For the first time EVER, beloved local children's musician Mr. Knick Knack will be performing in a FULL BAND show. The show will take place on Saturday, April 5, 2014 at iconic Old Town Theater in Alexandria, VA.  This breathtaking venue is newly renovated back to it's circa 1914 state. Plus, Old Town Alexandria offers tons of family fun, shops, restaurants, and a beautiful waterfront to enjoy before or after the show. 

Got a little wiggler who wants to dance along?  Don't worry…Mr. Knick Knack encourages it, and with general admission, you don't have to worry about your child staying in a seat. 

Show details:

Mr. Knick Knack Full Band Show
Saturday, April 5th, 2014 at 11:00am
Place: Old Town Theater
815 King St, Alexandria, VA 22314
$8/per person

Tickets: http://www.theoldtowntheater.com/calendar.html

My family and I decided to spend my birthday weekend taking a day trip to Richmond to enjoy the Science Museum of Virginia.  If you haven't been, this is a massive, breathtaking science museum with so many hands on opportunities for kids.  It wasn't our first trip to the museum, and it won't be our last. The museum is a venue that can grow with families from tots to teens, and we recommend it as one of the best museums in the entire state for families!

The Science Museum of Virginia website does a wonderful job describing the exhibits, which contain many components and sub-exhibits.  Here are some highlights:

* The Idea Factory:  Kids just adore this exhibit with building fun, physics, sound and light experiments, and an imagination playground.

* Out of this World: Learn about planets and the atmosphere on a screen that is a giant sphere at "Science on a Sphere." Explore gravity, pressure, the earth's rotation and more at many, many hands-on exhibits.

* The Body Human: From healthy eating, to the human mind, DNA, and more. This section of the museum focuses on the science of people.

* Creatures:  Interact with real animals and enjoy presentations with creatures. (See museum's daily schedule for details.)

*Boost: My family's favorite part of the museum! Upon entering, everyone gets a card with a unique QR code and this giant exhibit has tons of interactive components from mind games, speed, music, strength, balance, and more. It is a lot of fun with a lot to see and do.  Be patient and expect to wait your turn. 

Other traveling exhibits and films in the exclusive "Dome" rotate throughout the year.  Check the museum website for the latest details. 


More photos: 

Kids in the DC Metro area are too cool for ordinary Easter egg hunts!  Check out a unique way to celebrate fun at Madame Tussauds Wax Museum's 3rd annual Easter Egg Hunt on April 19, 2014.  This exclusive hunt includes finding eggs through the Presidents' Gallery, gift bags, a meet & greet with the Easter Bunny, access to an on site petting zoo, hands-on crafts, and storytelling.  The best part is…the hunt is free for children 12 and under and includes full access admission to the whole museum too.  Admission will be $25 for adults (13 and older.) Please note, there is a limit of four children per each adult. 


Don't miss this quintessential Washington DC event.  There are four sessions available, with limited availability in each session.  Time slots are:  7:30 AM, 8:00 AM, 8:30 AM, 9:00 AM

Making Their Mark is a special exhibit that just opened up at the National Archives Museum in Washington DC.  This family friendly exhibit illustrates the many ways people have made their mark on history through a signature. Some you might expect—like presidents signing groundbreaking legislation—and others you might find surprising—like Michael Jackson’s patent for a “method and means for creating anti-gravity illusion.”
 
This exhibit truly offers something for all ages and interests. For the littlest visitors, there is a photo of Mickey Mouse and Walt Disney from the very first days of their collaboration and a drawing of the original teddy bear by Clifford Berryman. For the fashion-conscious in your family, the exhibit features the signature style of First Ladies and Presidents, including Jackie Kennedy’s pillbox hat, President Bush’s cowboy boots, and First Lady Michelle Obama’s dress from Election Day 2008.
 
Sports fans can see a signed football from the New York Giants  2012 Super Bowl win, a signed bat from the Word Series 2010 champs, the San Francisco Giants, and a signed 2007 Iraqi national soccer team jersey. 

Plus, there will be a special family day on   Saturday, March 29, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the museum's Boeing Learning Center:  Come and bring your family to explore the many ways people have placed their signature on history, from developing a signature style to signing groundbreaking policy into law. The day will feature family fun with hands-on activities.

"From the flourish of John Hancock to a landowner in Louisiana making her mark--an "x"--in an appeal to Congress...the exhibit explores signatures from Presidents and celebrities to those made by individuals unknown to history," says curator Jen Johnson.

You can find even more kid-focused exhibit items in the attached list below: 

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® Presents Built To Amaze!, is an extraordinarily engineered circus experience where Children Of All Ages® find out what it takes to build The Greatest Show On Earth®. The foundation is set and the rising anticipation of high-energy, high-jinx and hilarity is ready to be transported by colorful circus machinery and unleashed from shipping crates right before the audience’s eyes.

Built to Amaze! performs at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va. from April 9 – 20. The show features more than 110 of the world’s best performers representing 17 countries along with 95 exotic and domestic animals. 

Ringling Bros. Presents Built To Amaze! includes the All-Access Preshow®  beginning an hour before show time FREE to all ticket holders. The Pre-show allows audience members to meet and take photos with performers, try on circus costumes, learn circus skills and have the chance to win a masterpiece painting by one of the Ringling Bros. artistic Asian elephants. 
You can only experience this design of excitement at Ringling Bros. Presents Built To Amaze! 

