Public Services at Stony Kill Farm
Programs are held year-round for children, adults, educators, scouts, groups and the general public; topics can include natural history, plants and animals, and natural resources. By participating in the educational programs, interpretive walks, annual events and festivals you get a real opportunity to enjoy and appreciate the outdoors and to know Stony Kill Farm. The Almanac, our newsletter, is published quarterly and contains a calender of events.
Annual Events
- Earth Day Celebration
- A great family day to enjoy live music, arts and crafts, educational activities and exhibits. Show your appreciation of our Earth by joining in on the celebration with the NYS DEC Stony Kill Farm EEC and the Student Conservation Association, Hudson River Valley AmeriCorp. Learn new ways to recycle, and reuse and be kind to our planet.
- Butterfly Festival
- Learn about the importance of butterflies while having fun too. You can create a butterfly friendly environment right at home. Learn about the butterfly's life cycle, local species, and what it's like to be a caterpillar and change into a butterfly. Enter our enclosure and perhaps a live butterfly will land right on you! A fun and educational experience for the whole family.
- Fall Harvest Festival
- Celebrate the arrival of fall! Activities, exhibits, live animals, hay rides, food and music are all part of the fall harvest festival. Something for everyone.
- Holiday Open House
- Usually scheduled between the Christmas and New Years holiday's, this program is great fun for the whole family. Tours of the 19th Century Manor House with live music and refreshments. At the barn the family can enjoy visiting the livestock, crafts, candle dipping, puppet show and much more!
Guided Lessons
Students and educators will enjoy hands-on, curriculum based education programs. Instructor guided ecology lessons in forest and wildlife, insect and pond life and agriculture are taught to school groups in grades 1-6 in the fall and spring. These guided outdoor programs were developed by our professional environmental educators and provide educators with opportunities to enhance classroom learning while incorporating the new Math, Science and Technology (MST) standards. Nursery school programs and other youth programs are also conducted throughout the year by appointment.
In order to meet the needs of local Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, Stony Kill Farm educators have designed hands-on activities and programs focusing on ecology, wildlife, forestry and the world of the outdoors to enable scouts to earn specific badges during our programs.
Naturalist Intern
Stony Kill Farm offers naturalist training internships to people seeking professional experience in environmental communications and education. Each intern receives training in a wide variety of Stony Kill Farm's programs, the operations and activities of the center, and in principles of environmental interpretation. Opportunities for training and development of specific skills will be available depending on each intern's interests and Stony Kill Farm's needs.
The internships run for 12 weeks and are held year-round, with sessions beginning in September, January, April and June. Click Here for More Information About Becoming a Naturalist Intern.
Newsletter
Click here to read issues of the Stony Kill Farm Almanac.Public Programs
A calendar of events is developed quarterly and offers programs for the general public, educators, and youth. The programs are held mostly on weekends and some weekday evenings, and cover a variety of subjects.
Educator Resource Center
Stony Kill Farm operates an educator resource center where educators can come to research information on particular topics, look at lesson plans for environmental education and as questions about Stony Kill Farm educational opportunities. The Stony Kill Farm Book List gives educators an idea of the topics found in the resource center's library.
Educator Programs
Nationally recognized workshops for educators in natural science education and water education are scheduled on a regular basis and are held at Stony Kill Farm and throughout the region. To find out more about these national workshops, go to our Educators' Workshop page.
