Tag Archives: Kids Euro Festival

November 4, 2011 · 8:03 am

The Weekend Round-Up: November 4-6

A fall frolic on the National Mall.

These post-Halloween days are almost as enjoyable as the extravaganza itself. After weeks of costume discussions, trick-or-treat planning, and candy hiding (mostly from myself) so it’s not eaten before the big day, this respite between major holidays is welcome. It won’t last long, as preparations for winter festivities are about to begin. (And I’ll be posting about them soon, but wanted to give you a chance to untie ghosts from trees and dispose of rotting pumpkins). So, in the meantime, enjoy these next few autumn days. Here are some ideas of where to do it. Happy Weekend!

Think Outside… – These splendid fall days are going to be fewer and farther between soon, so my top recommendation is to get out and enjoy them while you can. Do a quintessential DC outing and tour the memorials on the Mall. Go leaf peeping in the National Arboretum or explore the sprawling grounds of Brookside Gardens. Hike amid brilliant foliage at Great Falls or Riverbend Park. Play the day away Cabin John Regional Park. The options are abundant, and you can find even more in KFDC’s list of The Best Places in the DC Area to Enjoy a Beautiful Day Outdoors with the Kids.

Smashing Pumpkins – Now that Halloween is over, you can get rid of those jack-o-lanterns that are starting to cave in on themselves on the front porch. And you can have a good time doing it at Great Country Farms’s Punkin’ Chunkin’. Do the honors on their Silo Drop or Zip Wire Sploosh, or bring it to their Pumpkin Drop Zone to be added to the “fireworks display” as pumpkins are dropped from a 40-foot lift in the parking lot. And while you’re there, enjoy the rest of the farm’s attractions — cow trains, swings, slides, mazes — before the amusement shuts down for the winter. Open from 10am – 5pm. Admission is $10/adults, $8/children.

Euro Entertainment – We’re in the last week of the Kids Euro Festival, the program bringing a month of free continental artistic adventures to venues all over DC. This weekend see “A Cat in Paris” at AFI, “The Seasons of Palina” at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, several performances on the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, and much, much more. Check the schedule for times and details.

Rock Out with Recess Monkey – Seattle’s celebrated band of teacher-rockers is coming to DC this weekend to perform three shows at two different venues. First, they are playing a free concert on the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage on Saturday at 6pm. For shows that might work better with little ones’ schedules, see them on Sunday, November 6, at Jammin’ Java at 11am or 2pm. Tickets are $10 and available for purchase online.

Happy 90th, Phillips Collection! – The museum housing masterpieces from some of the world’s most famous artists probably isn’t exactly a go-to spot for a day out with little ones. But this Saturday is an exception. It’s the gallery’s 90^th birthday/anniversary, and they’re celebrating with an all-day bash that includes free activities, gallery talks, and performances for the whole family. Cupcake favors will be handed out while they last, ballet students will be practicing among Degas paintings, an accordionist and a cappella group will perform for guests, and even more will be happening throughout the day from 10am – 8pm. See the schedule for times and details.

Celebrate American Indian Heritage – American Indian leaders, traditions, and arts are commemorated on U.S. postage stamps, and the National Postal Museum is celebrating them with a day of activities for kids. Learn about American Indians on postage stamps; make a topical stamp collection; and enjoy storytime with a book about Sequoyah, the Cherokee man who gave his people written language. Join in the fun on Saturday from aam – 2pm.

Robin Hood – Encore Stage’s production of the classic tale opens on Friday at 7:30pm, and there will be several shows to follow this weekend and next. Here’s what’s special about Encore’s performances: They are for children by children. Yes, it’s mostly a youth cast, and if their production of The Wizard of Oz is any indication, these kids will put on quite a show. The play will be performed at Artisphere’s Spectrum Theatre, tickets are $12/adults, $10/children and can be purchased online.

Children’s Flea Market – Score a few bargains and support some entrepreneurial kids at the McLean Community Center on Saturday from 11am – 1pm. Young vendors will have a variety of gently used items for sale. A donation truck will be on hand after the event to take any unsold items.

NSO Teddy Bear Concert: Tunes ‘n’ (Pig) Tales – Enjoy stories and music all about animals in this Teddy Bear Concert featuring The Three Pigs, Teddy Bear Rag, The Swan, and Baby Elephant Walk. Performed with a very unusual combination of instruments, NSO principal musicians Marissa Regni on violin and Dotian Levalier on harp join with Marissa’s father Albert Regni on four different saxophones to give each animal its own unique voice. And as a “little” surprise, along with full-sized instruments, the musicians perform on their miniature counterparts – a toy piano, a sopranino saxophone, and a tiny violin. Recommended for ages 3 to 5. Tickets are $18.

