter for a hike or snowshoe each month with your family. Come to one, or all!

Each hike/snowshoe will be a gentle amble to some of the Harris Center’s favorite locations. Come discover new trails, meet other families who want to hike, and enjoy the beautiful outdoors together, with a naturalist guide for each hike.

All hikes will meet at the Harris Center. The Center has ample snowshoes of all sizes to loan for these family hikes. Hikes will start at 2pm and conclude by 4pm.

Feb 7th: Juggernaut Pond: Follow an old road to the Hancock Reservoir, discover porcupine village, and look for mink and otter slides on the edge of the ice. A gentle uphill walk on a wide trail with a short meander through the woods to Thacher Rock!

March 7th: Big Boulders and Back: Down through the 100 acre woods, we’ll go in search of signs of spring. We’ll spend time exploring the giant boulder deposit at the end of the trail and think about how this pile of granite got there. A woods land trail through mixed forests and incredible glacial erratics.

April 11th: Jack's Pond: Come discover a beautiful small pond tucked into the base of Thumb Mountain. As early April springs, we’ll keep our ears open for the songs of birds, frogs and even an early insect or two. An steep beginning followed by a curvy trail to an old woods road.

Feb 28th: Know Your Nature Night
Full Moon Snowshoe
6:30-7:30
Dutton Farm Trail at Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center
Free
Wake up your night time senses through a guided walk with Susie Spikol, Harris Center naturalist and Crotched Mountain Foundation’s recreational specialist Molly Hajjar. Experience the new stunning universally accessible Dutton Trail at Crotched Mountain Rehab Center in the full moon glow of February’s Baby Bear Moon. Step out into the night and discover how bright the moon glows in February. Snowshoes available for family members of all sizes. Call 525-3394 to reserve snowshoes for the evening. No experience snowshoeing necessary.

For Elementary School Children

Downtown Discovery Club
Feb 2, 9, 16
3:15-4:30
Hancock Town Library
Cost: $30 members/$50 non members
It’s February and there’s over two feet of snow on the ground. How does our local wildlife move around out there in their daily search for food, water and shelter? In this year’s Downtown Discovery Club, we’ll learn how they do it by acting just like them. You can learn about otters while sliding, discover snowshoe hares while snowshoeing, and dig deep into a snow bank to build dens like mice. Come to the Downtown Discovery Club to learn while you bound, slip, hop, and slide! For students in grades 1st through 4th. At the Hancock Town Library (HES students can take the bus to the Library) Cost: $30 members/$50 non-members. Space is limited. To register call the Center at 525-3394 or email lefebvre@harriscenter.org.

Winter Wol’s Nest
Feb 22, 23, 24, 25
9am-3pm
At the Harris Center
Cost: $35 per day for members/$45 per day for non members
$120 for all 4 days members /$130 for all 4 days for non members
Looking for a way to stay active during February break? This winter, the Harris Center will conduct another session of Winter Wol’s Nest! Children from 5 to 12 years of age are invited to come up to the center to have fun during the best part of winter. We’ll go snow shoeing, build snow forts, make crafts, play games, sing songs, and much more! We’d love to see you up at the Harris Center in the deepest part of winter. Don’t forget your mittens! Sign up for the whole week, or just a day or two. Cost: $35 per day for members/$45 per day for non-members or $120 for all 4 days for members/$130 all four days for non-members. At the Harris Center. Children are signed up on a first come, first serve basis, and spots are limited so register by calling the Center at 525-3394 or email lefebvre@harriscenter.org, or click here to fill out and mail a registration form.

Libralandia
March 3, 10, 17, 24,
3:15-5pm
Hancock Town Library
Cost: $40 members/$60 non members
Join Harris Center Naturalist Susie Spikol and Hancock Children’s Librarian Britton Kennedy in creating small worlds drawn from children’s books and your own imagination. These tiny worlds created by your own hands and creativity will be tucked into the nooks and crannies of the town library for all visitors to find. Bring the Littles to life, breath life into the Borrowers, or make up your own tiny cosmos in this hands-on design and creation program. For students in 1st through 4th grade who like working with small details and hand crafts. At the Hancock Town Library (students from HES can take the bus to the library). Cost $40 members/$60 non-members. Co-sponsored with the Hancock Town Library. Call 525-3394 to register or email lefebvre@harriscenter.org.

For Preschoolers

Yearlings Hoot for Owls
March 31
6:30-7:30pm
At the Harris Center
Free
Bring your curious preschooler to the Harris Center for an early evening of an owly good time. We’ll hoot it up together searching the night for owl calls and owl nests. Perfect for young, curious preschoolers and their grownups. Cost $5. Register by March 2nd by calling 525-3394 or by e-mail lefebvre@harriscenter.org

Small Wonders
April 7, 14, 21, 28
1-3
At the Harris Center
Cost: $40 members/$60 non members
Calling all 4 through 6 year olds, who LOVE nature! Join us for four afternoons of guided nature explorations around the lovely Harris Center grounds. Topics will be seasonally based and filled with song, art and play as children investigate and celebrate nature’s early spring offerings of such things as buds, bugs, frogs and birds. Wednesday afternoons from 1 to 3pm. Cost $40 members/$60 non-members. Call to register 525-3394 or email lefebvre@harriscenter.org. Limited space available.