Featured Events, Resources, & Opportunities

The Eric Carle Museum in Amherst has something for everyone this December! Join author Corinne Demas on Saturday, December 10 at 11am for a special storytime featuring her new book, The Perfect Tree. Then, join author Tiffany Jewell on Saturday, December 17 at 1pm for The Antiracist Kid: A Book Talk. Kids ages 8 to 12 are invited to join a group conversation about racism and injustice and what to do when they encounter it at home, at school, or in the media. Also, on December 17 at 3pm, join the Happier Family Comedy Show in a performance full of high energy and family-friendly funnies. For more information, www.carlemuseum.org.

Award-winning touring troupe Piti Theatre Company & Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association bring the 6th annual Great Greenfield DinoFest back to town on December 10 & 11. Blending science, arts, and history, DinoFest 2022 features Piti’s local history-inspired movie “Night at the Deerfield Museum,” fossils with experts, a webinar by a budding 10-year-old paleontologist, Dino Improv, and a preview of Piti Theatre’s next improv-based show “Once Upon a . . . Dino.” Events kick off at 11am at the Garden Cinema in Greenfield, MA. Admission is free. More at ptco.org/dino. Questions: info@ptco.org 

The Amherst Business Improvement District is proud to present the first annual Downtown Sip ‘n Shop Stroll on Thursday, December 15 from 5-9pm, sponsored by People Bank! Head downtown to enjoy! Fabulous downtown retail with little “sips” along the way. Five amazing dinner options for a full 3-course meal for $35 with incredible options for smaller bites at our many global dining options throughout our downtown. FREE carriage rides will be happening through town to bring visitors to shops, restaurants, and bars, courtesy of Muddy Brook Farm. A beautifully curated Maker’s market will be happening, too, featuring artisans, crafters, and makers with bar service in the Drake: Live Performance and Music Venue, and more! 

Smith Vocational High School in Northampton offers a FREE training program in Culinary Arts to prepare students over 18yo to work in the restaurant industry as entry-level prep cooks or line cooks. Students will also complete a 40-hour paid externship. Possible employment opportunities will exist in area restaurants, hospitals, nursing homes, and other environments where food prep is required. To qualify, students must be unemployed/underemployed, complete all required documentation with Smith Voc Career Center, pass a CORI/SORI test, and be a resident of Western MA. Classes begin January 17 & end June 13, 2023. Open house December 14 from 4-5:30pm. Contact Lorena Turner, Adult Ed Director, for more info 413-587-1414 x3530.

Registration is open for spring semester classes at Holyoke Community College. More than 80 degree and certificate options are available. There is extensive academic and student support, flexible on-campus and online schedules, laptops for loan and WiFi hotspots to borrow, a student food pantry, a student emergency fund, and a drop-in child watch. Adult-focused programs include Pathways, New Directions for Adult Learners, Veterans Services, and college credit for work/life experience. Classes begin January 17. Flexible. Affordable. Holyoke Community College. Email admissions@hcc.edu today.

List of Weekly Suggested Events

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Self-Directed Learning: Pastry Art/Holiday Desserts

What comes to mind when you think of desserts during the holiday season? Sugar cookies? Fruit cake? Gingerbread houses? Pies? How about Bûche de Noël, Sufganiyah, Panettone, Tembleque, Panetón, Christstollen, Pasteis de Nata, or Plum Pudding? These special desserts are made during the December holiday season in many parts of the world, embodying cultural and/or religious significance. Learning about their origins, history, and pastry art methods in their preparation makes these desserts a delicious lens into learning through your interests. Often passed down from generation to generation, regional holiday desserts are also part of family traditions that may have traveled to new locations from their place of origin. Get curious about these desserts, learn about their heritage, bake with your kids, and maybe even create new recipes to pass down to future generations.

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Self-Directed Learning: Gingerbread Houses

Is there anything better than the sound of children happily discussing whether gumdrops or gummy bears make for better foliage in a confectionery garden? Grown-up architects debating the merits of Lifesavers vs. melted lollipops to convey gothic stained glass? The hum of conversation and laughter as designers of all ages bring their inspiration and creativity to bear on gingerbread walls, roofing material, and piles of buttercream mortar? Building a gingerbread house is a fantastic way to include creative folks of all ages in creating a delicious, well-engineered work of art, along with skills in architectural design, engineering, geometry, communication, and collaboration.

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Self-Directed Learning: Saint Lucy’s Day

Learning about traditions and celebrations worldwide that mark the longest night of the year can support a broad spectrum of interests. For example, take Saint Lucy’s Day, a festival that marks the start of Christmas in Sweden on December 13. What is the origin of this festival, and how is it celebrated? Is food a part of this celebration? If not, why? If so, what? Are there costumes and traditions in which families participate? Is this a day celebrated in the community, at home, or in a place of worship? Find Sweden on the map and learn about the habitat and weather patterns during the year’s darkest day. Getting curious about the food, habitat, and cultural heritage associated with Saint Lucy’s Day can support learning about world culture, food traditions, and human behavior.

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Self-Directed Learning: Gift Wrapping

December is known for the tradition of giving gifts during the winter holidays. Let’s take this tradition and look through the lens of wrapping paper as a catalyst for learning about math, history, production, environmental impacts, and wrapping techniques.

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Self-Directed Learning: Physics/Static Electricity

In the colder months, when we’re bundled up inside, sleeping under a pile of wool blankets, and scuffling about our homes in socks and slippers, we might find that we often encounter electrical shocks when we touch doorknobs or tiny bolts of “lightning” emitted from blankets as we toss about to get warm and comfortable. Static electricity is to blame! This phenomenon is the perfect opportunity to learn about the physics of electricity and why we get tiny shocks more often in the winter than in the summer months.

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Self-Directed Learning: Literature in Translation

Every year in December, classic holiday stories are shared to mark the season. Some of these stories are often translated into film and theater. Take How the Grinch Stole Christmas, translated into an animated television special and a Hollywood blockbuster. Or A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, acted out as plays and performed as musicals. These are just a couple of examples of literature in translation that ties into the cultural traditions shared this time of year. Get curious and see what other writings have been translated into similar fashions, comparing and contrasting the original writing with the translated performance. 

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Self-Directed Learning: Language Arts/Holidays

Christmas and Hanukkah have a bank of associated words that we can use to support learning about word origins and world languages. Let the holiday season lead the way in learning through language art!

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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, Chester, Chicopee, Colrain, Cummington, Easthampton, Goshen, Granby, Greenfield, Hadley, Hatfield, Heath, Hinsdale/Peru, Huntington, Leyden, Montgomery, Mount Washington, Northern Berkshire, Orange, Otis, Palmer, Pelham, Rowe, Shelburne, Shutesbury, South Hadley, Tolland, Tyringham, Westhampton, Windsor, and Worthington Cultural Councils, local agencies which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.