Free Museum Admission Sept 24

Smithsonian magazine is promoting a free museum day (in the spirit of Smithsonian museums that are always free) with participating museums across the country. Go here and request tickets to one near you! For those of you in Pittsburgh the list includes the Carnegie Museums of Art and Science :)

Make a message board at Home Depot

Home Depot has another Free kids workshop coming up this weekend -Sept 3rd. from 9am-12pm

This one is to make an ESPN themed locker message board - pictured above. I imagine you could use more places than a locker if your kids don't have one.

These events are designed for children ages 5-12 (though my home depot at least isn't too particular about that, my 4 year old has participated with no problem). Your child gets a home depot apron to keep and a pin for each workshop they complete. More details here.

Summer Reading Extravaganza

Okay, this even is on a Sunday, but it is so much fun to go to 

(it's free family fun, so it is not that much worse than going to a park... is it? *sigh*)

Anyway, if you can free your conscience enough to go, do it.

So, mark your calendars and head on over to Schenley Plaza for loads of fun (and FREE stuff!!!)

Three Rivers Arts Festival

The Three Rivers Arts Festival is almost here! It runs June 3rd- 12th in downtown Pittsburgh (including the Point). They have all sorts of films, galleries, concerts and other performances and a great (at least it has been before) kids area. This year the Creativity Zone (kids area) features Seuss themed activities on the weekends, building of a plastic castle, launching paint-filled rockets at a canvas (how cool is that?), and lots of different crafts and other creative things for the kids to do. And best of all - it's all FREE!

You can get all the additional information you want from their website here.

PIC Festival Reminder

Remember THIS post?

This is just a reminder that the festival is THIS weekend.

Wednesday, May 11th thru Sunday, May 15th

HERE is the website again for more information.

Mothers day crafts

**I added one more**

There are a few events this weekend (all Saturday) where your child(ren) can make a Mother's day craft/gift for free.

The first is at Lowes this Saturday at 10am where your child can make a heart vase at their build-n-grow clinic. Go here to register. (Side note, recommend ages for these clinics is usually 1st to 5th grade, though that is just recommended...)

The second is at Jo-Ann (all Jo-Ann stores) also this Saturday May 7th from 11am to 1 pm where your child can make a card and envelope using Martha Stewart papercrafting supplies and paint a colorful garden stake.

The third is at home depot where from 9am to noon your child (recommended age is 5 to 12) can make a tulip planter. Home depot has these kids workshops on the first saturday of every month. Looks like they've got a Father's day gift going for the June one...

Also a reminder that National public gardens day is this friday May 6th (free Phipps).

Extra fun at the zoo

If you have a Pittsburgh zoo pass (or don't, but want to go anyway) there is some extra fun going on the next couple Saturdays. (All activities are free and included with general admission).

Tomorrow (April 16th) at the zoo is the PPG Party for the Planet from 11am - 3pm. Play recycling games, make eco-friendly crafts, and visit with the zoo's mascot. Meet with local organizations that will show you ways you can help the environment. Recycle your old cell phones to help save Western lowland gorilla habitats.

Next Saturday (April 23rd) from 11am to 3pm is the "Zoo Hop to Spring" event. Hop along the bunny trail to have your zoo passport stamped at fun activity stations. End at the Water's edge where you'll play games with Radio Disney and meet the Easter bunny.

National Library Week

Next Week (April 10th thru the 17th)

Is National Library Week. 

The Pittsburgh Public Libraries they are celebrating by offering a chance to win a free

NOOKcolor.

How cool is that?!!

Entering is simple, you just print out an activity sheet and do various things to earn entries, 

things you may already be doing. 

Such as, checking out a book, downloading an audio book, attending a library event, 

paying your late fees{eek}, visiting their blogs, "liking" them on Facebook. 

Easy, easy! Maybe you'll be the lucky winner!

Click HERE for more details or HERE to check out the activity sheet.

Check your local library to see what they are doing to Celebrate 

and get out and have some fun!

Minnie's Masquerade at Ross Park Mall

If you can't read the really fine print in the above picture go here or here for the real info. Or just read on for the jist of it...

Next Saturday (April 9th) Ross Park Mall (or South Hills Village, or maybe somewhere else if you live elsewhere) is having an event hosted by Radio Disney and Disney Junior to celebrate a new Micky Mouse Clubhouse episode. I've been to a couple similar events in the past and they are somewhat fun (some more than others). In one like this I'm guessing they will have the Radio Disney people in the center playing games/doing activities with the kids, with some craft/coloring tables set up on the side while the new episode plays in the background. They've also often had a portrait company there that will take and print (8x10) for you a posed picture of your child (if you want to wait about an hour for processing).

It's not clear in the promo stuff, but the events themselves are open to anyone to attend/participate in, but if you join their kidgits club ($5/year) the kids usually get a little gift pack at the event plus some coupons to use in the mall (which I never have actually). In the past we've gotten some Curious George paraphernalia, a little cooking kit... something else too that I don't remember... just to give you an idea.

Pittsburghs International Children's Festival

May 11-15, 2001

University of Pittsburgh Theaters and Schenley Plaza

The Festival brings together artists from around the world and features professional theater, dance, music and visual arts, plus a festival grounds area bursting with crafts, workshops and activities. For families and children of all ages! The Festival hours are: 9:30am - 5:30pm

Admission: $2 - $8; and many activities free. 

The ticketed events are starting to fill up, so if you're interested in checking any of those out

HERE is their website for more information. 

Mark it on your calendar and hope to see you there!!

Chick-fil-a

For starters the deal: Chick-fil-a (in Monroeville, I'm not sure about others) is offering 8-count chicken nuggets for free (with no purchase necessary) when you wear green on St. Patricks day (i.e. tomorrow from 11am-7pm).
=


Now the event(s): The Chick-fil-a in Monroeville has a family night once (or more) a month. I unfortunately just missed letting you all know about the one this month (Dr. Seuss story night) that was this past Tuesday. But they have an additional fun night this month on the 24th called "March Madness night". You can see the details and check out all their other upcoming promotions and events on the calendar here. Usually for family night, in addition to whatever else they have going on, you get a free kids meal with purchase of an adult meal.

I guess as a disclaimer you should all know that I really like Chick-fil-a, especially this one. Not only is the food yummy, but it's always clean (including the play area) and everyone is always very friendly and helpful (I have no fears taking 2 small children there by myself, which is really saying something).

For those of you who don't live near or visit Monroeville, you should check your Chick-fil-a locator to see if there is one near you that is as "involved in the community" as this one.

Library

I love love LOVE the library! It's like the best free (or nearly so) thing ever. I love that I can get a near constant supply of different books for my kids to read (not to mention the movies and other stuff) without having to spend a fortune or even a penny (except for those late fees). I love that the same applies to books on cd for my hubby to listen to and hard copy books for me to read. Plus we can rent most of the new and old movies we want (even if we have to wait a little while sometimes... we don't usually get to watching them too quickly anyway) and keep them for a week or 3. I also love preschool story time - we've been going for a couple years now - book-reading, a craft and getting out of the house (especially in dreary winter months) is fantastic!
On top of all this, I love the annual book sale that the CC Mellor library has. It's coming up this weekend. Click on the link for more details. How can I pass up 5 children's books for $2? We've got a couple of my kids favorite books past years, I'm hoping to add another couple this weekend :)

Dr. Seuss storytime

Target is hosting a storytime this coming saturday (Feb 26th) from 9am to 11am. Its advertised as having giveaways, coupons, and Dr. Seuss stories read. I've seen these types of events at Target before, but never actually been to one - has anyone else? You can see all the details here.