February 20, February 21 Washington DC Weekend Picks

Discover Engineering Family Day this Saturday

National Building Museum Discover Engineering Family Day this Saturday

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SATURDAY & SUNDAY

Maple Sugaring Festival at Brookside Gardens, 11am-3pm both days, no registration required. Stop by and see an American tradition, watching the whole maple sugaring process from start to finish.  Everyone gets to sample a tasty treat too!

SATURDAY

Family Fun at The Electric Maid in Takoma Park: Let’s Pretend, 10:30am. Let’s Pretend will include an imaginative adventure with theater games and an interactive performance. Takoma Park’s very own Gretchen Weigel Doughty will lead the “actors” in a warm up, read a story, engage in exercise and experiments based and direct the groups performance. Fun for kids 8 and under! The event  will last approximately 45 minutes. Suggested donation is $5 per child. The Electric Maid is located at 268 Carroll St. NW near the Takoma Metro station.

Discover Engineering Family Day at the National Building Museum, 10am-4:30pm. Touch robots, make slime, build a few things, learn a bunch of things. The National Building Museum and the National Engineers Week Foundation invite you to debunk the myths of engineering and discover how professional engineers turn an idea into reality by participating in this free, hands-on and fun-filled festival.

African American Pioneers in Aviation at the National Air & Space Museum, 10am-3pm. Hands-on activities for kids and the chance to meet some of the original Tuskepee Airmen!

Magical Stories Out of Africa – free performance at The National Theatre, 9:30am & 11am, tickets distributed first-come-first-served 30 minutes prior to each performance, seating limited. Long before children heard Mother Goose rhymes or “Jack and the Beanstalk,” stories were told in Africa about wise lions, wily snakes, and how the world began.  Anna Mwalagho brings alive these tails in a cultural journey.  Helen Hayes Gallery at the National Theatre – 1321 Pennsylvania Ave, NW.

Black History Month Family Celebration at the National Postal Museum, 11am-3pm.  Family activities that celebrate the history of African-Americans in U.S. history and the postal service.

Rocknoceros Family Happy Hour at Jammin’ Java, 7pm. What’s a Rocknoceros Family Happy Hour? It’s a night out for the whole family, where the signature drink special is buy a beer, get a juice box, the kids hear their fave Rockno classic songs and the three guys even play some classic rock cover tunes for the parents.  $10 per person age 1 and older.

SUNDAY

Sixth and I Purim Party, 10am. Make your own costume, decorate Purim cards, assemble mishloach manot baskets and eat delicious hamentaschen. Bring your own king size pillow case for the costume making.  Cost is $8 per person/$18 per family in advance, $10/$20 at the door.

The Great Zucchini Performs Great Kids Village Silver Spring, 10:30am.  The children’s Adam Sandler takes the stage at this great children’s play space.  What could be better?  Melted snow?  Hey, we can’t have everything.

National Zoo’s Wild Side Stage: Lucas Miller Performs, 11am & 1pm.  This hilarious singing zoologist will entertain and educate kids.  Special exhibit tie-in at the Invertebrate Exhibit.  More info here.

Sunday Experiment for Families at the NASA Goddard Visitor Center, 1pm-3pm. Elementary school students and their families are invited to the Goddard Visitor Center on the third Sunday of every month, from September to May for a free afternoon of eye-opening, hands-on activities that will help you experience what it’s like to be a NASA engineer.

Chinese New Year Parade in Chinatown, 2pm-5pm. Bring in the year of the tiger with a roar. There will be lion and dragon dances and a five-story high firecracker to be be lit at 3:45 p.m.