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As much as I love being an urban dweller, nothing brings me more peace than nature, and Boston is lucky to have amidst its hustle and bustle the multi-faceted, family friendly Franklin Park. This Saturday (April 5, 10am – noon) you can show your kid what the song “Everybody clean up” means outdoors at the park’s Spring Clean-up Day. The grounds need the TLC - and families will benefit from the fresh air - after a long winter.
Nothing says spring in Boston like a week where bright shamrocks, the spring equinox, and a little snow all coexist on the agenda. Whether you wish to celebrate your Irish heritage, or simply dig festive processions, check out Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day parade this Sunday starting at 1pm at the Broadway T stop in South Boston. Abington and Scituate also will host parades this Sunday, as will Holyoke and Manchester, NH on the 30th. And if you happen to be cross continental, Dublin’s parade is, of course, on Monday.
Whether or not your family escaped to a balmy February vacation destination this week, you can embrace winter this Sunday (Feb. 24) at the Stony Brook Reservation Frozen Fun Fest. Enjoy a free afternoon including skating (BYO-skates), a hockey clinic, ice sledging (sledges provided), and other winter fun. Bundle up, and consider bringing hot drinks in a thermos too.
75 Turtle Pond Pkwy, Hyde Park; Tel: 617-333-7404
Happy Lunar New Year everyone! We hope you enjoy this collection of family friendly Chinese New Year festivities taking place over the next 10 days in Boston and the surrounding areas.
I haven't exactly been thinking favorably of members of the squirrel family these days, but today I’ll put aside my differences and direct you to a host of festivities in honor of Groundhog Day tomorrow. Consider visiting the Blue Hills Reservation (Milton; see flyer), Buttonwood Park Zoo (New Bedford), Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary (Ipswich), Long Hill (Beverly), or the South Shore Natural Science Center (Norwell).
Looking for a way to work off those holiday cookies and experience the winter weather without a shovel in hand? Check out the Kendall Square Community Ice Rink in East Cambridge, where you can skate recreationally, take lessons, or host a party. A café serving hot drinks and snacks is available.
300 Athenaeum Street, Cambridge; Tel: 617-492-0941
Having spent most of my college summers and winter breaks temping in downtown Boston, I really feel for Downtown Crossing's recent struggles, as various anchor retailers have left the area. This weekend, consider heading downtown to enjoy the holiday events that are part tradition/part revitalization effort. From 11am – 5pm you can take advantage of shopping deals, take a photo with Santa, enjoy refreshments, and visit the holiday petting zoo. And for little train enthusiasts, South Station’s holiday train exhibit is just one T stop (or brief walk) away, down Summer Street.
Keep your blades crossed for favorable triple axel weather as the Rink at The Charles opens this Sunday (Dec. 9). From noon to 8pm, enjoy complimentary skating (free entry and free skate rental!), beverages, entertainment, and a kid’s activity room with cookie decorating, coloring, and ornament crafting.
The Charles Hotel Courtyard, One Bennett Street, Cambridge (Harvard Square); Tel: 617-864-1200
I’m not sure whether it was a coincidence that my two closest college girlfriends both were former competitive figure skaters, but I’ve always had a place in my heart for the ice, regardless of the fact that I have long been limited to scooter-pushing my way around the boards.
And whether you spin or scoot, starting tomorrow you can strut your stuff at the Frog Pond Skating Rink on the Boston Common. The season starts tomorrow and ends March 17. Click here for hours and rates; tel: 617-635-2120.
Weekend fun is doubly sweet when it benefits those in need. Tomorrow’s Boston Pumpkin Festival at City Hall Plaza includes a free day (12 – 8pm) of family friendly entertainment, food, and pumpkins galore. Proceeds from the event will benefit Camp Sunshine, a national retreat for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families. And through Sunday nationwide, indulge in a cupcake at a participating bakery and mention Cupcakes for a Cause. Cupcake proceeds will benefit CancerCare for Kids. Locally, Rosie’s Bakery takes the cake as a major participant.
