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As usual on Friday, we're in weekend-planning mode. This weekend seems to be one where there's more cool stuff to do than usual...
Well, to start BIG, there's Monster Jam at 1st Mariner Arena through the weekend ($10 tickets for kids, $22 and up for adults). We went last year (with comp tickets) and at first, I had trouble getting my head around the fact that thousands of people had gathered to watch the spectacle of enormous trucks ride over normal size cars—over and over and over again. To be fair, there are also riders doing tricks on motorcycles, ATVs, and bikes—some really incredible ones too—but they're really just palate-cleansers for the main event: watching Gravedigger (pictured) make rubble out of thousands of dollars worth of automotive machinery. Four-year-old Jack, I must admit, had a blast. And by the end, I was having fun too. Sorta. Bring earplugs for everybody!!
This is the last weekend to learn how to make maple syrup at Maple Magic at Irvine Nature Center in Owings Mills. My fellow blogger (cool) progeny—who I seem to run into at all the cool kid events in town—has a nice post about it.
It's also a good weekend to go to one of our favorite kid-friendly spots in town, The B&O Railroad Museum. For one thing, if you're a zoo member like us, it's the last weekend that that membership card will get you in free to the B&O. Also, this weekend marks the birthdays of both the B&O railroad itself and the roundhouse where the museum is located, and there are special exhibits about both.
On Saturday night, the Y of in Randallstown is hosting a free family fun night from 6 to 9pm, where kids can swim, play games (including Dance Dance Revolution), and have snacks.
For older kids (8 and up), WYPR's Aaron Henkin will host the finals of Poetry Out Loud, a poetry contest for high school students, on Saturday night at the Enoch Pratt Free Library downtown.
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.
