Artomatic

This year’s event is a Crystal City office building scheduled to be demolished, featuring 10 floors of art by more than 1,000 artists. of every medium. Visual art, music, performance, film, fashion, and more are highlighted. Workshops, tours, seminars and other events are held all month long.

Special events for kids – click the links for full description and to RSVP/reserve your child’s spot for these completely free programs:

• Saturday May 19 1-2pm: Community Paper Quilting Bee for Children
• Saturday May 19 2:30-3:15pm and 3:30-4:15pm Mobile Making Workshop (kids under 10 will need a little assistance from a parent)
• Sunday May 20 1-2pm Bubble Wrap Art Workshop (ages 4 and up)
• Sunday May 20 2-3pm Kids Drum Circle (all ages — don’t forget your hacky sack!)
• Saturday May 26 1-2pm Headdress Making Workshop (all ages)
• Saturday May 26 4-5pm African Adinkra Workshop (ages 6-10)
• Sunday May 27 12-1pm Oh Susannah! Singalong  (preschooler and parents)
• Sunday May 27 2-3pm Super Snake Collage (three age groups: 5-9, 10-13, 14+)
• Sunday May 27 3-5pm Visual Poem Assemblages (maximum children in class: 18; ages 8 and under must be accompanied by adult)
• More Children’s programs and events at Artomatic

Directions

Hours: Open through June 23 Wed. and Thurs. noon-10pm, Fri. and Sat. noon-1am, Sun. noon-5pm, closed Mon. and Tues.

A Walk for Flynn
Sunday, May 20, 2012 at 9:00 AM
North Lake Center at 15101 Bauer Drive in Rockville, Maryland (this is the holding school for Beverly Farms ES, previously known as Manor Lake ES).

Donation:  $20 per person.  Make checks payable to Research Down Syndrome (RDS)

RSVP:  Maureen Haynos at jep873@aol.com

What to Wear:  Navy Blue and Kelly Green – Team Flynn colors!

Rain Date:  Sunday, June 2.

Why We Come Together: To honor and remember Flynn Thomas Fry. We want to help keep Flynn’s spirit alive, and also contribute the family’s favorite charity, Research Down Syndrome (RDS).

Walk Details:

The Walk for Flynn will take place around Lake Frank, located in the Manor Lakes neighborhood off of Bauer Drive. After our walk, we will provide a light breakfast for everyone before they head off to their other Sunday activities.

The walking paths around Lake Frank are not hard to maneuver, and there are only a few hills to climb. The entire walk around the lake is about four miles, with a few interesting creek crossings on big stones. For the seasoned walker/hiker, it takes about an hour.  We will have an alternate route that is shorter and easier for the less-seasoned walker and children.

Jean has three kids. I have three kids. The scheduling and driving and commitment required of us parents for our kids’ extracurricular activities is daunting. Admittedly, I would rather ditch the whole process and go play soccer as a family in the backyard, or take the kids along to a wine festival to play in the gravel while I savor a Sauvignon Blanc. Of course I don’t do that. Just like you parents out there, I sign up, pay for and drive my kids to multiple activities each which enrich their development, confidence and joy.

But when you hear the words, “It means everything to us,” from a fellow mom who willingly gets up on weekend mornings before the sun for games and practices, invests in oodles of expensive hockey gear, and oh yeah, has two other sons with their own interests and activities you know this local activity provider must completely rock. 

So my family and I are definitely hitting this fabulous fundraiser and family skate event on Saturday May 12 from 5-7 pm at the Rockville Ice Arena. People can come out and skate for a couple hours, or cheer the skaters on and eat snacks from the rink restaurant (what Alice and I will be doing as Chris/Dad, Charlie and Eve get their skate on). We can all also participate in a raffle for Disney tickets, Nintendo 3DS systems, and more prizes aimed at the family demographic, and donate to the Cheetahs if you are so inclined. I am so inclined.

You can register for the event in advance. 100% of the money raised will fund ice expenses for the Cheetah program. If you pony up $50 at their donation site (a very fair price for a night out for your family) you can send a shout out to your favorite Cheetah (Go Jack!) and get a Cheetahs t-shirt.