How can you not want to check out an event called Project YUM? This Saturday from 3-6pm (Sunday rain date) enjoy the fabulous culinary diversity of Union Square via Project YUM’s celebration of local crops and global shops. In addition to sampling exotic foods and locally grown veggies, you and the kids can enjoy craft projects and entertainment, learn about the healing properties of food, herbs, flowers, and plants, and watch chefs from Gargoyles, Evoo, and The Independent face off in an Iron Chef challenge.
No visit to the Boston Public Garden is complete without a photo op with the Make Way for Ducklings
“Robert McCloskey’s gentle Make Way for Ducklings
Here’s a novel idea for some of your tired, outgrown baby clothing. Head to the Children’s Museum in Easton this Sunday (9/23, 11am - 4pm) for their Scarecrow Stomp fall family festival, where you can craft a spooky scarecrow to take home (CME provides the stuffing) and enjoy other fall crafts, games, and music. Admission includes the Scarecrow Stomp + entrance to the museum’s exhibits.
Want to win four tickets to the Scarecrow Stomp? Email us by midnight EST tonight and name another fun special event on CME’s schedule. We’ll draw one winner from the correct responders.
Little bookworms no doubt will delight in the Boston Globe Children's Book Festival at Copley Square tomorrow (Sat., Sept. 15) from 11am – 5pm. This free, rain or shine event is particularly well suited to kids up to 9-10 years old; the schedule includes readings and signings by children's authors and illustrators, performances, face painting, giveaways, and more.
This weekend, festivals and family fun abound in Boston and beyond. Here’s a collection of events where no doubt there will be something for everyone: (ähts): The Boston Arts Festival, the Somerville Greek Music & Food Festival, the West Concord Family Festival, Arlington Town Day, Eastham Windmill Weekend, the Medford Arts Festival, the Lowell Rib’n Brews Festival, and, for the more agriculturally oriented, the Sterling and Franklin County fairs.
Here’s a terrific nature outing to consider this long weekend, submitted to us by one of our readers: “We just went to Elm Bank at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in Wellesley, and it was a great adventure on a nice day! It is absolutely beautiful there, being outside and running around the children's gardens…they have great programs for kids year round.”
Get back to nature this Sunday at the Stony Brook Kids Fest (11am - 3pm). Free outdoor fun will include crafts, games, live animals, food, music, and more. At the Stony Brook Reservation, Turtle Pond Parkway, West Roxbury, Hyde Park; Tel: 617-333-7404.
Looking for a family adventure where you can enjoy creatures and creature comforts (e.g., ice cream)? Here’s a great lead from my mama pal Evadne:
"We recently went strawberry picking at Smolak Farms and the whole family (grandparents included!) had such a blast. The fruit picking experience in and of itself was wonderful, but the farm had so many extras! My 2-year old loved seeing the deer, peacocks, and llamas at the petting zoo, and he expended a ton of energy on the climbing structures (especially the tractor). I was even able to nurse my 4-month-old under one of the umbrella picnic tables, while downing some pizza & ice cream. We definitely plan to visit again and next time we hope to squeeze in a hayride."
One college summer, I held a receptionist temp job at one of the old candy factories near Central Square, during which time I inhaled residual candy fumes to a point of blissful delusion. Today, Sharon reports on the multisensory magic to take place in Union Square this weekend:
“Whether you take you babe or get a sitter to have a night out with your honey, you’ll most definitely be brought back into a childlike wonder with the Somerville Art Council’s screening of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory… in smell-o-vision!
Maybe it’s a function of having a preschooler who isn’t yet into wizardry, but I’m not at all up on Harry Potter, and it’s clear from the hoopla planned in Hogwarts (Harvard) Square tomorrow (July 20), that I’m in the minority.
In addition to free concerts by Harry and the Potters, Draco and the Malfoys, and the Hungarian Horntails, numerous Harvard Square businesses are participating in tomorrow’s Potterpalooza, which starts at 5pm and runs late enough for eager readers to line up to buy the 7th Harry Potter installment
Although I’m no longer an active performer, music will always conjure images of passion and sacrifice thanks to my mom, a self-taught pianist who scrimped and saved during nursing school to buy the violin that ultimately became my appendage for 20 years (she planned on playing and then the kids started coming down the pike…), and who snuck me to private music lessons under an oath of secrecy because my dad thought music was superfluous; something that could only take away from a booming medical or law career.
