Saturday, November 7th

Turkey, Potatoes, and Pie – Oh My! @ Aladdin’s Lamp Children’s Books (Arlington, VA)
Storyteller and guitarist Miss Marlena reads books that celebrate Thanksgiving, including T is for Turkey by Tanya Lee Stone, Two Bad Pilgrims by Kathryn Lasky, and Thanksgiving Rules by Laurie Friedman.

Pumpkin Chunkin

Pumpkin Chunkin Weekend @ Great Country Farms (Bluemont, VA)
Bring your leftover jack-o-lantern and let it fly. The Silo Drop and the Zip Wire Sploosh let you do the smashin’ yourself or bring your pumpkin to the Pumpkin Drop Zone and add it to the upside down “fireworks display” as the pumpkins are dropped from a lift over the parking lot.

Swordsmen’s Rendezvous @ Gadsby’s Tavern Museum (Alexandria, VA)
Children experience a unique living history program as they learn a skill all 18th-century gentlemen needed to know – swordplay. The program includes re-enactment of 18th-century swordplay and a display of 18th-century weapons. The popular family event includes some audience participation as kids practice their new-found talents. Advance registration is required.

Make your own Drum

Spark!Lab: Make Your Own Drum @ National Museum of American History (DC)
Visitors to Spark!Lab construct their own drums out of recyclable materials and then join in facilitated mini drum circles. At 5pm there is a larger drum circle led by Remo Belli in the Flag Hall.

Family Tree @ The Historical Society of Washington, DC
Families can create and decorate a family tree showing their unique heritage. HSW provides the supplies needed to complete each tree.

Workshop: Sounds Crazy with Al Simmons @ McLean Center (McLean)
Build musical instruments made from junk with Al Simmons. The workshop will consist of a demonstration of the science of sound with Al’s homemade orchestral instruments. Workshop will conclude with a giant jam session!

Sunday, November 8th

Berlin Wall Family Day @ Newseum (DC)
Celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall at the Newseum with activities such as painting a message on the Newseum’s re-creation of the Berlin Wall, playing Front Page Frenzy and NewsMania, going on the News Hound scavenger hunt, and much more. Washington artist Tim Conlon is also on hand for a talk-and-draw demonstration of graffiti styles and techniques and to discuss how graffiti has been used as a form of protest.

Terra Cotta

Family Program: Terrific Terra Cotta @ National Building Museum (DC)
Families can experiment with terra cotta – the material featured in the museum’s frieze and on the bases of its famous Corinthian columns – using molds to make their own terra cotta friezes to take home and bake.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN
Saturday, October 31st

Harry Potter’s Plants and Potions @ Green Spring Gardens Park (Alexandria, VA)

Calling all Muggles! Kids can conjure up some magic in the gardens as they explore the magical powers of Harry Potter’s favorite plants. They craft their own wizards’ wands and collect recipes for potions – just in time for Halloween.

Sunday, November 1st

Sunday’s Spotlight

Mommy and Me Movies @ Arlington Cinema Draft House
A movietime exclusively for moms (and dads, too!) with infants. The lights are dimmed and the sound level is reduced so parents can see and hear their babies throughout the show (which changes regularly, depending on the theater’s current schedule). Strollers can be brought into the theater.

Seasons of Light @ Discovery Theater (DC)

Discovery Theater’s seasonal favorite celebrates the warmth of world holidays filled with light and love. Children visit the traditions of Devali, Ramadan, Sankta Lucia, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Las Posadas, Christmas, and a First Nations tradition of the Winter Solstice. On Saturday, December 12 families can stay after the show for a holiday cookie tasting.

Saturday, October 24th

Fright at the White House Family Scavenger Hunt @ The White House (DC)

Watson Adventures hosts a hunt in and around Lafayette Park during which families can learn the stories of the ghosts who have roamed the halls of the White House and other buildings in the area while answering tricky questions about what they discover along the way. Advance registration is required.

Leathery Wings @ Huntley Meadows Park (Alexandria, VA)

See a vampire bat skull, a silhouette of the world’s largest bat, and listen to bat calls during self-guided, hands-on activities.

International Horse Show

Washington International Horse Show @ Verizon Center (DC)

The annual Washington International Horse Show features a wide variety of events, such as cheering on Olympic riders at an international equestrian competition, shopping at specialty vendor booths, bidding at silent auctions, and exhibitions of barrel racing, trick riding, terrier races, musical free style, and dressage. On Sunday afternoon (1pm), families can watch the new show Washington’s World of the Horse, 90 minutes of the best of the horse world with dressage, Saddlebreds, barrel racing, jumping, reining, vaulting, terrier racing, and more.