Having just turned 37, I myself look forward to wearing a cheetah tee while doing errands around town.  (Oh wait, it’s the cougar that is the wild cat symbol of a hot older woman. Hmm, maybe I can start a new pop culture name that a cheetah is a not-overly-worked-out-but-takes-care-of-herself professional woman and mother who gets sh*t done?? Do you think that will catch on??)

Saturday, May 12, 2012

5:00 – 7:00 pm

Rockville Ice Arena

50 Southlawn Ct, Rockville, MD |

The Montgomery Cheetahs are a non-profit organization offering an adapted ice hockey program for young people with developmental disabilities, such as autism and Down syndrome. More than 100 youth have participated in the program since its founding in 2006.

Cannot make it but feeling inspired? Donate online for this county-wide program of awesome. Interest in signing up your child? Check out information about the Cheetahs on their website and Facebook page. And if you live outside of the DC area, check the American Special Hockey Association website under “member programs.

This retreat also includes so many restorative goodies: massage therapy! guided meditation! and more. Register before May 15 to receive $50 off the retreat price!

The retreat will be hosted by Cristie Ritz King, M. Ed, CHC of Real Life Wellness. Cristie received her training from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition where she studied more than one hundred dietary theories and a variety of practical lifestyle coaching methods.  She offers her clients simple solutions and plans that work when they are trying to balance challenging, hectic, REAL lives.

Visit Cristie’s Web site and blog Real Life Wellness. 

P.S. Cristie is a Silver Spring native and former parent in Silver Spring. She is old my MOMS Club buddy and current blogging mama colleague — check our her parenting site, The Right Hand Mom. Cristie now lives in the New Jersey suburbs with her family.

FRIDAY APRIL 27

On Friday, April 27, the Newseum will open the HP New Media Gallery, an interactive experience that uses the latest technology to allow visitors to physically step into a social network that shows media’s powerful impact on our world. Live Twitter feeds fill touch-screen monitors and connect visitors with trending news stories. The 2,500-square-foot gallery is the first permanent addition to the museum since its grand opening in 2008.

As visitors enter the gallery, they are directed to the “Check-In” area, where they can post photos of themselves to screens in the gallery and comment on events of the day. At two 11-foot-wide interactive touch walls, visitors are encouraged to explore dozens of important news events and viral videos, including the first Twitter reports of the 2008 China earthquake and the Facebook posts that fueled the Egyptian revolution in 2011.

In the “Choose the News” area, visitors can flip through the latest stories and build custom news pages, then publish them to a large video wall. The “Game Zone” features motion-tracking technology that allows visitors to use hand gestures to test their knowledge of social media.

SATURDAY APRIL 28

Fenton Street Market returns to Veterans Plaza in downtown Silver Spring on April 28, from 10:00am – 4:00pm! Every Saturday through October 27, over 60 local vendors a week will showcase their wares: original artwork, handmade and imported crafts, antiques, jewelry, furniture, vintage clothing, unique services such as acupuncture and henna tattoos, and much more. Community programming will include a screen printing demonstration by Pyramid Atlantic, an interactive model train exhibit by the Riverdale Model Train Club, and music by market favorites Snakehead Run and Israel Dempsey. Veterans Plaza is located in front of the Silver Spring Civic Building, at the intersection of Fenton St. and Ellsworth Dr., Silver Spring, MD 20910.

SATURDAY APRIL 28 & SUNDAY APRIL 29

USA Science and Engineering Festival
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C.
April 28: 10:00am-6:00pm
April 29: 10:00am-4:00pm
Admission FREE

This huge and awesome free festival which features over 3,000 hands-on science and engineering activities, and more than 100 stage shows on six stages! It’s a science loving family’s dream! Attendees can operate state-of-the-art robots; converse with astronauts, Nobel Laureates, storm chasers, science celebrities like Bill Nye the Science Guy or the MythBusters and even scientists of the past; fly a fighter jet simulator; enter a virtual reality environment, be a CSI agent and so much more. Students can also leave with information about science and engineering scholarships, internships, mentorship and future jobs.

Before you go, be sure to download the FREE USA Science and Engineering Festival App. It lists all activities, stage shows, 36 Featured Authors, and gives you a map and more. The app is available for both iPhone and Android.