To witness works of art well beyond the means of your local sandbox, check out the family friendly New England Sand Sculpting Festival at Revere Beach. Master sand sculptors from around the world begin competing tomorrow; event proceeds benefit Revere Beach preservation programs.
Laurel unfortunately has learned about fireworks by being woken up by local displays, and during the latest show, I could understand her distress. Given the proximity of the show, her bedroom was awash in bursts of bright light and noise.
Tomorrow's fireworks are well past Laurel's bedtime but I’m contemplating either keeping or waking her up to remove the element of surprise and show her that the “noisy color lights” are safe from a distance. Check out Boston’s classic festivities, or explore event listings in Greater Boston and the suburbs, and throughout New England.
I’m a classic New Englander with a hang up about the region’s weather variability, and as I’ve dragged along during the heat wave, I can hardly believe that I was in my last trimester with Laurel during this time of year. Clearly, the only reason I survived was frequent soft serve twist cones.
If you’re looking to submerge yourself in something more expansive than the backyard kiddie pool, there are lots of public spaces to cool off. The Boston Common Frog Pond Spray Pool opens tomorrow, the City of Boston’s pools and cooling centers have opened, and the Mass. DCR offers directories for pools, fresh water beaches, and ocean beaches (including specific listings for handicapped accessible beaches and pools) across the state.
My family birthday list includes a weird proliferation of birthdays that align with national holidays, including the July 4th birthday of my fabulous niece. I think it’s pretty cool that she’ll always be guaranteed a big, fanfare-laden national party on her day.
Boston’s July 4th celebration can be enjoyed starting tomorrow via Boston Harborfest. Running through July 4th, Harborfest includes over 200 daily events through the historic downtown and waterfront districts, and at Boston’s City Hall Plaza. The main events include: the Harborfest Concert Series (daily), Chowderfest (Sunday, July 1), and Children’s Day (Monday, July 2).
This weekend's family event picks are all about free "ahts" and "cultcha." Tonight at 7pm and tomorrow at 4pm, enjoy "A Celebration of the Sea," a concert highlighting Boston's nautical history, featuring Circle of Song, Revels's touring ensemble of adults and children (with special guests, David Coffin, Marshall Hughes, and Milton Wright). Outdoors at the Boston Children's Museum Children's Wharf Park.
And as part of the Rockport Chamber Music Festival, check out Strings and Things! tomorrow at 10am. This interactive performance features Monique Mead and Andres Cardenes (violin), Anne Martindale Williams (cello), David Leisner (guitar), and Marc Ryser (piano). At the Rockport Art Association.
If you’re looking for a fun way to celebrate Dad this weekend (sending him out to mow the lawn doesn’t count…), consider these cool weekend picks:
Pick your own strawberries at Drumlin Farm in Lincoln or at the Lookout Farm in South Natick. Enjoy a weekend of nature inspired celebration and activity along the Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord rivers at the Sixth Annual Riverfest. Or twist and shout tomorrow (noon - 6pm) along the Charles at the Cambridge River Festival.
If you’re looking for a peaceful change of scenery and a chance to get a little exercise, check out Babes in the Woods, a free Tuesday drop in activity at the Middlesex Fells Reservation in Stoneham. Tomorrow’s event (June 12, 10 – 11:30am) will involve stroller-friendly loops around Bellevue Pond. Next Tuesday’s event will be a more challenging (but not strenuous) hike, suitable for slings, packs, or rugged terrain strollers.
The forecast is looking good for our two favorite outdoor event picks for tomorrow. Introduce your kiddies to Asian culture at the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival of Boston, a free event that will feature dragon boat races, food, arts and crafts, and live entertainment from 9am - 5pm along the Charles River (click here for details). And burb-side, check out the DeCordova’s Art in the Park Festival and Art Sale (10am - 5pm), which will feature performances, art activities, food, and an art exhibition and sale featuring over 100 of New England’s finest artists and artisans.