Sunday, October 25th

Family Night at the Old Arlington Grill (Arlington, VA)

Each Sunday the Old Arlington Grill offers a changing selection of family-friendly films on the Grill’s big screen, plus family menu specials during this time.

Halloween

13th Annual Del Ray Halloween Parade @ Del Ray, Alexandria

Children, pets, and strollers in costumes are invited to march and show off their finest and scariest Halloween garb. Awards for Best Pet Costume, Best Decorated Business, Best Decorated Home, and Best Decorated Stroller are given out at a brief ceremony following the parade, along with free refreshments, goodie bags for the children, games, and activities. The parade begins at at Mt. Vernon Avenue, south of E. Bellefonte and continues down to the Mount Vernon Recreational Center play fields at Mt. Vernon and Commonwealth Avenues.

Nature Journal @ Rock Creek Park (DC)

Kids can try their hand at quill pen writing. Activities include creative writing, drawing, and more. Meet at Peirce Mill, 2401 Tilden Street, NW

Marine Corps Marathon - Kids Fun Run

The Marine Corps Marathon Healthy Kids Fun Run @ The Pentagon

The Marine Corps Marathon Healthy Kids Fun Run offers a way for children to participate in a safe run. This one-mile run is strictly for fun; children are placed according to their age group. There is absolutely no time limit – everyone is a winner and receives an official participant t-shirt, medal, and healthy snacks after the race. The run begins and ends in the North Pentagon parking area. Registration is required by October 9. Starting at 9am kids can visit Camp Miles, an activity area featuring interactive challenges and games focusing on health and fitness.

Sunday, October 18th

Kids Euro Festival @ Kennedy Center (DC)
Presented by the 27 countries of the European Union Member States, the festival is a celebration of European arts and culture for kids featuring performing arts, films, and storytelling programs held at numerous venues across the DC area. The Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage hosts daily performances at 6pm. See the website for a detailed schedule.

Autumn Festivals

Autumn 18th-Century Market Fair @ Claude Moore Colonial Farm (McLean, VA)
Travel back to the 18th-century and sample such fare as crisp local apples, hearty breads, and savory meat pies; activities include candle dipping, wood working, fortune telling by the Gypsy, an artisan market and farm stand, and more.

Fall Harvest Family Days @ Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon transforms its four-acre George Washington: Pioneer Farmer site into a harvest celebration. Visitors meet a costume character General Washington, watch wheat-treading and farrier (blacksmithing) demonstrations, watch the colonial cooking demonstrations, take a wagon ride, and find their way through a straw bale maze. An on-site Harvest Bake Sale offers fresh-baked goods, sandwiches, and beverages.

Family Opera

Family Opera: Pinocchio @ Thomas Jefferson Community Theatre (Arlington, VA)
This season’s family opera is an adaptation of Rossini’s Pinocchio. To enhance what is often a first opera experience, children learn about the sets, lighting, and sound effects beforehand, and then after the performance, the artistic director and cast come out on stage to talk with the children and answer their questions. Held at the Thomas Jefferson Community Theatre, 125 South Old Glebe Road.

Anne Leslie Silhouettes @ Hooray For Books (Alexandria, VA)

Anne Leslie makes beautiful hand-cut silhouettes – shadow portraits that capture the unique personality of children.

Family Workshop: Awash with Color @ National Gallery of Art (DC)
Participants explore paintings by Pablo Picasso through movement and drawing, learn about the artist’s Rose and Blue periods, and then create colorful paintings using a watercolor-resist technique.

We joined National Wildlife Federation (check out their amazing activity guide) as they launched their Be Out There campaign at the
Red Carpet Movie Premiere of
Where the Wild Things Are at the
Uptown Theater in  Washington DC on October 15th, 2009.

It may have been cold and rainy on the outside but we were warmed by special guests Congressmen John Sarbanes (MD), Jared Polis (CO), Naturalist, David Mizejewski, and Musician, BT who are all kids at heart and understand the importance of outdoor, unstructured, imaginative play in children’s lives.

Where the Wild Things Are - Red Carpet Premiere

Where the Wild Things Are - Red Carpet Premiere - In the rain.

