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Maple Sugaring with Connecticut Kids: Maple Syrup Festivals and Sugar House Tours

February means it's time to go maple sugaring with Connecticut kids, where tree-tapping yields a sweet reward! Photo courtesy of the Stamford Nature Center
February means it's time to go maple sugaring with Connecticut kids, where tree-tapping yields a sweet reward! Photo courtesy of the Stamford Nature Center
2/5/23 - By Jennifer Coe

From Fairfield County to Greater Hartford and New Haven, it's time to go maple sugaring with Connecticut kids! Warm days and cool nights start the sweet maple syrup season. Every year, families look forward to harvesting or stocking up on delicious maple syrup, one of Connecticut's best local products. The traditional maple sugaring season extends from late February until late March, depending on the year. Here, we share the latest information on maple sugaring in Connecticut with activities and activities that families will love.

Our Connecticut Winter Activity Guide is full of wonderful family activities like maple sugaring. Make the most of a winter day by visiting one of the Best Outdoor Ice Skating Rinks in Connecticut for Kids and Families. When the family has had enough outdoor time, explore our list of Free Museums in Connecticut to Visit with Kids.

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Maple syrup tastes so much sweeter when kids tap the tree themselves. Photo courtesy of the Greenwich Land Trust
Maple syrup tastes so much sweeter when kids tap the tree themselves. Photo courtesy of the Greenwich Land Trust

Maple Sugaring with Connecticut Kids - Events

Annual Maple Sugar Festival in Washington

Washington - Saturday, February 11, 2023
Looking for a sweet end to the winter months? As the days get warmer, but the nights remain cold, it’s the right condition for maple sugaring! Join IAIS staff for an event celebrating the gift of Maple Sugar. Throughout the day, our staff will demonstrate various traditional techniques for collecting sap and boiling it down into syrup and sugar. READ MORE

Maple Sugaring Demonstration

New Hartford - Saturday, February 25, 2023
The Beekely Library in New Hartford will be offering a maple syrup demonstration. All ages are invited to the Beekley to learn about the process of maple sugaring. We will see how trees are tapped, the sap is collected, and syrup is boiled down to make a delicious treat. If the trees have been cooperative this season, there may even be some syrup to sample! READ MORE

Maple Sugaring Pancake Palace at Lyman Orchards

Middlefield - February 26 - March 24, 2023
Tap that Tree! There's a Maple Syrup Sugar Shack demonstration at the Apple Barrel Farm Market. Try your hand at tapping a “tree” before or after you indulge in a delicious 'Pancake Palace' menu outside on the patio. Environmental Learning Centers of Connecticut's traveling sugarhouse will be on site for families to learn about the tradition of maple sugaring. READ MORE

Maple Sugar Days with Greenwich Land Trust

Greenwich - Saturday, March 4, 2023
Mark your calendars for this fun family event at GLT’s Mueller Preserve! Come enjoy the sweet taste of spring. The tradition of tapping maple trees for sap dates back to the indigenous people of the Northeast and was adopted by incoming European colonists. READ MORE

Maple Sugaring for Families at the Ansonia Nature Center

Ansonia - March 4, 2023
A very long time ago, the native people of the northeastern part of our country shared their sweet tree know-how with the newcomers from Europe. Ranger Dawn presents an introduction to making maple syrup the old-fashioned way, and helps us to choose just the right tree for tapping into this sweet treat! READ MORE

Sweet Wind Farm's Annual Maple Festival in Hartland

East Hartland - Saturday, March 11, 2023
Come see how pure maple syrup is made with classes, tours and live demonstrations including tree tapping and sap boiling and live music, pancakes and more. READ MORE

Syrup Saturday: A Pancakes & PJs Breakfast in New Canaan

New Caanan - Saturday, March 11, 2023
Bring the whole family and join the New Canaan Nature Center for their annual Syrup Season celebration – you won’t want to miss the famously delicious Pancakes & PJs party, complete with TONS of fun syrup-related activities!   Guests are encouraged to come in their PJs! READ MORE

Maple Sugaring in Your Own Backyard at Roaring Brook Nature Center

Canton - Sunday, March 12, 2023
This annual demonstration teaches families to make maple syrup the easy way. Learn the entire process, from identifying the right trees to sampling the finished product. READ MORE

Annual Maple Sugaring and Pancake Breakfast at Indian Rock Nature Preserve

Bristol - March 18, 2023
The Pancake Breakfast and Maple Sugaring Demonstration at Indian Rock Nature Preserve will be Dine-In or Take-Out for 2025. Join them for a pancake breakfast featuring pancakes (plain, apple, and chocolate chip) served with ELCCT’s own pure maple syrup, bacon/ sausage, and choice of coffee, milk, or orange juice. READ MORE

Annual Hebron Maple Festival

Hebron - Saturday, March 18 - 19, 2023
Food, live music, face painting, free sugar house tours and demonstrations, a quilt show, and so much more will fill your weekend with fun, laughter and all things maple. Don't miss out on the tractor parade! READ MORE

Maple Fest Weekend

New Milford - March 18-19, 2023
Maple Fest Weekend at Sullivan Farm's Great Brook Sugarhouse is back again. Learn how maple syrup is made and how trees are tapped. Live demonstrations and tastings! Tour of historic tools used to tap and boil will be on display.  READ MORE

Maple Sugar Madness in Glastonbury

Glastonbury - Sunday, March 19, 2023
Watch the trees being tapped and the syrup boiled in this popular start-of-spring event. Tour the house and barns and enjoy mini pancakes made on the hearth, smothered with maple syrup. READ MORE

Maple Syrup Demo at Nowashe Village

South Windsor - March 25, 2023
Maple sugaring has been practiced by New England’s Indigenous Peoples for thousands of years. Abenaki Peoples followed a multi-step process for collecting and condensing maple sap into sweeteners, a process refined and passed down orally from one generation to the next. On Saturday, March 25 please join Dan Shears and Brian Chenevertin Nowashe Village for a Maple Sugaring Demonstration. Dan and Brian will discuss the maple sugaring history and demonstrate the hands-on creation of maple syrup. READ MORE

Family Pancake Breakfast at Northwest Park in Windsor

Windsor - Saturday, March 26, 2022
Wake up and head to Northwest Park in the morning for the annual Friends of Northwest Park Pancake Breakfast from 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM in the Warming Shed. Bring an appetite for a full breakfast of pancakes and sausage smothered in 100% pure maple syrup made right at Windsor’s very own Northwest Park. Don't forget to stop by the sugar shack to see the how it goes from sap to  syrup. READ MORE
Head to Woodbury for a maple sugaring tour in 2023! Photo courtesy of the Flanders Nature Center
Head to Woodbury for a maple sugaring tour in 2023! Photo courtesy of the Flanders Nature Center

Maple Sugar Tours with Connecticut Kids

Tapping Day at Flanders Nature Center

Woodbury - Repeating Saturdays and Sunday February 26 to March 13, 2022
It all begins when the temperature rises above freezing during the day and falls below freezing at night. These conditions trigger the sap to begin to flow up the tree. A healthy tree can produce a gallon of sap a day on a good day. It takes 40 gallons to make 1 gallon of syrup. READ MORE

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About the Author

Jenny Coe
Jenny Coe is a longtime Mommy Poppins writer and contributor and full-time mom to three boys. Jenny has also been a contributor at Patch and The Reminder (Hartford Courant). Here at Mommy Poppins, Jenny writes about great things for kids to do in Connecticut and New England, affordable fun, and nature experiences (her favorite!).
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