Theatre on Strings – Take the kids to a puppet show at Glen Echo Park where The Three Billy Goats Gruff is currently being performed on Main Stage. Showtimes are 11:30am and 1pm Saturday and Sunday, recommended for pre-K and up. Tickets are $10 and available for purchase online.

Portrait Story Days – Drop in at the National Portrait Gallery from 1-4pm on Saturday and Sunday to listen to a story about a person who has influenced American history and culture and to create a special piece of art. This weekend, learn about Chief Joseph (1840-1904), chief of the Nez Perce.

America’s Got Talent Auditions – Is your child a star in the making? Well, here’s a chance to show the nation. America’s Got Talent is holding their DC auditions Saturday and Sunday at the Washington Convention Center, and kids (and adults!) of all ages are invited to try out for the show. Doors open at 8am and close by 7pm. Pre-registration and more info is available here.

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Filed under All ages, Art, Babies, DC, Festival, Free, Gradeschoolers, Live Entertainment, Maryland, Museums, Music, Outdoor, Preschoolers, Preteens, Theatre, Toddlers, Virginia, Weekend

Tagged as America's Got Talent auditions, Artisphere, Encore Stage, Great Country Farms Punkin' Chunkin', Jammin' Java, Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, Kids Euro Festival, McLean Community Center, National Portrait Gallery, National Postal Museum, NSO Teddy Bear Concert: Tunes 'n' (Pig) Tales, Portrait Story Days, Recess Monkey, Robin Hood, The Puppet Co., The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Things to do with Kids in Washington DC, Washington DC Family Activities, Washington DC Kids Activities, Washington DC Outdoors, Weekend November 5-6, What to do with kids in DC

October 21, 2011 · 7:56 am

Peak Weekend

Sweetest scarecrow I ever saw

Late October is one of my favorite times of the year. It’s a combo of the crisp, cool weather, brilliant hues of fall foliage, anticipation of Halloween, and myriad events and activities hailing it all. These next few days are no exception — there are plenty of family pursuits happening that fit right into that formula. Happy Weekend!

Halloween Jump Start – Trick or treat at the Zoo, decorate skulls at the National Museum of Health & Medicine, take a train ride through Maryland woods. If your little monsters are ready for a scream, these are just some of the events happening this weekend to get the Halloween party started. This KFDC post has details on all of them.

Jump Off! – Join the National Children’s Museum at Watkins Regional Park on Saturday from 12-4pm for the 4^th Annual Jump Off! Designed to inspire children to be physically active while having fun, the event will feature free, outdoor exhibition performances by nationally renowned Double Dutch jump rope teams along with numerous family-friendly activities. Highlights will include performances and workshops by Jump Off! Veterans, special guest appearances by The Washington Mystics representatives, music and live entertainment, giveaways and promos; Frisbee decorating (while supplies last), and parachute play with NCM staff. Admission is free.

Go Euro – Performances representing 27 countries in the European Union are part of the four-week festival presented by the French-American Cultural Foundation. See Cool Frogs at the Kennedy Center, Irish dancing at La Maison Française, Czech films at AFI, a puppet show at CHAW, and more cultural productions throughout the weekend. See the Kids Euro Festival schedule for specifics.

Fall at Mount Vernon – Mount Vernon welcomes the autumn season with Fall Harvest Family Days that include wagon rides, wheat treading in the 16-sided barn, 18th-century dancing demonstrations, a straw bale maze, farrier (blacksmithing) demonstrations, apple-roasting, corn husk dolls demonstrations and early-American games and music. Guests can also get a view of the estate from the water – Potomac River sightseeing cruises are half-price during this weekend event. Fall Harvest Family Days take place Saturday and Sunday from 9am – 5pm and are included in regular estate admission $15/adults, $7/ages 6-11, free for children 5 and under.

ARTdays at CHAW – The series presenting art and cultural adventures for families has several performances on the line-up on Saturday. Catch a Kids Euro Fest performance at 10:30am and 12:30pm, as puppet performer Juha from Finland takes the all-ages audience to Finnish Lapland with his show “Off to Lapland.” Later in the day, from 4-5:30pm, get your percussion on at “Get Down With Your Rhythm Self,” a community drumming circle that welcomes all beats, experience levels, and ages. All ARTdays events are free.

Show Time – There’s even more live entertainment to enjoy on stages all over the area. Dr. Wonderful and her dog are having some amazing adventures at the Kennedy Center, Alladin is still trying his luck at Imagination Stage (and Certifikid has a deal on tickets for Sunday shows), and marionettes are entertaining Tiny Tots at The Puppet Co. Playhouse. Get time and ticket details on these performances and more in this KFDC post.