Where the Wild Things Are - Red Carpet Premiere - NWF's David Mizejewski

Where the Wild Things Are - Red Carpet Premiere - Chase Robinson

Where the Wild Things Are - Red Carpet Premiere - Jade Garrett

Where the Wild Things Are & NWF - After Party - Chase Robinson, Kaia Transeau & Jade Garrett

Where the Wild Things Are Movie Review

From the Kids
(ArlingtonKids): Did you like the movie? (Kid Movie Goer age 8): Yes. The story told me about family and how you keep a family together. (Arlington Kids): Did you learn anything from seeing this? (Kid Movie Goer age Well, there were some kind of scary parts with emotions but I think I mainly learned from that. I know that sometimes I want to be just crazy but that I have to learn how to handle that. It was really great too because the characters are wild and crazy and do silly stuff.  (Arlington Kids): Would you tell other kids to see this movie? (Kid Movie Goer age 8 ): I don’t think that little kids should see this movie yet because it’s kind of scary in parts. But older kids are fine. I have 4 yr olds with me and they were ok. (Arlington Kids): Did you have a favorite line from the movie? (Kid Movie Goer): Yes, “I’ll eat you up, I love you so”.

From the Adults:
This film was totally Spike Jonze. Many said it was dark, and compared it to movie classics of the early 80’s like, The Dark Crystal and Labrynth. We laughed and we cried and we’ll definately add to our collection of much loved films.

Want you own Max the Wolf costume?
How To Make a Where the Wild Things Are Halloween Costume Video by Howcast.com

Happy Howling!!

Explaining what we’ve learned from history about Columbus Day to your children.

This morning I saw a tweet from a fellow twitter friend that read…

“Columbus Day” in the US or as I like to call it, “First Illegal Immigrant Amnesty Day”.

Hmmnn…  it made me re-think how I would talk to my child about why she’s not in school today. I was going to post a cutesy piece on Columbus Day activities. A craft, a baking project, simple fall fun.
I realized that ignoring the hard truths today makes it ok for me to be lazy and dishonest with my kid.

The reality is that life is often icky and there are many things that we choose to look past and ignore the facts and that only allows these types of atrocities to continue. Lets learn from history and see how we can do it better.

Here is my attempt at getting real with kids about Columbus Day.

A few facts about the discovery of the Americas:

• Columbus was an Italian explorer and one of the first to explore the Americas.
• The first known European to discover the Americas was actually a European man named Leif Eriksson.
• There were native people already living on the lands discovered by the European explorers. They had lived there for centuries.
• When Columbus Niña, the Pinta and the Santa Maria to the Americas the explorers were not respectful of the people to already living there. (Depending on your child’s age, you could certainly talk in more detail about slavery, intolerance, and the repression of people.)

Questions to get a dialog started.
The first step in healing and correcting is recognizing the problem. Once you’ve done that, we can begin finding better ways of handling.

• Have you ever been disrespectful of a person who had something you wanted?
• Have you ever been bullied?
• How did you handle these situations?
• How would you work together to find things in common?
• How can we work together to achieve these common ideas?

What we can do to celebrate our new knowledge?

Celebrate our America

Many have begun a celebratory redo. The focus seems to mainly be on Italian American culture which has it’s value but what if we celebrated our own discovery? Discoverers Day, a day where we remember where we all came from.  The 2010 Census says there is no more average American. This shows that  America is a beautiful mix of cultures.  Could this be what makes our American blend so special?

Here are some activities to help you discuss and celebrate together.

• Make a mixed meal (Italian, Caribbean, Spanish or create a menu of your own families culture).
• Make an explorers Map or Binoculars and get outside.
• Visit the Museum of the American Indian or check out more American History at the National Museum of American History.

Interesting Resources:
Rethinking Columbus (Book)
Multicultural Kids (Website of resources)

Saturday, October 3rd

Art on the Avenue - Del Ray

Art on the Avenue @ Del Ray (Alexandria)

Del Ray’s annual multicultural arts festival features over 325 area artists and craftspeople, international food, three stages of live music, artist demonstrations, a pie-baking contest, plus a children’s entertainment stage, pumpkin painting, scarecrow making, and other craft projects. Free DASH bus transportation is provided from the Braddock Road Metro station.

Family Day: William Wiley @ Smithsonian American Art Museum (DC)

Artist William Wiley performs his own music, and families can attend Improv for Kids workshops, play the pinball machines, create pinball paintings, and design buttons.

National Pharmacy Month Open House @ Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum (Alexandria)

Visitors can take free tours, learning about the special properties of herbs and botanicals, like lavender and dragon’s blood, while discovering the important role the apothecary played in early Alexandria, plus children can participate in hands-on crafts for children and take a coloring activity book created for families.

The Jimmies

The Jimmies @ Jammin Java (Vienna)

After two years of filming elaborate dance numbers, miniature candy-carnivals, tap-dancing robots, and poolside chickens, New York’s underground rock band for kids, The Jimmies, unveils its much-anticipated Trying Funny Stuff DVD.

