Starting December 19 and running through the end of the year, we’re suspending our normal programming so that we may help those of you with kids on winter break find stuff to do. Every day through year’s end we’ll throw out an idea intended to get you and the kids out of the house and have the kids exhausted upon your return. Consider it GetGoingNC.com’s gift to you.

Today: An educational walk

Did you know there are about 200 environmental centers throughout North Carolina, from the Agape Center for Environmental Education in Duncan to the YMCA Camp Hanes in King? And all of these centers, dedicated to enlightening us about the world around us, have public programs not just on weekends, but daily? Between now and the end of the year, there are 24 programs on the calendar, the majority aimed at kids.

Today, for instance, if you happened to be on the Outer Banks at 11 a.m. you could take a Maritime Forest Walk through the Currituck Banks National Estuarine Research Reserve, courtesy the Corolla-based Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education. Like many EEC programs, it’s free.

Find out what’s going on through year’s end at an environmental education center near you, by going here.