Show info: 

FAIRFAX, VA SHOW 
The Patriot Center | April 9 – April 20, 2014

Show times:
·       Wednesday, April 9 – 7:00 pm
·       Thursday, April 10 – 7:00 pm
·       Friday, April 11 – 10:30 am, 7:30 pm
·       Saturday, April 12 – 11:30 am, 3:30 pm, 7:30 pm
·       Sunday, April 13 – 1:00 pm, 5:00 pm
·       Thursday, April 17 – 7:00 pm
·       Friday, April 18 – 1:00 pm; 7:30 pm
·       Saturday, April 19 – 11:30 am, 3:30 pm; 7:30 pm
·       Sunday, April 20 – 1:00 pm, 5:00 pm
 
Fairfax Ticket Prices: $15.00/$20.00/$30.00 (Circus Celebrity, Front Row and VIP available)
 
Ticket Information: All seats are reserved. Tickets can be purchased at all Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at 800-745-3000, via www.ticketmaster.com , and the Patriot Center box office. For group rates and information, call 202-661-5061. For additional information about Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, please visit www.ringling.com.

Our readers have been begging us to check out the new Flight Trampoline Park in Springfield, VA, and we were so fortunate to finally visit.  The venue is large, clean, and an incredibly fun for all ages.

We visited during Kid Flight, which is offered weekdays from 10 AM-1 PM for kids under six.  As of right now, Kid Flight costs $10 per child for an hour of jumping and one accompanying adult jumps free per paid child.  (They really do enforce that you can only stay for one hour.)  Kid Flight is very cool because supervised kids have free roam of the whole facility and can jump on all the trampolines, dodgeball courts, basketballs areas, etc.  Plus, there is Disney music playing the whole time…Cars, Cinderella, Lion King, Frozen, etc.  Can't beat that soundtrack with the under 6 crowd! 

Please note that kids are ALWAYS welcome to jump during "Open Jump," but those under 46 inches will be confined to the Kiddie Court only. 

Simon Malls® are welcoming families to experience the magic of reading at the mall during the annual Simon Kidgits Club® Book Blast event on Thursday, March 20 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the court area near Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH at Potomac Mills.  Plus, we love the great Virginia-themed play area where kids can play before or after the event. 

This free event will include:

• an exciting read-aloud session 

• live musical performance presented by local children’s entertainer, Mr. Knick Knack

•  complimentary refreshments courtesy of Starbucks and Rita’s Ice

•   Better World Books will provide each child that attends the event a pre-loved book and bookmark to take home.

“Because Simon Malls are destinations for families and friends to do more than just shop, Simon Kidgits Club is giving children the chance to experience all that books have to offer in a social setting,” said Jayne Stilson, assistant vice president of business development for Simon Brand Ventures, the business-to-consumer division of Simon Property Group. “We’re combining education with fun and allowing kids to simply have a blast with reading.”


Families can also give back by donating books at the Potomac Mills' Drop Box, located at the Book Blast Event. The books will be given to Volunteers of America, an organization which supports and empowers America's most vulnerable groups.  Those who donate will receive a special gift! 


The event is free, but children are encouraged to sign up for the official Simon Kidgits Club for just $5 a year. Simon Kidgits Club members receive a variety of goodies, including a Simon Kidgits Club T-shirt, membership card, birthday card and gift, discounts and scheduled activities. For more information about the Simon Kidgits Club, visit http://www.simon.com/kidgits/.

 

We were honored to take place in an exclusive preview of the Fresh Air Kids class today at Rust Nature Sanctuary in Leesburg, VA.  The fun class included animal interactions, finding tracks in nature, reading a book about animal movements, and a wonderful discovery hike through the sanctuary.  Throughout the hike we found animals (some alive and some pretend) to discuss, spotted a tadpole in the pond, went on a color hunt while learning about camouflage, and used our senses to discover nature.  I was thoroughly impressed with the naturalist, and the kids were entertained, learning, and engaged throughout the whole program.  It is a beautiful sanctuary and very convenient to get to from many Northern Virginia destinations. I highly recommend signing up for this program.  Look for additional articles highlighting the family-friendly programs at Rust Nature Sanctuary in the near future. 


FRESH AIR KIDS at Rust Nature Sanctuary
Ages 5 and under 
Fridays, March 28-May 9 (10-11:30 AM) (six sessions, no session Spring break)
$50 per child, (siblings $40)
http://www.audubonnaturalist.org/index.php/about-ans/sanctuaries/rust-leesburg-va#programs

Children are born naturalists. The Rust Nature Sanctuary builds on children's inherent curiosity about the world by using hands-on, nature-based activities to foster social, physical, and academic skill development. The Fresh Air Kids Class is for children aged 5 years and younger, along with a parent or caregiver. Classes meet on Fridays and take place outdoors in the 68-acre nature sanctuary.  The classes involve crafts, songs, a read aloud, and always a hike. Bring a lunch to share at the picnic tables. To register, call 703-669-0000 or email [email protected]

New to My Gym? Check it out for lots of active fun, and you won't be disappointed! 

My Gym Burke invites you to explore their state-of-the-art facility and programs at their Spring Open House. They'll have games, music, puppet shows, prizes, raffles, face painting by Sunrise Face Painting, and more!

They'll have exclusive Open House sign-up specials for classes, birthday parties, and camps!

Friday, February March 21st

4-5 pm (children 3 & under)

5:15-6:15pm (all ages)

6:30-7:30pm (all ages)

 

Space is limited and reservations are required. 

Call or email at [email protected] to reserve your spot today to this private event!