Children, Youth and Family Programs
Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 845 West St, Amherst, MA 1002
About
Children, Youth and Family Programs include Nature Summer Camp, Hitchcock Afterschool, winter preschool classes, Little Bear Nature Walks, Winter Vacation Days, and a Guided StoryWalk. Nature Summer Camp registration opens Wednesday, January 28 at 8 PM, and registration for winter children and family programs is open now. For Winter Vacation Days, the program asks families to send children with a snack, lunch, a water bottle, and clothing for outdoor play in any weather.
• Ages: 0–15 years old
• Schedule: Winter Vacation Days run on January days off from school for Amherst elementary schoolers; Guided StoryWalk meets Saturday, January 31 from 10:00–11:00 am
The Hitchcock Center for the Environment, founded in 1962, runs Children, Youth and Family Programs as part of its mission “to educate and to inspire action for a healthy planet.” The programs for children, youth, and families use the study of science and nature as a means to provide creative inspiration to solve human problems sustainably and to develop a continuum of competencies from the earliest years through lifelong learning. The Center’s approach to education uses the environment as a classroom and defines place at many scales, including the schoolyard, backyard, neighborhood, park, farm, town, forest, pond, mountains, and watershed. Hitchcock Summer Camp is described as a space where hopeful, creative problem solvers come together to play, shout, build, discover, and create.
The Hitchcock Center moved into its Living Building in 2016, which was constructed to achieve what it describes as the most rigorous green building certification in the world, and the building is used as a teaching tool to support sustainable engineering and environmental awareness. The Center’s grounds, gardens, trails, and Nature Discovery Play Yard are open to the public every day from dawn to dusk, and its Visitor’s Center and bathrooms are open Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. The Center has installed solar-powered EV chargers that are available to use, and its Gazette column “Earth Matters” has been running since 2009.
The Hitchcock Center and the North Amherst Library have teamed up for a Guided StoryWalk, sponsored by the Friends of the Jones Libraries, with additional underwriting support for operations and programs provided by unspecified supporters. The Hitchcock Center states that it helps thousands of children, youth, and families see and understand the impacts of human actions and that it works to develop a community that understands connections among human health, ecosystems, and economies through educational programs.
Children, Youth and Family Programs are part of a center that has received multiple awards, including the 2019 Living Certified Award from the International Living Future Institute; the 2019 Excellence in Energy and Environmental Education Award from the Massachusetts Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs; the 2018 Honor Award for Sustainable Design from the Boston Society of Architects; the 2018 Paul Winske Access Award from Stavros; the 2017 Green Giants Award from the American Institute of Architects Western MA Chapter; the 2017 Champions of Toxic Use Reduction Award from the UMass Lowell Toxic Use Reduction Institute; the 2015 Commonwealth Award for Arts, Humanities, and Sciences from the Massachusetts Cultural Council; and the 2015 Stormy Award for Integrating Art and Science to Build Community Support for Stormwater Management from the New England Stormwater Collaborative.
Last updated January 26, 2026.
• Ages: 0–15 years old
• Schedule: Winter Vacation Days run on January days off from school for Amherst elementary schoolers; Guided StoryWalk meets Saturday, January 31 from 10:00–11:00 am
The Hitchcock Center for the Environment, founded in 1962, runs Children, Youth and Family Programs as part of its mission “to educate and to inspire action for a healthy planet.” The programs for children, youth, and families use the study of science and nature as a means to provide creative inspiration to solve human problems sustainably and to develop a continuum of competencies from the earliest years through lifelong learning. The Center’s approach to education uses the environment as a classroom and defines place at many scales, including the schoolyard, backyard, neighborhood, park, farm, town, forest, pond, mountains, and watershed. Hitchcock Summer Camp is described as a space where hopeful, creative problem solvers come together to play, shout, build, discover, and create.
The Hitchcock Center moved into its Living Building in 2016, which was constructed to achieve what it describes as the most rigorous green building certification in the world, and the building is used as a teaching tool to support sustainable engineering and environmental awareness. The Center’s grounds, gardens, trails, and Nature Discovery Play Yard are open to the public every day from dawn to dusk, and its Visitor’s Center and bathrooms are open Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. The Center has installed solar-powered EV chargers that are available to use, and its Gazette column “Earth Matters” has been running since 2009.
The Hitchcock Center and the North Amherst Library have teamed up for a Guided StoryWalk, sponsored by the Friends of the Jones Libraries, with additional underwriting support for operations and programs provided by unspecified supporters. The Hitchcock Center states that it helps thousands of children, youth, and families see and understand the impacts of human actions and that it works to develop a community that understands connections among human health, ecosystems, and economies through educational programs.
Children, Youth and Family Programs are part of a center that has received multiple awards, including the 2019 Living Certified Award from the International Living Future Institute; the 2019 Excellence in Energy and Environmental Education Award from the Massachusetts Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs; the 2018 Honor Award for Sustainable Design from the Boston Society of Architects; the 2018 Paul Winske Access Award from Stavros; the 2017 Green Giants Award from the American Institute of Architects Western MA Chapter; the 2017 Champions of Toxic Use Reduction Award from the UMass Lowell Toxic Use Reduction Institute; the 2015 Commonwealth Award for Arts, Humanities, and Sciences from the Massachusetts Cultural Council; and the 2015 Stormy Award for Integrating Art and Science to Build Community Support for Stormwater Management from the New England Stormwater Collaborative.
Last updated January 26, 2026.
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