KidsOutAndAbout Weekly Austin Newsletter |
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Sat, Jun 6: 5th Annual Midsummer Festival
Sun, Jun 14: Family Day: Garden of Rainbows
Sun, Jun 14: Summer Kickoff Party @ Indigo Play!!
Fri, Jun 19: Juneteeth Celebration in
Manor
Sat, Jun 20: Juneteenth Festival Round Rock
Sun, Jun 21: Austin Symphonic Band: Father's Day Concert
Thu, Jun 25: Western Days Festival
Sun, Jun 28: Sesame Street Live
Sat, Jul 11: Dinosaur Day
Sun, Jul 19: Under the Sea
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Dear KidsOutAndAbout readers: "The best thing about your newsletter," said a reader who met me in person at an event last June, "is the sheer number of things to do, and the fact that they're just packed in there, all in one handy place." "Thanks!" I said. I may have glowed a little. "And the worst thing about your newsletter," she continued, "is the guilt trip. I know
you don't mean to lay that on us. We can't do it all, so it means we read about so much we can't do. Especially in summer." She was right, in one sense, of course. June and July are the most packed months of the calendar: Kids are out of school, families are ready for fun, and our communities respond. Each local organization gets to post its own events on our calendar for free, and many are featured in this newsletter, so what's happening is right there in front of
you. But I get it! And I hereby remove the guilt. Ego te absolvo. Of course, good families try to expose their kids to great things, but no one has the time, money, or energy to do it all. This stuff needs to be spread out over a childhood, not packed into a single summer, much less a single weekend. So make a family bucket list for Summer 2026. An easy way to do that is to take our annual survey of the Top 20 Places to Take Kids, which is open through June 20; it has dozens of places to have fun this summer, even though you only vote for your top 3! And you should also use our 50 Ways to Love Your Summer article for ideas that require zero technology, zero travel, and zero dollars. Above all, go easy! Remember, summer is no time for grades! The only prize is the summer that's right for your family.
—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. |
Please click through to our 2026 survey to vote for your top 3 places to take kids... it will be used to compile our 2026 Top 20 Places to Take Kids in the Austin area. Voting is live through June 20; believe me, winning a place on the Top 20 list matters to the people who
create amazing family-friendly experiences. Take 3 minutes to choose your favorites as your way of saying thank you... and use the list to build your summer bucket list at the same time! |
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You're invited to Indigo Play’s Summer Kickoff Party on Sunday, June 14, from 3–5 PM! Enjoy a live DJ dance party, mermaid meet-and-greet, balloon art, games, prizes, and a raffle. Parents can relax with happy hour specials while kids play nonstop. Music, magic, and summer vibes all in one place! This event is included with play admission. Please visit our website for more information!
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Join Texas Science & Natural History Museum to celebrate all things dino! Enjoy family-friendly educational activities, explore the museum’s interactive Discovery Center and newly updated Paleontology Gallery, and bring fossils for in-person identification by a paleontologist. Check out a 33-foot cast replica of a full tyrannosaur skeleton and see a wide assortment of paleontology specimens. Plus, get 20% off select dinosaur-themed merchandise in the Museum Store! All activities included with admission.
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Get ready, Bastrop! Pride is coming and we’re bringing the energy ALL day long! Vendors, Kids Zone, Entertainment, Community + Celebration. Come out, show your pride, and celebrate love, inclusion, and being unapologetically YOU.
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This FAME Friday the Bastrop County Museum & Visitor Center is inviting community members to decorate the sidewalk outside the museum with chalk art. Materials will be provided to allow family and friends allow their creativity to go wild and show what they love so much about the Bastrop community. Free and open to everyone!
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Join Figment Creative Labs for our Parents Night Out events every first Friday of the month! Enjoy your night out from 6:00 - 9:00 PM as your children explore their creativity alongside children their age and our Figment Furry (and scaly) Friends.
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Join us for Party for the Planet, a free, family-friendly event celebrating World Environment Day with a DJ, foam party, splash pad fun, and environmental education and crafts. Join us for Party for the Planet at the Hilltop Pavilion at Fischer Park in honor of World Environment Day! Sponsored by WM, this free community event will run from 4 to 7:00 p.m. and will feature environmental education and crafts, games, a DJ, splash pad fun, and a foam party! It’s a family-friendly event designed to bring the community together around the shared goal of protecting our planet.
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In the heart of the Hill Country, the vibrant sounds of summer come alive in Leander! Get ready to immerse yourself in an unforgettable celebration of music, community, and culture at our annual Old Town Music Festival.
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One kid’s trash is another kid’s treasure! Reduce, reuse, and recycle your way to one-of-a-kind art. Create an eco-friendly collage using recycled materials and your imagination. Join The Contemporary Austin's family programs team at Lake Austin H-E-B for a morning of artmaking with free art kits! Create in-store or at home.
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Alongside Texas Parks and Wildlife, this event is for children looking to learn the basics of fishing from tying a hook to a line, casting, bait, fish identifying and rules of fishing. Ages 6-12. Event is FREE, but space is limited. Pre-registration is required at KyleRec.RecDesk.com. Registration includes rod and reel combos, tackle boxes and items for their tackle box. Check in starts at 7:30am, event begins at 8 a.m. at Lake Kyle Park, 700 Lehman Rd, Kyle TX 78640.
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Watch them burn bright! Ignite is an annual student showcase presented by Zach's Pre-Professional Company. This revue-style show is a culmination of rigorous training and a year of students’ hard work, artistic growth, and dedication to their craft. Featuring classic and contemporary Broadway hits, this showcase celebrate the future of musical theater and the singers, dancers, and storytellers bringing it to life.
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The Wildflower Center will soon be transformed into an Ice Age landscape! Travel back in time and meet 15 gigantic mammals – including a 17,500-pound woolly mammoth – that have come out of extinction to stomp around our gardens. It’s been thousands of years since these massive creatures roamed the earth. As you move through the gardens, you’ll get a glimpse of what that world was like.
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Celebrate the Annual Blanco Lavender Festival, in the heart of Texas Hill Country! This fragrant, family-friendly event invites you to explore the blooming beauty of Hill Country Lavender Farm (8241 FM 165, Blanco, TX) and the bustling Lavender Market on Blanco’s historic town square. Enjoy live music under the oaks, savor lavender lemonade and cookies, and shop handmade products and plants to take home.
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Join local makers and artisans for an afternoon of demos and hands-on learning activities. All ages are welcome to attend. No registration required. Check out staff demos of the laser cutter, 3D Printer, and more! Try out hands-on activities with staff like screen printing, simple bookbinding, and other crafts. While you're here, get information on this year's Summer Reading Program.
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Acres of Sunflowers and unicorns featuring over 12 different varieties of single branching sunflowers. Every turn reveals another moment of wonder where magic roams free.
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Planning a kids birthday party in the Austin area? Here are lots of ideas for where to have it! If there is a resource that we have missed, please email us to let us know, and we'll add it promptly.
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The KidsOutAndAbout annual guide to summer camps in the Austin area is back! You can search by date, age, or categories like day/overnight, sports, drama, music, theatre, arts & crafts, technology, robotics, horseback riding, preschool, & more. Our
guide puts summer fun right at your fingertips!
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Fruit picking is a great activity to do together as a family. It helps little ones understand where their food actually comes from, and it's a fun tradition to share every year right through the teens. Here's where you can go around Austin for strawberry
picking, cherry picking, blueberry picking, raspberry picking, peach picking, and other pick-your-own opportunities for fruit.
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Enjoy the weekend!
Debra Ross
Publisher, KidsOutAndAbout.com
Mom of Madison and Ella |
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