As a kid, I spent a lot of time in Jamaica Plain (working at the family mom and pop store) before JP became a hip locale brimming with artists and interest. Tomorrow (June 7, 6 - 8pm), enjoy the cultural buzz along Centre and South Streets at this month’s installment of First Thursdays 2007. The event will feature art openings, family friendly music, artisans, and poetry (including open mic); pick up a complimentary pedometer and join fellow JP Walks enthusiasts to burn off your visit to JP Licks.
Nothing says summer like outdoor festivals. Tomorrow, consider heading up for Arts Fest Beverly (10am – 6pm). Cabot Street will be replete with artists, crafters, live entertainment, and food; Open Studios also will be running. This free event is rain or shine. For more information, call 978-922-8558.
If you’re looking for an adventure during today’s blissful day off, check out the buskers at the Faneuil Hall Street Performers Festival (11am – 6pm; and hit Beard Papa’s if you’ve got a craving for sweets...), or the Art, Flowers & All That Jazz Festival in Newburyport (10am – 5pm). The latter event includes music, arts and crafts, food, and a special music and story area for kids.
Tomorrow’s forecast is looking good for MayFair in Harvard Square, a free afternoon event (noon - 6pm) replete with food vendors, live entertainment, and artisans and merchants selling handmade, vintage, recycled, costume, antique, and sidewalk sale items.
The festivities span Harvard Square’s JFK Street, Brattle Street, Mass. Ave., Church Street, and Eliot Triangle, and will include free kid-friendly activities & crafts, snack samples, and entertainment.
Mother Nature will serve up fabulous weekend weather, perfectly timed for Earth Day events at the 8th Annual Charles River Cleanup (Saturday, 9am-12pm) and the Franklin Park Zoo (Sunday, 11am-3pm).
For the Charles River cleanup, show up at 9am at one of the drop in sites in Boston, Brighton, Watertown, Waltham, Needham, or Bellingham to receive supplies and instructions. Franklin Park Zoo’s earth party (free with admission) will include crafts, activities, animal encounters, exhibitors, and entertainment by Radio Disney. You also can participate in the zoo’s recycling drive, and little ones can learn about zoo animals through yoga and play (11am, 2pm).
Charles River Cleanup, multiple locations; Franklin Park Zoo, One Franklin Park Road, Dorchester; Tel: 617-541-5466
One of Laurel’s school pals eats waffles every morning for breakfast and subsequently always smells distinctly like a sweet puddle of maple syrup. This little guy thus ought to be thrilled that March is maple sugaring time in New England.
This weekend your kids can learn that maple syrup has a life beyond the breakfast aisle via demos at Brookwood Farm in the Blue Hills Reservation and at the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary. Click each link for admission and schedule details; the Brookwood link also includes additional maple sugaring programs offered this month by the Mass DCR.
Blue Hills Reservation, 695 Hillside Street, Milton; Tel: 617-698-1802 & Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary, 87 Perkins Row, Topsfield; Tel: 978-887-9264
If you can’t beat the winter weather, you might as well join in. Throughout today and all day tomorrow, Lowell Winterfest celebrates the season with a full schedule, including free ice skating, face painting, magic shows, tundra rides, and fireworks, as well as crafts, live entertainment, a soup bowl competition, and the ever popular National Human Dogsled Championships.
Winter days in Boston don’t get more picturesque than today, where the snow falls light and pretty, and brushing off your car takes mere minutes.
All the better to leave you with time to bundle up and get your skating groove on at The Rink at The Charles Hotel. Located on the plaza side that opens out into Harvard Square, until early March the rink is open from 2pm - 8pm on weekdays and 10am - 8pm on weekends. Skate rentals are $5 and skating fees are $5 for adults and $3 for children under 12 years old.
And after cutting your figures, be sure to reward yourself with a decadent hot chocolate at L.A. Burdick’s on Brattle Street.
