Quick Saturday Ideas

Looking for a fun activity that won't take up your whole Saturday? Here are some ideas!

1. The Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History has make-and-take crafts each Saturday. Here's the upcoming schedule:

Mar. 20: Design-A-Quilt; Mar. 27: Drawing With Scissors; April 10: Build a Bridge; April 17: Painting With Dots; May 8: Honoring Mothers.

10 a.m.-noon. 2829 Cherokee St., Kennesaw. 770-427-2117. Adults, $7.50; children 4-12; $5.50; 3 and under, free.

2. Lakeshore Learning Store in Marietta has Crafts for Kids. And they're free!

March 20: Bird Feeder; March 27: My Puppet Pal; April 3: Silly Bunny Puppet; April 10: Personalized Door Hanger; April 17: Earth Day Bag; April 24: Spring Picket Fence.

You can check their website to see pictures of the crafts. It's a great store, too!

3. Want to get outside? Panola Mountain State Park in Stockbridge has guided hikes (10 a.m.) and introductory tree climbing (1 p.m.) on the third Saturday of each month. Both events are for people in good physical condition.

4. Aurora Theater in Lawrenceville has a children's theater series on Saturdays. All performances are at 10 a.m., unless otherwise noted. Tickets are $7.00, but you can buy a 10-show pass for $50.00. Call 678.226.6222 for reservations. Below is a list of the upcoming shows.

Note: Tomorrow's show (3/20) is great - we saw it a couple of years ago, and the kids laughed their heads off.

3/20/2010
The Big Bad, Little Red, Pig Show
That Puppet Guy

3/27/2010
Cinderella
Wendy Bennett

5/15/2010
The Circus King
Storymaker - Sean Driscol

5/22/2010
Quite a Catch
Ron Anglin

Atlanta Fair

When our kids complain that something isn't fair, we always say, "The fair comes in October," because in our town, it does! But it also comes in March to Turner Field in the form of the Atlanta Fair.

From March 4 - April 4, you can get out and enjoy carnival rides, games, and elephant ears on the midway. It's a bit spendy: $1.00 admission for kids and $5.00 for adults on the weekends, and rides are extra. But if you go Saturday afternoon between 1:00-6:00, an unlimited ride ticket is $20. Click here for more specials - weekdays have unlimited rides, too.

Monday Reviews: Purple Hippo

The Purple Hippo is funky, cool art studio in Dunwoody. They have camps, birthday parties, and classes, but from 10-6 T-Sa and 12-6 Su they have open studio time. For $13 your child has two hours to paint, color, draw, glue, and create, using the "salad bar" of supplies along the wall.


When we went, it was a rainy day, and we had the place to ourselves. The boys used diecuts, stamps, popsicle sticks, ribbons, paints, markers, glitter, and stickers to make their own creations or copy some great ideas they saw on the wall. They were completely engrossed the entire time, and midway through my youngest son said, "I wish this was my house!". They loved the freedom to make whatever they wanted, using recyclables and art supplies in equal measure. I loved not having to worry about paint on the table!


The owner is a former art teacher; she is personable and warm. The supplies are definitely used, but there is plenty of everything, and if you don't see it, just ask. Whether your kids are artistic or not, I highly recommend open studio at the Purple Hippo!


Good to know: There is a great New York-style deli just around the corner on Chamblee-Dunwoody. It's called Goldberg's Deli and Bagels.

Southeastern Flower Show

It's looking like another rainy weekend! Remind yourself that spring will eventually come with a visit to the Southeastern Flower Show on Saturday, 2/5 at the Cobb Galleria Centre. There's a full day of activities planned for kids, from storytelling to workshops to environmental exhibits by young gardeners.

Here's a list of tomorrow's activities for children:

10:30 Chicken Talk, Kyla Zaro-Moore, D Stage
11:30 Home Depot Activity
12:30 Worm activity, Ruth Kitchen, Greening Youth, Youth Area
1:30 Bees, Youth Area, Jim Quick,
2:30 Home Depot Activity
3:30 Puppet Show, Puppatoons, D Stage
(2-6 ongoing: Monarch life cycle activity with Cindy Wolfe and Youth Area volunteers)

Tickets are $18 for adults; $8 for high school students; $6 for 1st-8th grades; and free for kindergarten and under. It's too late to buy tickets online, but you can buy them at the door.

Repticon - January 30-31

If you are looking for something to do indoors on a cold and rainy weekend, and your kids like reptiles, head over to the Gwinnett County Fairgrounds for Repticon - the Reptile and Exotic Animal Show. You can see demonstrations and even buy your very own yucky pet to take home! There will be a number of shows and demonstrations, from arachnids to local venomous snakes to dart frogs.

Here are the times and prices:

Saturday: 10:00am-5:00pm
Sunday: 10:00am-4:00pm

Admission: $8.00 - Adults $5.00 - Children (5-12) Four and under free

Cheap Dates

Pay a buck to see a buck! Tomorrow (1/18/10), the Yellow River Game Ranch will charge only $1.00 for admission. A family of 4 would save about $26.00! Tomorrow should be a nice day, so why not head out to the ranch? You can read my review of YRGR here.

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Through 2/28/10, admission to Calloway Gardens is free! Granted, January and February are not peak months for visiting a botanical garden, but if we have a nice day and you don't mind a drive, take advantage of a great savings: admission is usually $15 for adults and $7.50 for kids 6-12.

10 Atlanta Attractions for 2010

The AJC had an article today about upcoming exhibits at some of the best attractions in Atlanta. The picture above from the Atlanta Botanical Garden's new 600-foot canopy walk that opens in May. You can read the article here, but here are some of the highlights that are kid-friendly:

1. Fernbank Museum of Natural History's new exhibit will be “Nature Unleashed: Inside Natural Disasters." Starting February 6, kids can learn about volcanoes, tornadoes, earthquakes and watch an IMAX called "Forces of Nature."

2. In addition to the cool canopy walk, the Atlanta Botanical Garden will add an edible garden and a cascading tropical garden, as well as allowing visitors into the 15 acre hardwood Storza forest.

3. Zoo Atlanta is keeping the pandas! They are also building a new habitat for the leopards and tigers, as well as new sun bears. The habitat should open this summer, with other smaller carnivores making their home at the zoo as well.

4. In November the Georgia Aquarium will open the $110 million dolphin exhibit. It sounds amazing!