Friends of The Great Falls Discovery Center

Kidleidoscope Story Hour - Spiders
2025-08-29 10:30 - 11:30 (America/New_York) | Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A, Turners Falls, MA, 01376, United States
For ages 3-6, accompanied by an adult. Learn more about our wildlife neighbors in the Connecticut River Watershed. Program includes a story, activities, and crafts. Activities are indoors and outdoors, weather permitting. Siblings and friends welcome. Meet in the Great Hall.

Find Us at the Farmers Market!
2025-08-30 10:30 - 13:00, 2025-09-20 10:30 - 13:00
Join DCR staff for family activities at the Great Falls Farmers Market, located between 6th and 7th streets along Avenue A at Peskeompskut Park. In case of rain, you can find our activities inside the center instead. For all ages.

Kidleidoscope Story Hour - Butterflies
2025-09-05 10:30 - 11:30
Learn about our wildlife neighbors in the Connecticut River Watershed. Program includes a story, activities, and crafts. Activities are indoors and outdoors, weather permitting. For ages 3-6, accompanied by an adult. Siblings and friends welcome. Meet in the Great Hall.

Presentation and Walk: Wildlife out Your Window
2025-09-06 10:30 - 12:30
Join us on a leisurely, family-friendly combined wildlife presentation and walk by Brad Timm, wildlife ecologist and founder of the Northeast Wildlife Team. This program is inspired by Brad’s book Wildlife Out Your Window: Fascinating Facts About 100 Animals Commonly Seen in the Northeastern U.S., which is full of interesting facts about common wildlife all around us. We’ll start inside with a short presentation that will open your eyes to wildlife in ways you never imagined! Then we’ll take a leisurely stroll up the bike path along the Connecticut River and keep our eyes and ears peeled for all sorts of wildlife as we walk. All ages are welcome and encouraged to join. Meet in the Great Hall.

Nice and Easy Walks
2025-09-11 10:00 - 11:00, 2025-10-02 10:00 - 11:00
Easy-paced, 1 to 2-mile guided walk, along the Canalside Rail Trail or downtown Turners Falls, geared for seniors, but open to all. Enjoy natural and local history along the way. Dress for the weather with sturdy footwear and bring water. Inclement weather cancels. Meet at the main entrance.

Kidleidoscope Story Hour - Skunks
2025-09-12 10:30 - 11:30
Learn more about our wildlife neighbors in the Connecticut River Watershed. Program includes a story, activities, and crafts. Activities are indoors and outdoors, weather permitting. For ages 3-6, accompanied by an adult. Siblings and friends welcome. Meet in the Great Hall.

Kidleidoscope Story Hour - Snakes
2025-09-19 10:30 - 11:30

Nice and Easy Walk
2025-09-25 10:00 - 11:00, 2025-11-20 13:00 - 14:00

Kidleidoscope Story Hour - River Otters
2025-09-26 10:30 - 11:30

National Public Lands Day Celebration
2025-09-27 10:00 - 16:30
Join conservationists from New England to celebrate National Public Lands Day and learn about public wildlands in the region by pitching in with the Source to Sea River cleanup from 10:00 a.m. — noon, enjoy lunch, then dive into teach-ins and workshops to learn how you can protect wild nature and public lands in New England. Expect fun, food, music, and an opportunity to deepen your knowledge about New England public lands. RSVP and see the full agenda at: actionnetwork.org/forms/save-the-date-national-public-lands-day-celebration. Sponsors include Sierra Club Massachusetts, Climate Action Now Western Mass, Atowi, Standing Trees, and more.
For Source to Sea Cleanup, meet outside the main entrance.
For National Public Lands Day Celebration afternoon events, meet in the Great Hall.

Montague Community Fair - Mammal Investigation Station
2025-09-27 14:00 - 17:00
Celebrate “Good Neighbor Day” with an afternoon of free family activities and learn about local community organizations. Join DCR staff at the fair to learn all about our mammal neighbors at our activity table with mammal pelts and crafting. The fair has light refreshments, music, and fun activities for all ages, in collaboration with Montague Public Libraries. Unity Park is located at 56 First Street in Turners Falls.

Wings Without Borders: A Bird Migration Talk
2025-10-25 14:00 - 15:00
Birds are among nature’s most remarkable travelers, carrying stories across continents with every wingbeat. This talk explores migration as a biological wonder and a source of human inspiration, weaving connections between landscapes. Together we discover how the movements of birds echoes themes of resilience, belonging, and change. Join ornithologist Chad Witko (Birding University) for a journey into the science and symbolism of migration. For ages 12 and up and everyone is welcome to enjoy the Migrations exhibit art. Meet in the Great Hall.

First Friday: The Great Scavenger Hunt Challenge
2025-11-07 15:00 - 17:30
Join us for a self-guided scavenger hunt adventure to test your spotting skills in our Connecticut River watershed habitat dioramas. How many animals, trees, and plants can you find? Scavenger hunt worksheets will range from fun and easy to extra super hard where camouflage is the name of the game! Meet at the welcome desk.

