Keep 'Em Busy—and Thinking About Presidents

Another three-day weekend and, with schools closed, more hours of the all-important busy-keeping. And, unless your kids are political junkies or history buffs, not much excitement about the holiday itself. But luckily, there's lots of other great stuff going on...

As we mentioned in an earlier post, this weekend is the debut of Pumpkin Theater's production, "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie," based on the awesome children's book—a favorite at my boys' school. Showtimes Saturday and Sunday, this weekend and next.

If your kids love a magic show - mine can't get enough - consider heading to the Chesapeake Arts Center in Brooklyn Park on Saturday at 4 p.m. to see nationally renowned magician Joe Romano (pictured here, floating on a broom a la Harry Potter) in the first show of the Center's Family Concert Series (it looks to be a great series too...)

An Die Musik is a fantastic local hub for classical, jazz, and avant garde music, but I've never of them staging any particularly kid-friendly events, which is why I was so pscyhed to hear about the piano duet for children scheduled for Sunday at 3 p.m. Stephanie Armstrong and Stephanie Bruning will perform a children-themed piano recital program with works by Ravel, Corigliano, Rawsthorne, Hovhaness, and more. Appropriate for ages 3 and up!

And of course, there are the perrenially great-for-kids activities, including the Walters, which, besides the great, often kid-friendly exhibits, has a fantastic play area on the lower level with lots of dress up stuff, puppets, puzzles, and an art room where there are facilitators to help you and are kids make great projects and bonus: FREE; The Baltimore Museum of Art frequently has great kids' activities; Also, the Marlyland Science Center ($3 off admission before noon on Saturdays, plus the weekly egg-drop contest), Port Discovery Children's Museum, The Zoo (still open—check out the pic of zebras in the snow (!) on their website), two Storyville locations (we LOVE Storyville), The American Visionary Art Museum (also with kid-friendly exhibits, and the treehouse/sculpture out back if it's not too cold), the various nature centers and conservancies (Oregon Ridge, Irvine, Howard County), and—of course!— the Aquarium.