Highlight for Young Kids 

Visit the PBS Kids Sid the Science Kid Booth for fun hands on activities for children all day, a photo opportunity with the Sid the Science Kid costume character, see Sid the Science Kid will perform his “Science is Everywhere” singalong on the Curie Stage on Saturday at 10:50am and 12:50pm and Sunday at 10:00am and 11:50pm, and be entered to win a Sid the Science Kid collection of merchandise drawing each day.

Also, leave a comment on this post to win one of TWO copies of the Sid’s Backyard Campout DVD! The winners will be randomly drawn in one week.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Glen Echo Park’s Family Day is full of free events abound from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.  including face painting, music and dance performances, magic shows, a youth art exhibition, family dancing, T-Ball Extreme, tours by National Park Service rangers, and more. If you have attended in the past, new to this year’s event is storytelling. There is also cake and lemonade for all.

Family Day marks the opening of the Park’s historic Dentzel Carousel carousel for its 92nd season. Visitors will enjoy many FREE activities, Carousel rides are $1.25/person. The Park’s new Ballroom Café will be open — operated by the Brown Bag — and will serve lots of tasty and healthy fare.

While at Glen Echo Park, head to The Puppet Co. to relax and take in a show!

Pinnochio
Thursday at 10 am
Saturday at 11:30 am and 1 pm
Sunday at 11:30 am and 1 pm
Half life-size rod puppets, performed in the Italian “Commedia del Arte” style, tell Carlo Collodi’s story of what it means to be “real.” Share the trials and tribulations of the little live puppet as he finds in one adventure after another that the “easy way” isn’t always the right way. Deemed, ”One of the most exquisite productions to ever grace our theater,”by the Smithsonian’s Discovery Theater. Running Time: 45 minutes; Recommended: K through Grade 6. Tickets $10.

Tiny Tots – Mother Goose Caboose
Saturday at 10 am -Geared towards tots age 0-4. The Tiny Tots program is designed for the youngest theater patrons. The lights stay on, the doors stay open, and everyone has a great time! All individuals must have a ticket, including babes-in-arms. Tickets $5.

The Puppet Co. Playhouse
7300 MacArthur Blvd
Glen Echo, MD 20812
Phone: (301) 634-5380
Website: www.thepuppetco.org
E-Mail: boxoffice@thepuppetco.org
Please visit www.thepuppetco.org/directions/ for directions to the venue.

Disclosure: The Puppet Co. and Creative MoCo, of which both Glen Echo Park Partnership of the Arts and The Puppet Co. are members, are advertising partners of this website. However, in support of these performing arts non-profits in which I believe and which enrich local families’ lives, they receive a highly reduced advertising rate as well as whatever promotional support I can give.

Saturdays and Sundays at 1:30pm and 4pm through May 26 (the show extended through Memorial Day!), 4908 Auburn Avenue in Bethesda. (Special days: Princess Parade after 4:00 show on April 28, and a Wig Out Dance Party on May 18 after 7:00pm show– Get your wildest wig or wackiest hairstyle and boogie.)

Show your Tangled-loving kids the story of Rapunzel on the live stage, with lots of interesting twists that differ from both the Disney retelling and the Brothers Grimm classic. The Imagination Stage brings to life the book by Friends creators (yup, the Chandler-Monica-Rachel Friends) David Crane and Marta Kauffman, using four accomplished actors who sing and bring the colorful characters to life.

Actor Felicia Curry, a veteran of musicals such as Les Miserables at the Signature Theatre, is receiving glowing reviews for her portayal of Rapunzel. Curry is African American, and she tells The Washington Post, “It’s not what a princess usually looks like. Or sounds like. Or acts like. That’s a really new take on it, and it’s going to be a reminder to the kids that a princess can be anybody . . . whoever your prince may be.”

Tickets are $10-22 and available online. Rapunzel is recommended for children 4 and up.

Here’s a video sneak peek of the show!