The Rink at The Charles Hotel, One Bennett Street, Cambridge; Tel: 617-234-8008
Many, many years ago I picked up a contract editing gig with First Night Boston and I was floored by the amount of programming the then small team assembled. And the organizers are still at it, with First Night 2007 offering over 200 performances, exhibitions, and workshops featured at over 40 Boston venues.
Events run from 1pm to midnight on December 31. Admission buttons ($15; children under 4 free) are good all day, and also can be used for discounts throughout the month of January at select venues. Be sure to check out the handy search engine (category, time of day, indoor/outdoor venue, artist) to help plan your day. Happy New Year!
There are few experiences more classically Boston than meandering the cobblestone streets of Beacon Hill (and it’s amazing that mere steps can make the construction chaos of the Charles Street T stop a distant memory).
Bundle up tomorrow for the Beacon Hill Holiday Stroll along Charles Street. Open to the public, the evening (5-9pm) will include festivities and refreshments, buggy rides, Santa Claus, tree lighting, and of course, the specialty of Charles Street, shopping.
Today after a meeting downtown, I decided to put off the to do list for a couple of hours and connect with my husband for lunch. That in itself was a huge treat (more on the inspiration for that get together, and the restaurant itself, later), and as I crossed Government Center and Faneuil Hall to meet Jon, I was struck by how lovely it was to be walking along the cobblestones, taking in the city and waterfront, especially now that the elevated Central Artery is gone.
Tomorrow afternoon you can experience Faneuil Hall in high spirits; at 1pm Santa (I’d prefer a nondenominational holiday spirit, but so be it…) will kick off a celebration of music and lights, featuring performances by bell ringers, singers, and dancers from across New England. At 7pm, you can participate in the countdown leading to the illumination of over 300,000 lights set along the buildings and trees of Faneuil Hall Marketplace.
Luckily it looks like the weather will clear in time for the Stone Zoo’s Boo at the Zoo event, Saturday and Sunday (October 21 & 22), from 11am to 3pm. You and your munchkin can traverse the trick-or-treat trail and haunted maze, rock out to music provided by Radio Disney, and get creepy with crafts, critters, and costume contests. Admission is $7.50 for adults, $6.50 for seniors, $4.50 for children ages 2-12, and free for kids under 2 and members.
I’m still struggling with the concept for Laurel’s Halloween costume request (“big yellow grape”), but this event likely will prove entertaining, costume or not.
Stone Zoo, 149 Pond Street, Stoneham, Tel: 781-438-5100
Farms and fall in New England typically conjure vibrant, cheerful images; what a pity it was to read on Universal Hub that Honey-Pot Hill Orchards in Stow – where I happily have picked apples in years past – has evolved into a headache-inducing, commercial nightmare.
The good news is that you still can devise a pastoral outing while saving on aggravation and mileage, so long as you are okay ditching the apple ladders. Closer to Boston is Arena Farms in Concord, a lovely farm stand offering an impressive selection of fruits, vegetables and flowers, as well as a bountiful pumpkin area (shown, Laurel helping with farm chores last year), fun displays of freakishly large or mottled pumpkins, and an area to see baby animals.
Arena Farms, 167 Fairhaven Rd (Route 2), Concord, Tel: (978) 369-4769
UPDATE (11/2/07): Sadly, Arena Farms closed the week of October 29, 2007.
Looking for a wild outdoor adventure before the rain hits this weekend? The Massachusetts Audubon Society’s Drumlin Farm offers a host of activities, among them a fully functioning farmyard, animal exhibits, learning gardens, hayrides, and hiking trails (during the summer, they also offer camp programs). The farm has free parking, family bathrooms, a picnic area, farm stand, and gift shop. They also offer birthday party hosting services during the school year.
Drumlin Farm is open from 9am-5pm March - October; 9am-4pm November - February. The farm is closed Mondays except on federal Monday holidays. Admission: $6 for nonmember adults; $4 for nonmember children (3-12) and seniors.
Drumlin Farm, 208 South Great Road, Lincoln; Tel: 781-259-2200