KidsOutAndAbout Weekly Newsletter |
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Sat, May 30: International Festival
Fri, Jun 5: Parkour Party
Sat, Jun 6: 48th Annual Pride Houston® Celebration
Sat, Jun 13: Texas Blueberry Festival
Sat, Jun 20: Juneteenth Freedom Celebration
Sat, Jun 20: Dads, Dinos and Donuts Day 2026
Sun, Jun 28: Sesame Street Live
Sat, Jul 4: Red, White and Boom
Sat, Jul 18: Sea Center Shark Celebration
Sat, Jul 25: Brick Rodeo |
Dear KidsOutAndAbout readers: A tumble is not a verdict; it's information. And kids are natural data analysts. That's what a mom half a generation older than me told me when I was getting ready to have kids, and I took it to heart. So I was secretly a little thrilled the summer my daughter Madison was almost 4, when she took her first big splash off a slippery log into a
creek. Here's why: To succeed in life, everyone needs to learn to stretch to the edge of their abilities... to gather courage from their toes, to calculate, to balance, to wobble, to slide... and eventually to succeed. Kids can learn this early if the grownups in their orbit help them see the mud and bruises that come from a tumble as badges to be worn proudly: a fail-until-we-succeed philosophy in action. That's how personal fulfillment happens, and it's how human progress happens,
too. Summer is childhood's best laboratory, where sensory experiences stick as lifelong learning. School has grades and rubrics and consequences; summer has grass stains and do-overs. An amusement park ride can teach the difference between fear and danger. A hands-on museum can teach that when your tower collapses, you simply vow to rebuild it taller. A farm can teach that maybe you don’t like strawberries from the grocery store, but
you do like the ones you picked yourself, still warm from the sun. A climbing gym can teach your muscles that “I can’t” really means “I can’t yet.” And summer camps are entire worlds built around trying something new with no transcript following you home. Last week, the KidsOutAndAbout.com team launched our annual Top 20 Places to Take Kids survey. It's a way to thank the people who make your community a great place to raise kids. Equally important, it’s a giant menu of local opportunities for your kids to stretch their legs, their minds, and their bravery this summer. Use it to create your summer bucket list! Then step back and set your family’s summer dial to “safe to fail.” Watch your kids climb, build, stumble, and try again.
Let them splash.
—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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Janel Nansenn, MA, is an educational therapist and the founder of Read-A-Rific®, a reading comprehension program and Texas PDSES vendor. Nansenn's work has transformed the lives of struggling readers. Over the course of her career, she has helped thousands
of struggling learners achieve success both academically and personally.
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- City of Pearland Concerts in the Park - City of Pearland Parks & Recreation - 4141 Bailey Rd, Pearland, TX 77584, Friday, May 22, 2026, 7-9 pm
- Memorial Day Crafts at Peckham AFC - - Gardenia Lane, Katy, TX, Friday, May 22, 2026, 1-3 pm
- Sunset Cinema - - 2505 Lake Woodlands Drive, The Woodlands, TX, Friday,
May 22, 2026, 7:30-10 pm
- Nerf Night - - Newman Street, Alvin, TX, Friday, May 22, 2026, 6-8 pm
- Agritourism Days at
Blackwood Farm 2026 - - 27144 Rock Island Road, Hempstead, TX 77445, Saturday, May 23, 2026, 12-4 pm
- Fired Up Tour-Fire Station #2 - - 9303 Gosling Rd, The Woodlands, TX, Saturday, May 23, 2026, 10 am- 12 pm
- Saturday Movers and Shakers - - 20514b Highway 6, Manvel, TX, Saturday, May 23, 2026, 11-11:30 am
- Well-derness in Motion Family Fun Day - - 201 San
Marcos Springs Drive, San Marcos, TX 78666, Saturday, May 23, 2026, 11:00AM-3:00PM
- Memorial Day in The Woodlands - - 2099 Lake Robbins Drive, The Woodlands, TX, Sunday, May 24, 2026, 5-9 pm
- National Memorial Day Concert Live Stream - - ONLINE ONLY, Sunday, May 24, 2026, 8pm EDT / 7pm CDT / 6pm MDT / 5pm PDT / 4pm AKDT
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Click here to discover Birthday party locations in the Houston 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 of ideas!
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The KidsOutAndAbout annual guide to summer camps in the Houston 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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Have a great weekend!
Debra Ross
Publisher, KidsOutAndAbout.com
Mom of Madison and Ella |
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