International Day of the Book Festival in Kensington

Sunday April 22nd 2012, 11am-4pm, rain or shine
Howard Avenue, Old Town Kensington, Md
This street festival celebrates reading and community. Children’s activities include storytelling, art projects, a kids’ scavenger hunt, nature discoveries, free books and more.  For the adults, there is live music, author events, readings….check out the whole lineup.

Visit a National Park for Free

Save a few bucks and visit a nearby national park for free. During National Park Week, April 21-29, 397 national parks offer free admission, all week long!

Maryland National Parks Near D.C.
Antietam National Battlefield
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park (including Great Falls, Maryland side)
Fort McHenry NM and Historic Shrine National Monument
Fort Washington Park

Virginia National Parks Near D.C.
George Washington Memorial Parkway’s Great Falls Park
Manassas National Battlefield Park
Prince William Forest Park
Shenandoah National Park

Trout Fishing in America at Black Rock Center of the Arts

Saturday, April 21 at 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM
Trout Fishing in America, a beloved folk/rock duo in a concert for children and families, is playing BlackRock Center for the Arts‘ final family matinee concert of it’s 10th Anniversary Season. The eclectic folk/rock duo of Keith Grimwood and Ezra Idlet has won multiple Parents’ Choice and Indie awards and nominated for four Grammy Awards.  But don’t let the whimsically-titled songs (“My Hair had a Party Last Night,” and “Hello, My Chicken Thinks He’s a Dog”) fool you:  these very talented musicians have been hailed “a sublimely musical band” by the Boston Herald.

The performance is recommended for ages 4 and up.12901 Town Commons Drive, Germantown, MD.   Tickets are $12.  Purchase at the box office 240 -912-1058 or online at www.blackrockcenter.org

Photo and video courtesy Imagination Stage.

Clark’s Elioak Farm and the Enchanted Forest are Now Open!
Open Tuesday-Sunday 10 a.m to 4 p.m. through November 4, 2012.
Tickets: $5.00 per person, no charge for Infants under 12 months. Show  your AAA Card and pay $4.50 for all visitors entering the farm with you. Hayrides, pony rides and the cow train are each $2 extra per person.

My family and I love this place.

Read my full review, and check out more photos from our trip yesterday below.

Dining in DC has a great round-up of restaurants in DC, MD and VA offering Passover Seder menus.

Chabad.org has an international seder directory.

Mass Times.org is a great source to find a Catholic Easter Mass near you.

Episcopal Church.org can help you find an Episcopal congregation in your area.

Find-A-Church can help you locate a United Methodist Church.

Communal Passover Seder at Chabad of Silver Spring
Friday, April 6, First Seder Night: services, 7:25 p.m., seder meal 7:45 p.m.
Join Chabad of Silver Spring for an enchanting Passover Seder commemorating the exodus. Discover the eternal meaning of the Haggadah, and enjoy a community Seder complete with hand-baked Matzah, Wine, and a wonderful dinner spiced with unique traditional customs.
Reservations: Adults $36, Child 12 & under $20.

Community Passover Seder at Chadad Shul of Potomac
Friday April 6, 8:15 p.m.
Join a warm inclusive Passover seder. Readings in English and Hebrew. Insightful and contemporary commentary throughout. Great food!
Register online: $45 adults, $18 children under 12.

Annual Takoma Park Easter Egg Hunt
Saturday April 7 at 11 a.m. sharp
The Recreation Department will be hosting its annual Easter Egg hunt on Saturday at Lee Jordan Field (behind Takoma Park Middle School). The hunt will begin promptly at 11:00 a.m. and is for girls and boys ages 2 – 8. This event is one you won’t want to miss, so get your baskets ready. For additional information please contact Lew McAllister at (301)891-7284 or LewM@takomagov.org.
FREE.

Easter Eggstravaganzas on Capitol Hill and in Ballston
Saturday April 7, 2012
Ballston: 10:30 a.m. at Quincy Park, 1201 North Quincy Street, Arlington, Virginia 22201 (map)
Capitol Hill: 1 – 3 p.m. at Lincoln Park, East Capitol St Between 11th & 13th, Washington, DC 20003 (map)

• Easter Egg Hunts
• Life-size Easter Bunny
• Refreshments
• Face Painting
• Games
• Prizes
• Bike Raffles

Free, no ticket or registration necessary for either event!

