President's Day Weekend with Kids in CT: Maple Syrup, Bald Eagles, Mozart

Winter Break starts this weekend for the majority of us Nutmeggers. A full week to either go on vacation or to stay home and do fun activities with the kids. There are plenty of Winter Break camps starting Monday and activities galore this weekend.

We covered some President's Weekend Activities in Hartford and Fairfield Counties as well as many others listed below including in Litchfield County. Check out our indoor playspace post in the Hartford County area. Our friends over at CT-Moms are planning a great event in memory of all the victims of tragic house fires by planning a fire prevention awareness event next week. Try to attend if you can. Don't forget: You have until noon this Sunday to enter our Stepping Stones Museum's Winter Wonderland Children's Ball 4 pack giveaway.  The 4 tickets to see the Wizard of Oz on Imax at the Maritime Aquarium winner will be chosen this Saturday. Enter now! GOOD LUCK!

We are on Facebook and post every day. LIKE us. Same with Twitter. I've just joined Pinterest! Join me there. I'm still filling some boards out but have plenty up. It's a bit addictive! The dangers of working on the internet....anyway, enjoy the long weekend and have a great time with the kids!

SATURDAY 2/18

“Puppet Potpourri" by the Puppet People of New York
Washington Montessori School
1The puppet shows are open to the public and are geared to pre-school and elementary school children.
The Puppet People of New York will perform an original piece called “Puppet Potpourri,” a fun variety show accompanied by musical favorites like “the Entertainer” and “the Sorcerer’s Apprentice.: This show includes a variety of puppets from hand puppets, mouth puppets and marionettes.

Make A Real Clock Activity
Timexpo: The Timex Museum
Choose from one of our many designs. Decorate and assemble your very own working clock. Make at Home Kits also available.

Hop aboard the Eagle Flyer and spot Bald Eagles
Essex Steam Train and Boat
Hop aboard the Eagle Flyer!  Naturalists from Connecticut's Bald Eagle Study Group and Master Wildlife Conservationists will assist passengers in spotting Bald Eagles and wildlife living in our unspoiled Connecticut River Valley.
  

Maple Syrup Making
New Canaan Nature Center
A special session for those interested in making syrup from maple trees in their own backyard! The Nature Center Syruping Team will teach how to identify sugar maples, when to tap your trees, pointers for monitoring sap flow and collecting sap, and techniques for the evaporation/boil down process.

Family Friendly Drop In Weekend at the Aldrich
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum
Just stop by the Education Center to enjoy self-guided, hands-on projects for all age levels. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Drop-In Hours will also be available during winter holiday vacation days and snow days, weather permitting.

Kids Adventure day
The Institute for American Indian Studies
After learning about the materials Native Americans would have used to make tools, weapons and toys, join IAIS Educators for an afternoon of outdoor family fun and a scavenger hunt along our woodland trails.  We’ll end the afternoon roasting marshmallows around the fire in our outdoor Algonkian village.

Great Backyard Bird Count: a ‘training session’
Audubon Greenwich
A great way to get the kids involved with science that matters, the Great Backyard Bird Count (February 17-20) is a nationwide ‘citizen science’ effort to research where the birds are in late winter. Count at home, in parks or neighborhoods.

SUNDAY 2/19

2012 Mozart & Friends Recital Series
Steinway Piano Gallery
These intimate recitals allow you to enjoy the breathtaking sounds of music by Mozart and his friends, enhanced by the intimacy and outstanding acoustics of the Steinway Piano Gallery in Westport Ct.

Sunday Open Cockpits
New England Air Museum
Visitors will be permitted to climb into the cockpits of up to 12 vintage aircraft, a full-motion flight simulator and two static flight simulators.
 
There will be a program on the Tuskegee Airmen of WWII complete with exhibits, films and a guest appearance by Tuskegee Airman Connie Nappier who will be on hand form 11 AM – 1 PM.



Hop aboard the Eagle Flyer and spot Bald Eagles
Essex Steam Train and Boat
Naturalists from Connecticut's Bald Eagle Study Group and Master Wildlife Conservationists will assist passengers in spotting Bald Eagles and wildlife living in our unspoiled Connecticut River Valley.
   


Open Skate at South Kent School
South Kent School
Participants must wear hat and skates on the ice during open skate and skates and helmet for sticks and pucks.

Sunday Explorers
Stamford
Visitors can join a winter hike or outdoor activity
then head inside the nature center classroom for fun science experiments.

MONDAY 2/20

Jumpin' Jammin' Open Jumps for Winter Break
Jumpin' Jammin'
This week the open jumps are as follows:
Monday through Friday:
10am-12,  1:30-4pm and 5:30-8pm

Roxi and the Dinosaurs
Yale Peabody Museum
Join Roxi Fox for an epic adventure through prehistoric time in this popular Betty Baisden puppet show. Can Roxi rescue Billy the Pirate and avoid the T. rex with a toothache?

Puppets & parables
The Institute for American Indian Studies
Native Americans have told stories for centuries, not only for entertainment, but also as a way of passing down history and explaining natural phenomena.  Join IAIS Edu- cators as we create our own woodland animal puppets.  Then kids are invited to use their puppets to act out a traditional Native American story.  

Limited space.  Please call for reservations.

Storytelling with Movement
Stepping Stones Museum for Children
Parents and children together enjoy a short story while participating in yoga-based movement in the Performance Gallery.

Ceramic Studio Mondays
Stepping Stones Museum for Children
Learn the basics of ceramics and make your own masterpiece.