Featured Events, Resources, & Opportunities

The KO FESTIVAL presents a special Pre-Valentine’s Day treat! – Piti Theatre’s “CANARY IN A GOLD MINE” February 11-13, 2022. Fri & Sat @ 8pm; Sun @ 3pm. ONLINE ONLY. Locked down during COVID, Piti’s Jonathan Mirin turns the camera on his obsessions with environmental health, fatherhood, and marriage. Using his formidable skills as a performer, he transforms what could have been an earnest public health lecture on electro-hypersensitivity (a.k.a. “microwave sickness”) into a fun and compelling dive into the opposing forces of corporate profit vs. public safety. The result: a comedic 21st-century love letter & eco-justice adventure that’s “just like theatre…but flatter!” G-Rated, but recommended for age 12+. Sliding scale tix at kofest.com.

Learn at Morse Hill is an outdoor elementary homeschool program on 85 acres in Shutesbury, MA. As this fully outdoor program plans for its third year of creating hands-on learning experiences under the beautiful hemlocks of Morse Hill, tours of the campus are now available and filling up quickly! Families may choose a full-time academic year program or select up to three homeschool days per week. Students enjoy a cozy yurt for warming in the colder months and build resiliency through Morse Hill adventure experiences, including canoeing, hiking, climbing, and a ropes course. To learn more, visit www.learnatmorsehill.com or reach out to Jess Evans, Leadership Team and Enrollment Coordinator, at enroll@schoolatmorsehill.org. 

List of Weekly Suggested Events

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Self-Directed Learning: Valentine Candy

Valentine’s Day is often observed through sugary sweetness, including the giving of heart-shaped boxes of chocolates, the iconic Sweethearts, and chocolate-covered strawberries! Let the tradition of giving and receiving confections be a lens for learning about manufacturing, pastry arts, and food history.

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Self-Directed Learning: Super Bowl

On a Sunday in late January or early February every year, 100 million viewers tune in to watch the Super Bowl on television! With Super Bowl parties happening across the country, this annual event can encourage the curiosity of several interests. The study of American Football can support learning in sports history, manufacturing, geometry, science, physics, girls sports, culinary arts, and even pop culture. On game day, get curious about the shape of the football and how it’s manufactured. Ask how science and math contribute to the outcome of a game and seek answers. Why don’t women play in the Super Bowl? How are food, dance, and music a part of the American tradition? What is the difference between soccer and football? Seek answers and tackle your interests on game day!

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Self-Directed Learning: Valentine’s Day

Every year, Americans exchange an average of 145 million Valentine’s Day cards. Valentine cards come in many different shapes and sizes. They can be handmade, store-bought, clever and creative, or very traditional. Whatever form they come in, the American valentine industry has its roots in western Massachusetts, starting in the mid-19th century by Esther Howland, a Mount Holyoke graduate. She was inspired by the beautiful, ornate valentines imported from England and suspected that there might be a market for them in the United States, as well. Through her father’s paper company, she sold her first valentines in 1848 and, within a few years, was able to begin her own business, the New England Valentine Company. In addition to store-bought cards, families can make handmade Valentine cards instead, supporting interests in art studies, fiber arts, physics, chemistry, and geometry! Read more in our post, Put Some STE(A)M into Your Valentines!

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Self-Directed Learning: Roosting Crows

Learning when seasonal phenomena occur in nature helps strengthen a sense of place. Like maple trees, crows are a common part of our landscape here in New England. Between the time maple trees lose their leaves in the fall and when the flow of their sap begins and ends in the spring, American Crows and Fish Crows often gather in flocks, swelling up to 10,000 birds large to roost for the night. With crows, observing and asking questions about their staging and roosting behavior in the early evenings can help young naturalists connect with the season. Do they roost in large flocks to stay warm? For protection? To support a complex social hierarchy? Why do they roost in the winter and not in the summer? What does this have to do with maple trees and winter in New England? Getting curious and learning about crows in the winter can support interest in biology, ornithology, animal behavior, and the importance of conservation. Check with your local nature center or conservation organization to see if they will be hosting events this winter on the topic of crows!

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Self-Directed Learning: Science Books

Experience is always the best teacher – and this is especially true for children! However, when kids are eager to learn about a topic, the lessons available might leave some space for supplementation. After you’ve explored your local habitat, got curious about native species, messed about with materials, and exercised all five of your senses together, it might be time to turn to books to add specific language and detail to the understanding of scientific topics for children. Age- and reading-level-appropriate materials are available for whatever topic kids are learning about. Please find out more in our post, 100+ Science Books to Support STEM Learning at Home & in the Classroom.

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Self-Directed Learning: Random Acts of Kindness

National Random Acts of Kindness Day is today, a day that encourages acts of kindness. Exploring books with kindness themes presents opportunities to learn about and discuss ways to show kindness to people, animals, the earth, and ourselves. Let today spark an exploration of the theme of kindness with one of our literary guides. Check out the titles we featured and download your free guide: Literature in Context: A Literary Guide for Valentine’s Day & Kindness.

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Self-Directed Learning: Great Backyard Bird Count

Native species are nature-based resources accessible to everyone, especially birds! Because they are so accessible, of all native animal species active during the winter, they are perhaps the most easily spotted in the snowy landscape of New England. Our fine feathered friends flock to feeders, leave tracks in fresh snow, and flit around in trees and bushes of backyards everywhere. And they are super delightful for supporting nature-based learning! Let your interests in ornithology, local habitat, conservation, and citizen science take flight this year by participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count! Read more in our post, Great Backyard Bird Count Supports Nature-Based Learning. And be sure to pick up a copy of What It’s Like to Be a Bird by David Sibley to support your learning at home.

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Weekly eNewsletter

Online and in-person events and resources shared above are done so as a courtesy and not as an endorsement. While we do our best to share accurate and up-to-date information, please take the time to confirm information, age appropriateness, registration requirements, safety protocols, and associated costs.

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Hilltown Families’ list of Suggested Events is supported in part by grants from the Agawam, Amherst, Becket, Bernardston, Buckland, Chicopee, Colrain, Cummington, Easthampton, Goshen, Granby, Greenfield, Hadley, Hatfield, Heath, Huntington, Montgomery, Northern Berkshire, Orange, Palmer, Rowe, Shelburne, Shutesbury, South Hadley, Tolland, Tyringham, Windsor, and Worthington Cultural Councils, local agencies which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.