Breakfast with the Easter Bunny at the Hard Rock Cafe Washington, DC
Saturday, April 7, 9:00am – 10:30am
Have breakfast with the Easter Bunny! Kids can go on an egg hunt and have their faces painted, while the whole family enjoys a breakfast buffet.
Tickets: Adults $14.95, Kids $10.95, Children 2 and under free. To reserve your spot, e-mail Jordan_Rosenblatt@hardrock.com or call 202-628-6583.

Breakfast with the Bunny at Rockville’s Thomas Farm Community Center
Saturday, Apr. 7, 10 a.m. – Noon
Activities will include D’s Magic show, spring crafts and games, an opportunity to meet, greet and pose with the Bunny and an egg hunt. A light continental breakfast will be served. Bring your camera. Fee applies to each person attending the event. Pre-registration is required.
Tickets: $10 for City Residents and $12 for non-residents. Register with the City of Rockville for course #38073

Community Second Night Seder at the Washington, DC Jewish Community Center
Saturday April 7, 6:30 p.m. – 9 p.m.
An intergenerational celebration of Passover seder led by Eytan Graubart in the traditional style with lots of singing and participation.  The seder will be catered by Shaul’s Kosher Catering (check out the menu, it’s incredible!) starting with the ritual foods, seder plates and wine at your table and moving to family style service for the seder meal maintaining the traditional style of Passover. With the environment and green in mind, please bring your favorite reusable kiddish cup, wine or water glass to help reduce paper waste.
Tickets: $54, I have a call in to see if there is a children’s rate…will update when I hear back.

Bunnyland at Butler’s Orchard 
April 5 – 7, 9, 14 & 15 (closed Easter Sunday). Open 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. all days.
Egg hunt (they provide the basket), hayrides, photo with Country Bunny, giant slides, hay romp, bounce house/jumping castle, pedal tractors, and bunnies, lambs and chicks. Face painting and pony rides will cost you a few bucks over the cost of admission. My kids’ favorite feature however is the rubber ducky derby: you pump water like Little House on the Prairie and race rubber ducks. Somehow every time we hit Butler’s we spend eons with those ducks.
PLEASE NOTE: Bunnyland Festival is weather dependent. Please call 301-972-3299 before coming out. Weather updates will also be posted on the Butler’s Orchard homepage.
Tickets available on-site: $8.50/child, $6.50/adult.

Spring and Easter Celebration Festival at Ticonderoga Farms
Now – April 15, 2012, Daily 10:00am—5:00pm. 26469 Ticonderoga Rd. Chantilly, Virginia (703) 327-4424. Join the Easter Bunny for some festive fun with egg hunts for candy and toy-filled eggs (golden goose eggs get you an extra prize!) on Saturday and Sunday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m each day.  Kids and adults can get on the slides, take a hayride, visit farm animals and roast marshmallows.  Bring your camera for photo ops with the Easter Bunny.  Remember to bring your own basket or bag for collecting eggs.  Baskets will be available for purchase.
Tickets available on-site: Weekdays $7.95, Holidays & Weekends $11.95      

Spring break activities for families in the Washington, DC area are plentiful, but often hard to track down.

Rather than send you hunting through Google (who has the time?) I have compiled some solid options for you in one easy place.

Here are my top recommended weekday activities for you and your children to enjoy, whether your Spring Break is this week April 2 – 6, or next week April 9 – 13. I have broken the suggestions into four categories: free activities, practically free events (admission price less than $10), performances and special staycation treat events.

And you will be rewarded for leaving a comment with YOUR best recommendation for spring break fun with kids: All comments are entered into a drawing for TWO free tickets to see the Washington Ballet’s Alice in Wonderland at the Kennedy Center on opening night, April 11! Read on for details.

FREE ACTIVITIES

National Portrait Gallery Spring Break Special Programs
Monday April 2 – Friday April 6, 1 – 4 p.m.
Experience the National Portrait Gallery’s Portrait Story program, in which young visitors, accompanied by adults, drop in to listen to a story about or written by a famous person from history. Afterward, they create a special piece of art. Children can also check out a Portrait Discovery Kit and learn about famous Americans by doing some or all of the activities included in the kit.