Wildflowers in Winter
2025-11-22 13:00 - 14:30
Embrace the identification challenge of matching summer wildflowers with their winter attire with naturalist Dawn Marvin Ward. Learn how through photographs, clues, and hands-on exploration to expand your knowledge of the winter landscape. Discover the amazing variety of shapes, forms and textures, learn lore and legend of our local plants, and gain an appreciation of wildflowers in their dormant state. Dawn is an educator and naturalist who has been sharing her knowledge and appreciation of nature for over 20 years. Note: This program is not a hike, specimens will be available inside. Meet in the Great Hall.

Nice & Easy Walk
2025-12-04 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-12-11 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-12-18 13:00 - 14:00

Ongoing - Great Hall Exhibit: Home
2025-12-07 - 2026-01-30
From forest floor to canopy, Will Close’s exhibition of original watercolor and mixed media paintings invites viewers to rediscover the beauty and complexity of the natural world that surrounds us. Accompanied by thoughtful text and quotes from experts and longtime New Englanders alike, each piece reveals the hidden stories, characters, and connections that shape the living landscape we all call home. For all ages.

Ongoing - School Vacation Week: Mammal Adaptation Investigation Station
2025-12-26 - 2026-01-04
Come learn about local mammals and their unique winter adaptations. Every animal has special adaptations that enable them to survive in their winter habitats. Explore through touchable artifacts (pelts, replica skulls, and replica tracks), and habitat diorama scavenger hunts. For ages 4 and up.

Ongoing - Indoor StoryWalk® - Under the Snow
2025-12-26 - 2026-01-11
Explore the lives of active and resting winter wildlife, in the book, Under the Snow, by Melissa Stewart. For ages 3 and up, accompanied by an adult. Meet at the welcome desk.
The StoryWalk® Project was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, VT, and developed in collaboration with the Kellogg-Hubbard Library. Story Walk® is a registered service mark owned by Ms. Ferguson. This StoryWalk® is provided by Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation Interpretive Services.

Kidleidoscope Story Hour - Deer
2025-12-26 10:30 - 11:30
For ages 3-6, accompanied by an adult. Learn more about our wildlife neighbors in the Connecticut River Watershed. Program includes a story, activities, and crafts. Activities are indoors and outdoors, weather permitting. Siblings and friends welcome.

Kidleidoscope Story Hour - Bear
2026-01-02 10:30 - 11:30

Sunday Matinee Documentary Series: Werner Herzog’s Fireball from Sandbox Films
2026-01-04 14:00 - 16:00
Join us for the start of our free winter Sunday matinee documentary series from Sandbox Films beginning with Werner Herzog’s Fireball. Since before we existed, meteors have haunted our planet. Over billions of years, extraterrestrial bombardments have reshaped the very nature of our planet, causing species to perish or flourish — and perhaps even seeding the initial building blocks for life on Earth. Today we can still hear the echo of these meteor impacts, ringing through culture, mythology, and scientific research. Fireball takes viewers into the mystery at the heart of these fallen stones, exploring their origins and their impacts on civilization. Sandbox Films is an Oscar-nominated production studio that illuminates the art and beauty of scientific inquiry: humankind’s weird, messy, brilliant way of navigating the world. Free hot chocolate! For adults and teens aged 14 and up. Meet in the Great Hall. (Snow date January 17).

Kidleidoscope Story Hour - Winter Birds
2026-01-09 10:30 - 11:30

Sunday Matinee Documentary Series: Nocturnes from Sandbox Films
2026-01-11 14:00 - 15:30
Our free winter Sunday matinee documentary series from Sandbox Films continues with Nocturnes. In the dense forests of the Eastern Himalayas, moths are whispering something to us. In the dark of night, two curious observers shine a light on this secret universe. Together, they are on an expedition to decode these nocturnal creatures in a remote ecological “hot spot” on the border of India and Bhutan. The result is a deeply immersive film that transports audiences to a rarely seen place and urges us all to look more closely at the hidden interconnections of the natural world. Sandbox Films is an Oscar-nominated production studio that illuminates the art and beauty of scientific inquiry: humankind’s weird, messy, brilliant way of navigating the world. Free hot chocolate! Meet in the Great Hall. All ages. (Snow date: January 18).

Ongoing - Indoor StoryWalk®- Tracks in the Snow
2026-01-14 - 2026-01-31
Explore the lives of active and resting winter wildlife in the book Tracks in the Snow by Wong Herbert Yee. For ages 3 and up, accompanied by an adult. Meet at the welcome desk.
The StoryWalk® Project was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, VT, and developed in collaboration with the Kellogg-Hubbard Library. Story Walk® is a registered service mark owned by Ms. Ferguson. This StoryWalk® is provided by Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation Interpretive Services.

Kidleidoscope Story Hour - Possums
2026-01-16 10:30 - 11:30
