KidsOutAndAbout Weekly Newsletter |
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Mon, Apr 20: April Vacation Week: Community Science at EcoTarium Sat, Apr 25: Party for the planet at Buttonwood Park Zoo
Sat, Apr 25: Southwick’s Spring Fest at Southwick's Zoo
Sat, May 2: Crabapples in Bloom: Music Inspired by Nature - At the Arboretum
Sun, May 3: Boston Red Sox: Star Wars Day at Fenway Park
Sun, May 3: Teacher Appreciation Weekend at Southwick's Zoo
Sun, May 3: Ever After Princess Ball
Tue, May 5: Preschool Story Hour-Pollinators (Ages 3-5) at Broad Meadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary
Sun, May 10: Lilac Sunday at Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University
Sun, May 10: Muffins for Mom: Mother's Day 5K & Children’s Entrepreneur Market at Good Pickin' Farm Fri, May 15: 2026 Copley Square Farmers
Market at Copley Square Farmers Market
Sat, May 16: Coggeshall Farm Sheep & Wool Festival |
Dear KidsOutAndAbout readers: When my kids were little, one of our favorite nature activities was also one of the simplest: We’d head out onto a trail, stop among the trees, and play the Listening Game. The rules were easy: Close your eyes. The first time you hear a sound, any sound at all, put up one finger. Then add another for each new sound you notice. After a minute or two, someone says, “Open your
eyes,” and everyone compares fingers and talks about what they heard. It’s a small exercise in attention, but it changes how kids experience the world. The invisible becomes visible... not to the eyes, exactly, but to the mind. Things that were just out of range suddenly move onto our radar. Nature is full of motion and music, and this game helps us tune ourselves to it. The free Merlin Bird ID app from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology takes that magic one step further: Tap Sound ID, and suddenly the songs around you appear on your screen as a voiceprint and a bird name and an image that shows you what to look for. And what a moment ago was only background atmosphere becomes a Carolina Wren, or an Eastern Whip-poor-will, or the Common Yellowthroat pictured above,
singing his heart out for a girl with a camera. That’s one of the great tasks of childhood, and of the adults who love children: to help hidden things come into view. Before we know something, it is almost as if it isn’t there. But once it is named, we have a new way to see. There are suddenly new dimensions to our universe, helping us transform even more mysteries into things that are ours. And we never really experience the woods—or the field, or the river, or
the ocean, or the city, or our backyard—the same way again.
—Debra Ross, publisher of KidsOutAndAbout.com, co-author of The Eclipse Effect: How to Seize Extraordinary Moments to Build Strong Communities
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KidsOutAndAbout.com: Discover more. Do more. Connect more. If you like my publisher's column, you can easily scroll through past columns in the "Notes
from Deb" section of our site. |
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BUILD THE BEST SCHOOL BREAK EVER! Get ready for a BRICKTASTIC adventure during School Break at LEGO® Discovery Center Boston. Jump into a world of creativity, imagination, and play at the ultimate indoor LEGO playground. Explore MINIWORLD, built from over a million LEGO bricks, join a hands-on Creative Workshop, and help save the princess on the Kingdom Quest ride. Enjoy immersive 4D movies, discover eye-catching build zones, and let your imagination run wild in interactive play areas designed for LEGO fans of all ages. Make your School Break unforgettable—get your tickets online now: https://www.legodiscoverycenter.com/boston/plan-your-visit/before-you-visit/spring-break/
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Come celebrate Japanese culture amongst the Arboretum’s beautiful cherry blossoms with taiko drumming, traditional Japanese dance, Japanese games and calligraphy, family activities, and the inside scoop on the Arboretum’s own cherry collection.
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Located at the Tented Events Pavilion at Southwick’s Zoo and Galliford’s Restaurant & Tavern. Join us on Saturday, April 18 (Rain Date: Sunday, April 19) for the 4th Annual Dog Adoption Event and Vendor Market, a heartwarming community celebration and part of Galliford’s Gives Back. This special event brings together local rescues, pet-friendly vendors, live entertainment, and animal lovers for an afternoon filled with fun, and maybe even a brand-new best friend. Whether you're actively looking to adopt or simply want to spend the day surrounded by wagging tails and great company, this is an event you won’t want to miss.
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It's going to be WILD! Young fans and their families nationwide are in store for even more adventure on the creature trail when the world-famous Kratt Brothers hit the road with an all-new stage adventure! Wild Kratts® LIVE 2.0 - Activate Creature Power®!, the theatrical production starring Martin and Chris Kratt, based on the Emmy-nominated hit PBS KIDS series, will bring audiences along on a "wild" ride with a dynamic mix of live-action and animation. In Wild Kratts LIVE 2.0, Chris and Martin take to the stage to activate new Creature Powers and go "off to the creature rescue!" With some help from the rest of the Wild Kratts team, who will be animated and on screen at the Tortuga HQ, the brothers confront a comic villain and once again save the day, sharing fascinating tidbits about some of the world's most amazing creatures along the way.