Free Performances on the Outdoor Stage by the Washington Monument
Daily beginning at noon through April 15. 
12 p.m. – 5 p.m. Sunday to Thursday; 12 p.m. – 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Washington Monument grounds – Independence Avenue & Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW (map)
Spring break may have missed peak cherry blossom time, but it coincides with the ongoing National Cherry Blossom Festival. Check out the daily line-up of musical and dance performances at the Canon Performance Stage at Sylvan Theater. (And for goodness sakes, take the Metro!)

Meadowside Nature Center 40th Anniversary Celebration
Friday April 6 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Explore the world of owls, hawks and eagles through raptor-themed activities, science activities (owl pellet dissection), games (kids will “migrate?!”), crafts and refreshments (owl cupcake decorating – wash your hands after the owl pellet dissection!). Visit the living resident birds of prey and meat the mascot Otus the Owl. There is a huge listing of free activities for all ages, it’s an event not to be missed!

Easter Monday at the National Zoo: Celebrating African American Families
Monday April 9, All Day
A Washington-area multicultural tradition, this event features special family activities, live entertainment, talks with Smithsonian scientists, and more. Free and open to the public.

PRACTICALLY FREE EVENTS

Cabin John and Wheaton Regional Trains, Carousel at Wheaton Open for Spring Break!
Saturday, March 31 through Sunday, April 8, from 10am to 6pm each day
Tickets: $1.75 per person, and a book of 10 tickets is $15.75 (buy 9, get the 10th ticket free!). Children age 2 and younger ride free with a paying adult.
The minature train at both Cabin John and Wheaton Regional Park and the Ovid Hazen Wells Carousel at Wheaton, too will be up and running during Montgomery County Public Schools’ Spring Break. They cannot run the trains when the tracks are wet, so please check their Facebook page for scheduling updates.

Washington Nationals First Home Game! Exhibition Game vs. Red Sox
Tuesday April 3, 3:05 p.m. Nationals Park
Tickets: $10 and up online, $5 day-of at the Nationals Park box office
Your opening-day gift is the 2012 Season magnet!

Clark’s Elioak Farm and the Enchanted Forest are Now Open!
Open Sunday April 1 through Monday April 9 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday April 10 -Sunday April 15 from 10 a.m to 4 p.m.
Tickets: $5.00 per person, no charge for Infants under 12 months. Show  your AAA Card and pay $4.50 for all visitors entering the farm with you. Hayrides, pony rides and the cow train are each $2 extra per person.
My family and I love this place. Read my full review.

Claude Moore Colonial Farm is Now Open!
Wednesdays – Sundays, 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. (April 2 – December 9)
Admission: Children under 3 are free, Adults $3, Children & Seniors $2.
Children of all ages enjoy learning at the Farm. Older children imagine themselves back in time, while helping with farm chores such as carding wool, mixing Johnnycake batter, weeding in the garden, or hoeing in the fields. Toddlers take in the sights and sounds and love to splash their hands in the wash tub, watch the chickens, or gaze into the hearth fire. Children of all ages look forward to seeing the farm animals. Remember not to pet or feed the livestock!

Preschool Songs and Stories at the Arts Barn Theatre in Gaithersburg
Thursday April 5 11-11:45 a.m. (as well as EVERY first and third Thursday of the month through June 2012).
Preschool Songs and Stories gives three to five year olds and their parents or guardians the opportunity to explore the arts through singing, dancing and active listening to story books. Admission is just $3 per child per session, no fee for adults. Payment may be made at the door. The Arts Barn is located at 311 Kent Square Road, Gaithersburg. For more information call 301-258-6394 or visit online at www.gaithersburgmd.gov/artsbarn.

Paper Airplane Day at the College Park Aviation Museum
Friday, April 6, 12 noon-4 pm
Build your own paper airplane and compete in our annual Paper Airplane Derby at 3 pm. Prizes will be awarded! FREE with museum admission: $2/ages 18 & under; $4/adult; $3/seniors ages 60 & up.College Park Aviation Museum, 1985 Cpl. Frank Scott Drive, College Park 20740, 301-864-6029.

PERFORMANCES