Read for the Record - October 8, 2009

It's the 40th anniversary of Eric Carle's A Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Jumpstart, an early education non-profit, has chosen this childhood classic for its annual "Read for the Record" day. The goal this year is for 1,000,000 children worldwide read this book with a valued adult.

If you want to participate, go to the website and sign up. You can read to one person or to a group. You might even find a local event you can attend for the reading! So far, Atlanta, Duluth, Woodstock, Lawrenceville, Gainesville, and Marietta are hosting events.

You may already have A Very Hungry Caterpillar, but if you don't, go to WalMart: they are donating the proceeds to Jumpstart, and the special edition is on sale.

After you read the book to your child, go back to the site to be counted.

The website has activities and certificate of accomplishment for your children. I like this fun way to make reading a big deal for kids - you could have a caterpillar themed day! Oh, now I have to start looking at cake ideas . . . .

Disney's A Christmas Carol Train Tour - October 6 - free!

On November 6, Disney will release A Christmas Carol, a 3-D version of Dickens's classic. It looks similar in design to The Polar Express. To promote the film, a Disney train has been traveling around the country to different train stops offering lots of activities and a sneak peek at the movie - all for free! And Tuesday, October 6, the train will roll into the Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth.

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From 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., you can check out the train. SRM says that it should take 30-45 minutes to go through. The train is wheelchair accessible, so that means you can bring your stroller, too. Update: apparently this event has been huge in other locations, so be prepared for crowds or go early! Thanks, Debbie!

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USA Today gives a preview of what to expect:

"•A digital gallery of the film's characters and their design evolution; each portrait will digitally change and show how they were created.

•Artifacts from the Charles Dickens Museum in London, including a first edition of the original novel and some of the author's personal writing paraphernalia.

•A display of performance-capture technology, in which the real actors' movements and expressions are recorded and digitized, then used for animated renderings.

•Interactive games, including a face-morphing photo booth that will blend the visitor's visage with Scrooge's.

The fantasy will extend beyond the train cars, with the holiday spirit re-created with decorations, local carolers and even artificial snow. And in the parking lot: a portable theater to show early footage."

If you live outside between Atlanta and New York, you haven't missed the train yet - click on the link above to see when it's coming to your town!

Hillcrest Apple Orchards

We are right in the middle of apple season in Georgia, and Hillcrest Orchards in Ellijay is the most fun place to get apples. You can buy them all over Ellijay, but Hillcrest has an Apple Pickin' Festival on September and October weekends. Besides having great apples and products to buy in their store, there are tons of fun things to do while you are there.

You can watch a pig race, go to the petting zoo, pick apples, take a hay ride, play on a playground, walk through the woods to see nursery rhyme recreations, slide down a huge slide built into a hill, and milk a cow. There's a band and lots of festival food like barbecue, turkey legs, hamburgers, and hot dogs.

The store has great apple cider donuts and frozen cider slushes, among other things. Buy some Honeycrisp apples while you're there - they are so sweet and crisp, and much cheaper than the grocery store. Mutsu apples are great for baking.

The cost for the festival is $5.00 per person - the petting zoo is $3.00 extra.

Hillcrest is definitely country, and it is a gorgeous ride up there. Don't forget that you can store fresh apples for months sometimes in cool, dry conditions - it's worth stocking up!

Free Admission to all National Parks - 9/26/09

Maybe it won't rain tomorrow, and maybe the idea of being outside will sound more appealing than a visit to a museum. In that case, visit a national park - they are all free tomorrow! Look how happy you will be if you go!

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Here's a list of Georgia's national parks. If you read this blog from another state, you can search for your location, too. Some parks are hosting special volunteer or educational opportunities as well.

Free Museum Day - 9/26/09

The torrential rains of the last few weeks shifted us into "fun with kids" triage mode: going outside was impossible, so how do we keep our sanity cooped up in the house? The last few days have been lovely, but Saturday's forecast is showing an ominous 80% chance of rain. What to do?

Just in time, it's the Smithsonian Museum Day - free admission to hundreds of museums around the country for you and a guest! Here's a list for Georgia. The best values I can see are for the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, which are usually quite expensive. The Center for Puppetry Arts and Booth Western Art Museum are two other good choices.

Download the free admission card here. Only one per household, unfortunately, but at least two people can go for free - and you can get out of the house.

Free Target Tuesday - Imagine It! Children's Museum

Tomorrow (9/8) is the second Tuesday of the month, so Imagine It! has free admission from 1:00-7:00 p.m. Click here for more details and a museum overview.

Decatur Book Festival

Meet Bookzilla, one of the mascots of the Decatur Book Festival! Every Labor Day weekend, Decatur hosts the nation's largest independent book festival. While the festival is not primarily kid-focused, there is lots to do for everyone in the family.

Click here to see the schedule of kids' events, such as a promendade with the author of the Skippyjon Jones series and a free performance of Alice in Wonderland. Teens have their own events, including a take on the debate that's sweeping the nation: Werewolves vs. Vampires!

The schedule for today and tomorrow's events is here. Check it out!