Peter Yarrow @ Kennedy Center (DC)

Legendary singer, songwriter, and best-selling children’s author Peter Yarrow (of 60s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary fame) performs on the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage and then signs copies of his new book, Day Is Done, in front of the Kennedy Center Hall of States gift shop. With illustrations by Caldecott Honor-winning artist Melissa Sweet, this picture book version of Yarrow’s song “Day is Done” is a celebration of the loving bond between parent and child.

Fall for Fairfax KidsFest @ Fairfax Gov Center (Fairfax, VA)

The 17th annual Fall for Fairfax KidsFest offers a full day of activities and entertainment such as scarecrow making, KidZone activities, pumpkin painting, hay rides, a petting zoo, model trains, pony rides, live performances, and much, much more.

Sunday, October 4th

Diwali Mela 2009 Indian Cultural Celebration @ Patriot Center (Fairfax, VA)

The Association of United Hindu Jain Temples of Washington Metro Area invites families to celebrate the “Festival of Light” (Diwali), with a cultural program; food; vendors selling clothing, jewelry, books, and more; and children’s entertainment.

Bzzzzz.......

Catch the Buzz @ Colvin Run Mill (Great Falls)

Beekeepers Toni Burnham and Patrick Standiford talk about and demonstrate the process involved in the honey harvest. Then families can sample honey on cornbread made from the Mill’s cornmeal. An observation hive with live bees is available for viewing, plus learn honey facts and history, get stickers, and take home a recipe with fresh ground cornmeal.

The Tale of the Fisherman and the Golden Fish @ Classika (Arlington)

Based on an old folktale later retold by the famous Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, this flowing combination of poetry, evocative music, acting, and dancing tells the tale of a poor fisherman who catches a magical golden fish which promises him a great ransom if freed. Freeing the fish out of kindness, the fisherman finds himself at the receiving end of his shrewish wife’s anger, and the story continues into a tale of magic, greed, and the value of kindness.

PlayDay ‘09 @ Think Grow Play (Alexandria, VA)

PlayDay ‘09 celebrates and advocates the importance of play to increase the over all well-being of children and family interaction. The event features art, games, an outdoor playspace, music, bubbles, tunnels, and recycled crafts. Staff are collecting loose coins for a program called “Milk Money” to benefit the Arlington Food Assistance Center. Need info? Think Grow Play

Saturday, September 19th

Family Star Party

Saturday Star Party @ National Air and Space Museum (DC)

Join Sean O’Brien, staff astronomer of the Albert Einstein Planetarium, and other local amateur astronomers, for public telescopic observing under dark, star-filled skies, away from city lights. The evening begins with a short night sky orientation at dusk, followed by telescopic observing of various astronomical objects. Meet at Sky Meadows State Park. Please cover flashlights with a red filter or a brown paper bag. Dress warmly. In case of clouds or rain, an amateur astronomer leads a short alternate program.

H Street Festival @ Various locations (DC)

The festival is designed to showcase the diverse H Street business district, and features music and dance performances, workshops, fashion shows, games, crafts, face painting, and food. Held along H Street between 10th and 14th Streets, NE.

International Children’s Festival @ Wolf Trap (Vienna, VA)

The International Children’s Festival features more than 80 children from Georgia, Serbia, and Spain performing dance, music, acrobatics, and more.

Talk Like a Pirate Day @ Historic Alexandria History Center (Alexandria, VA)

Learn about Alexandria’s waterfront history and local pirate lore, participate in a pirate activity for kids, and get 10% off all pirate merchandise.

Sunday, September 20th

Wagon Ride into Nature

Wild Side Wagon Ride @ Huntley Meadows Park (Alexandria, VA)

Take a 90-minute tractor ride with a naturalist to parts of Huntley Meadows difficult to reach on foot and learn about songbirds, wildflowers, butterflies, and waterfowl. Advance registration is required.

My Kissing Hands @ Kinder Haus Toys (Arlington, VA)

Jennifer Stackpole is in the store to create custom ceramic pieces which feature the impression of a child’s hand or foot. Each is carefully hand-finished to become a beautiful keepsake. Please call the desk at Kinder Haus Toys to make an appointment.

Latino Heritage Day @ National Aquarium (DC)

Enjoy a diverse celebration of many Latin American countries’ history, art, cultures, and traditions. Activities throughout the day feature entertainment and arts and crafts for the entire family.

They Might be Giants: Meet the Elements

Check out their new kid friendly album, Here Comes Science.