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Join us this year for Fairy Garden Days 2026 Celestial Spring! April 11-26* Explore our four greenhouses transformed for a celestial magic land. Get lost in the details of hundreds of fairy houses hidden in our gardens. Marvel at what local community members and artists have created for our exhibit this year. And enjoy fun activities for kids every day.
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Night in the Museum is an overnight experience designed for scouts, schools and other youth groups of up to 80 participants. With only a map and a tattered journal at their side, young historians will travel back in time and take part in a mysterious, candlelit adventure through the 1830s. The quest will exercise their detective skills as they hunt for clues, conduct experiments, and investigate the past. Back at our hands-on learning laboratory, we will experiment with historic crafts to learn more about 19th-century life.
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Step inside a breathtaking re-creation of the Sistine Chapel — where Michelangelo’s iconic ceiling paintings are brought down to eye level. Rated 4.8/5.0 by over 3 million guests. No trip to Rome needed. No crowds. Just an unforgettable experience of art, light, and scale — in a peaceful, immersive setting for all ages.
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Zoo-Wee Mama! Get ready to step out of the pages and onto the field for Diary of a Wimpy Kid Day at Fenway Park! We're celebrating the iconic best-selling series on Saturday, April 18, and just like Greg always said would happen... he's finally famous. So famous, in fact, he now has his very own Red Sox bobblehead. (Sorry, Rodrick - dreams do come true.) Fans who purchase tickets through this special offer will receive the exclusive Diary of a Wimpy Kid x Red Sox bobblehead, another reason to get out of bed on the weekends! Arrive early to rock out to a Löded Diper cover band on Jersey Street and enjoy many other Diary of a Wimpy Kid themed activations. And don't worry... anyone who has The Cheese Touch will be kept at a safe distance. Bring your best friend, your little brother (even if he's a bit of a Manny), and the whole Heffley-sized crew. It's a family affair and it's going to be legendary. It will definitely be one to write about in your journal afterward!
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Discovery Museum is a hands-on museum for families that blends science, nature, and play. The fully accessible campus provides indoor STEM-based exhibits and a nature playscape and giant treehouse for open-ended learning explorations.
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Explore the sanctuary's vernal pools, ponds, and woodlands to search for amphibians active during this season. If we're fortunate, we might discover Wood Frog and Spotted Salamander eggs, and we may even catch a few adults to observe closely before releasing them.
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This spring, Coggeshall Farm Museum invites families to enjoy a limited-time offer: Kids receive free admission during the month of April. Up to two kids receive free general daytime admission with the purchase of an adult ticket.
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- Free spring mini photo session with Shoott! - Boston - Shoott, Broadway, New York, NY, USA, Friday, April 17, 2026 to Sunday, April 18, 2026, See link for times
- Drop-In Gaming Time (All Ages) - At Boston Public Library - Chinatown Branch - Boston Public Library - Chinatown Branch, 2 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116, Friday, April 17, 2026, 12:30 pm - 4:30 pm
- Fairy Garden Days 2026 - At the Museum of Natural History in Roger Williams Park - Museum of Natural History and Planetarium, Elmwood Avenue, Providence, RI, USA, Friday, April 17, 2026, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
- Free Open Houses at the Betsey Williams Cottage - Museum of Natural History and Planetarium, Elmwood Avenue, Providence, RI, USA, Friday, April 17, 2026, 10:00 am - 3:00pm
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View our local Boston area 2026 summer camp guide for kids! Pick the dates you want to explore on our calendar and see what summer camps are available. Hundreds of local summer camps: day camps, overnight camps, sports, drama, music, theatre, arts &
crafts, technology, robotics, horseback riding, preschool, & more!
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Parents have an abundance of choices when it comes to PreK and day care options in the Boston area! Use our Big List to help find the best one for your kiddos and check our events calendar to find Open Houses where you can meet teachers and tour the
schools.
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Looking for a thrilling family-friendly adventure in the Boston area? Escape rooms are interactive, puzzle-packed experiences where you and your team work together to solve clues and complete your mission-all before time runs out! Whether you're escaping a
spooky cabin, cracking a high-stakes heist,…
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Click here to discover Birthday party locations in the Boston area. From Arcades to Ziplines our Big List will help you think outside the box and plan the party of your kids' dreams. KidsOutAndAbout has dozens (and dozens) of ideas!
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Have a great weekend!
Debra Ross
Publisher, KidsOutAndAbout.com
Mom of Madison and Ella |
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