Woof Walk – Here’s an event for the whole family, including Fido. To promote dog walking as an easy and enjoyable way to get up, get out, and get moving, THE POWER OF PETS™ by Mars Petcare and the YMCA of Metropolitan Washington is hosting a community walking and family fitness event for dogs and their owners on the National Mall (near the Capitol Hill Reflecting Pool) complete with free activities. On Saturday from 10am – 2pm, there will be a 2K community dog walk, a question and answer session with a Banfield Pet Hospital veterinarian, doggie and kiddie obstacle courses, fitness demonstrations, arts & crafts, bounce house and face painting, music and a dance party, and healthy snacks for pets and people. Register online.

Arts for Families: Make an African Mask – The Textile Museum is hosting its monthly program for families on Sunday from 2-4pm. Explore the many cultures of Africa and the rich history of mask-making. Create your own mask using cardboard, paint and raffia, combining elements and features from the human, animal and spirit worlds. Paint clothes are suggested. This free activity is recommended for ages 5–12. No reservations are required.

Friends Community School Fair – On Sunday from 12 – 4pm, join the FCS community for their annual Fall Fair. There will be a haunted house, an obstacle course, a moon bounce, books and toys for sale, and plenty of good food. Friends Community School is a small Kindergarten through 8th grade Quaker school that welcomes students of all beliefs. The fair will take place at the school – 5901 Westchester Park Drive, College Park, Md.

Last Call for Merriment – It’s the final weekend of the Maryland Renaissance Festival, the annual faire that recalls medieval times with a village full of fun and entertainment for the whole family. Partake in it all on Saturday and Sunday from 9:30am – 7pm. One-day tickets are $19/adults, $16/seniors, $9/kids ages 7-15, free for children 6, and are available at the Box Office each day. For more info about Ren Fest, see this KFDC post.

Celebrate the Season – Fall festivals are still going strong at area farms and other venues – a friend just let me know that American Plant in Bethesda has a super cute set-up for little ones, including a straw maze, a small haunted house, plus free popcorn and cider. The Cabin John Shopping Center is also hosting a fall shindig from 1-3pm that will include hay rides, scarecrow making, face painting, balloon art, and more. And for a big list of places where you can embrace the autumn spirit, see this KFDC post.

Walk in the Woods – How about hitting the trail to enjoy the autumnal color spectrum? This KFDC post has a bunch of recommendations for good places to hike with kids.

Out & About – If you want to get outside without committing to a long walk, check out some of The Best Places in the DC Area to Enjoy a Beautiful Day Outdoors With the Kids.

Falling for the Weekend

An older photo, but a fall fave

Forgive the corny, cliché title of this post – it’s hard to come up with something clever week after week (not that they ever were that clever…). But trite or not, the reference to autumn is apropos for this roundup of weekend events, as so many of them salute the season. Of course, there are also recommendations that make no allusion to the time of year. No matter what you and the kids decide to pursue, fall-themed or not, have a great time doing it. Happy Weekend!

Kids Euro Festival –Thanks to the French-American Cultural Foundation, 27 EU embassies, and more than a dozen major cultural institutions, Europe is coming to us via the Kids Euro Festival, a virtual passport to four weeks of continental artistic adventures. This is the first weekend of the event that will present more than 200 FREE children’s performances all around the metro area. Mimes, storytellers, dancers, and puppeteers are just a few of the exciting acts that will perform at a variety of venues from October 14 – November 10. See what’s on the schedule this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Autumn Colonial Market Fair – Claude Moore Colonial Farm is holding its annual fair on Saturday and Sunday from 11am – 4pm both days. Tradesmen and artisans — blacksmiths, potters, silversmiths, candle makers, and more —from all over the country will be there to demo their work and sell their wares. Guests can also enjoy all kinds of colonial fare and watch as food cooks right over a fire pit, just like olden times. Along with the fair, you can also tour the farm, which is straight out of the 18^th-century. Admission to the farm on the Autumn Market Fair weekend is $6/adults, $3/ages 3-12, free for children 2 and under.

Rock Creek Fall Heritage Day at Peirce Mill – Step back in time somewhere else on Saturday for a day-long celebration marking the re-opening of historic Peirce Mill during Rock Creek Park Heritage Day. Artists, craftspeople, and historians will line the mill yard and grounds, restored to their 1800’s appearance, to bring history alive. Visitors can join them for hands-on demonstrations, while park rangers and historian shed light on what life was like in the 19^th century. There will also be tours of the restored mill, which will be grinding grain, as it did more than a century ago. A schedule of the day’s events and more info is available of the NPS website.

Truck Touch – Kids can pretend to drive a school bus, explore construction rigs, learn about EMS & recycling trucks, and many more vehicles at Suburban Nursery School’s annual Truck Touch. Along with the cool rides, guests can enjoy homemade baked goods and lunch from some favorite local vendors (pizza, ice cream, & hotdogs). It will all take place in the school’s parking lot on Saturday from 10am – 3pm. Admission is $5/person, free for children under 2. All programs benefit Suburban Nursery School, a non-profit, parent-run cooperative nursery school for over 50 years.

