The December holiday week and February break, covered. Zoo camps, museum STEM weeks, free state-park programmes and sanctuary nature days — with what each one costs and when to book.
⛪ Christian youth-group winter retreat (not a solo-child day camp) — chapel, worship, snow activities and cabin bonding for church groups, student ministries or parent-led groups
Group registration ↗ Details →Full-day camp inside the zoo — animal encounters, keeper talks, behind-the-scenes areas and crafts, at both Franklin Park and Stone Zoo.
🌐 Dates & registration ↗ Details →Extra live shows, planetarium sessions and hands-on engineering workshops scheduled specifically for December and February school-break weeks.
🌐 Dates & registration ↗ Details →A full week of drop-in family workshops led by MIT students — AI and origami, microscopes, circuit wiring and ecosystem-in-a-bottle builds.
🌐 Dates & registration ↗ Details →Drop-in art-making sessions in the Art Lab across February vacation week, free with under-18 admission. No booking — just turn up.
🌐 Dates & registration ↗ Details →Dozens of free ranger-led programmes across the state park system every February break — guided hikes, animal tracking, maple sugaring and crafts.
🌐 Dates & registration ↗ Details →The winter takeover runs through both the December holidays and February break — sock skating, igloo building, light installation and extra workshops.
🌐 Dates & registration ↗ Details →Vacation-week marine-science sessions and behind-the-scenes access built around the Giant Ocean Tank and the penguin colony.
🌐 Dates & registration ↗ Details →Extra hands-on science programming during vacation weeks, plus Discovery Woods outside for burning off energy in the cold.
🌐 Dates & registration ↗ Details →Vacation-week science programming with planetarium shows and wildlife encounters — a strong MetroWest and Worcester-county option.
🌐 Dates & registration ↗ Details →Hearth cooking, tinsmithing and 1830s craft workshops during school breaks, inside a working living-history village.
🌐 Dates & registration ↗ Details →Extra family programming across all five museums during school breaks — Seuss story times, art workshops and science demonstrations.
🌐 Dates & registration ↗ Details →Sanctuary-based vacation camps at Drumlin Farm, Blue Hills Trailside, Broadmoor and Habitat. December week fills fastest — waitlists are common.
🌐 Dates & registration ↗ Details →Most Massachusetts districts break from around 23 December through 1 or 2 January, returning the first weekday of the new year. February vacation is the week containing Presidents' Day, and April vacation the week containing Patriots' Day. Always check your own district calendar — break weeks are not uniform statewide.
Zoo New England runs full-day camp at Franklin Park and Stone Zoo, Mass Audubon runs sanctuary camps (December fills fastest), and the Museum of Science, Boston Children's Museum, New England Aquarium, Discovery Museum and EcoTarium all add vacation-week programming. Several sports and arts providers on our main vacation camps page run holiday-week sessions too.
Yes. DCR runs dozens of free ranger-led programmes across the Massachusetts state parks every February break — guided hikes, animal tracking, maple sugaring. The ICA's vacation-week art-making is free with under-18 admission, and the USS Constitution Museum is free with a suggested donation.
Registration usually opens in the autumn and the popular age bands fill by late November. Mass Audubon and Zoo New England both routinely run waitlists for the December week. If the December week matters to you, book in October.
Many of these are drop-in rather than week-long camps — museums, the ICA, DCR programmes and Discovery Museum all work on a single-day basis. For genuine drop-off day camp, Zoo New England and Mass Audubon both sell individual days.
Holiday light trails, museum classes and the full December calendar are all in the winter guide.