Pinkalicous and the Pink Pumpkin – Room & Board is hosting a special event featuring award-winning author and illustrator Victoria Kann, reading from her latest book Pinkalicious and the Pink Pumpkin. Bring the kids, decorate pumpkins, and enter for a chance to win our kid-sized Jill table and four Little Jake chairs. Books are available for purchase at the event. It all takes place from 11am – 1pm, and the reading begins at noon. The event is free, RSVP to roomandboard@brandlinkdcrsvp.com.

Taste of Georgetown – In its 18^th year, the Taste of Georgetown will showcase the spectacular cuisine of 30 of the neighborhood’s finest eateries, highlighting Georgetown’s culinary personalities and featuring nearly 60 delectable dishes to sample, as well as wine pairings, the jazz talents of Blues Alley artists, and children’s activities such as caricatures, jugglers, and balloon artists. Wisconsin and M Streets NW is where this will all go down on Saturday from 11am – 4pm. Tasting tickets can be purchased online or at the event.

Best in Shows – Drumming with Dishes at the Atlas, The Three Billy Goats Gruff at The Puppet Co. Playhouse, Krazy Kitchen Science at Discovery Theater, and Saturday Morning at the National are just a few children’s productions you can catch this weekend. For even more performances, see this post about live entertainment this season.

What’s Grosser than Gross? – The National Geographic Museum’s latest exhibit for kids, “Animal Grossology,” features some of the slimiest, stinkiest, yuckiest creatures on earth…and their natural bodily functions. Yes, there’s plenty about poop, puke, and other icky processes all presented through many cool, creative, interactive installments. Kids will love it (and so will adults). Admission is $8/adults, $6/ages 5-12, free for children 4 and under and includes the fun Weird But True exhibit as well as entrance to Ocean Soul: Photographs by Brian Skerry, a beautiful collection of images from oceans around the world that any photography buff or wildlife lover will find mesmerizing.

Fall Fests – Burgundy Farm Country Day School and South Mountain Creamery are holding their annual fall festivals this weekend. And many more seasonal celebrations are taking place at local farms and other venues around the area. See this post for details on all of them.

Family Day in the White House ‘Hood – The Neighbors to the President’s Consortium, a group of historic sites and museums in the White House neighborhood, is hosting a day of activities for families. Activities will include a scavenger hunt at the Renwick Gallery, an art safari at the Corcoran, candle making at the DAR Museum, and more. Detailed activity descriptions are available on the NTPC website.

Hop on the Halloween Train – The “Eye Spy” Halloween Train at Cabin John Regional Park rides again! Get on board this Friday, Saturday and Sunday – tickets sales begin at 2pm, and rides are every half hour from 3-8pm. Tickets are $6 person and include “Eye Spy” game card and other activities for kids.

Family Fun Literacy Day – The Play With Words Children’s Museum in Vienna, in partnership with the Vienna Whole Foods Market and PBS Kids, is hosting a Family Fun Literacy Day on Saturday from 12-3pm. Join them, along with the characters from PBS Kids “Super Why” TV show, for a fun afternoon of literacy-related activities, including hands-on activities and a treasure hunt throughout the Vienna Whole Foods store, with prizes for the first 200 children. More information is available on the Play With Words website.

And the forecast is looking great for this weekend, so this post will come in handy if you want to take advantage of the weather:

The Best Places in the DC Area to Enjoy a Beautiful Day Outdoors with the Kids

But if indoor pursuits sound like a better plan, you can get some ideas for them here:

Rainy Day Recreation (ie, Indoor Fun)

Kids Euro Festival: Four Weeks of Free European Art & Culture in DC!

You don’t have to cross an ocean to introduce your kids to European art and culture. Thanks to the French-American Cultural Foundation, 27 EU embassies, and more than a dozen major cultural institutions, Europe is coming to us via the Kids Euro Festival, a virtual passport to four weeks of continental artistic adventures.

From October 14 through November 10, the festival will present more than 200 FREE children’s performances all around the metro area. Mimes, storytellers, dancers, and puppeteers are just a few of the exciting acts on the schedule. Public libraries, DC embassies, National Geographic Live, the Kennedy Center, Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, the National Childrens Museum, Shakespeare Theatre, Strathmore, and AFI are among the many performance venues.

The festival, designed for children ages 2-12, is the largest of its kind in the country. More than 27 countries in the European Union are represented in the shows that highlight national cultural traditions and art.

Visit the Kids Euro Festival website for the complete schedule of performances and age recommendations. You can also “like” the Facebook page for updates on events.