Be A Kid Again at the Columbia County Fair
September 1 @ 3 - 11 p.m.
September 2 to 6 @ 10 a.m. - 11 p.m.
Not only does the Columbia County Fair always offer plenty of activities for the young and young at heart, this year’s theme is Be a Kid Again. And, let’s face it, our children aren’t the only ones who look forward to this end-of-summer ritual that includes wild rides, deep-fried food indulgences (partake after the wild rides or you might be sorry), musical entertainment, and dedicated 4-Hers showing off their chickens, sheep, cattle, horses and pigs.
Youth Day, September 2, is chock full of special entertainment and everyone under 18 years old gets in free until 4 p.m. that day, with $15 ride passes from noon until closing. There’s also the Columbia County’s Got Talent Competition on Wednesday and Thursday, pie and watermelon eating contest on Thursday, and a cooking contest on Monday. Magic shows, horse shows, racing pigs and the always popular demolition derby are on tap this year as well.
Columbia County Fair
Admission $10 ($12 on Sunday); under 12 free
Fairgrounds
Route 66
Chatham, NY
(0) Comments
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Posted by Taitia Shelow on 08/30/10 at 06:00 PM • Permalink
Back to School at Ichabod Crane Schoolhouse
September 4 @ 10 a.m. - noon
Celebrate back to school with a trip back in time at the Ichabod Crane Schoolhouse, a circa 1850 building and one of the Columbia County Historical Society’s historic sites. The school takes its name from Washington Irving’s teacher in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Ichabod Crane was modeled after local resident Jesse Merwin, a schoolmaster who taught in Kinderhook at the time of Irving’s visits to the area.
History Saturday celebrates back to school with an apple theme, which also happens to honor Columbia County’s apple growing heritage. With its location along the Hudson River, and later, the addition of the railroad, Columbia County quickly became a perfect place for the growing of tree fruit for export.
At Saturday’s event, children ages 6-10 and their families can create printed wallpaper using the art supplies of fall: leaves, apples, and pears.
History Saturday
Ichabod Crane Schoolhouse
$5 per child, $10 per family, Columbia County Historical Society members free
Route 9H
Kinderhook, NY
(0) Comments
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Posted by Taitia Shelow on 08/30/10 at 05:48 PM • Permalink
Book on Over to Spencertown for Reading Fun
September 4 @ 9 a.m.
If you haven’t yet taken your children to Spencertown Academy’s Festival of Books, make a plan to do so this year. The huge - and we mean huge - book sale offers plenty of children’s selections, and they schedule a special morning just for the kids with a visit by storybook characters, breakfast and even a parade.
This year’s Storybook Parade and Book Breakfast begin at 9 a.m. the first day of the festival. Youngsters are invited to come dressed as their favorite storybook character and join costumed characters Frog and Toad, then enjoy a kid-friendly breakfast while listening to selections from the Frog and Toad books by Arnold Lobel.
At 9:30, Julie Appel, co-creator of the charming “Touch the Art” picture book series, presents two new books, Find King Henry’s Treasure and Counting Monet’s Lilies. The eight books in the series introduce young readers to works of art from the Renaissance to the modern masters in an engaging and playful way. At the Festival, children can join Appel in creating their own masterpiece with a hands-on art project.
At 10:30 a.m., Master Storyteller Tom Lee weaves intriguing tales of Venice and China. Lee is a veteran storyteller who takes traditional tales into schools, museums and festivals throughout the world. He performs regularly at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Yale Museum of British Art as well.
Spencertown Academy Festival of Books
Free admission
790 Route 203
Spencertown, NY
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Posted by Taitia Shelow on 08/30/10 at 04:56 PM • Permalink
Free, Fun Saturday at Berkshire Museum
September 4 @ 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Celebrate the end of summer and help Berkshire Museum celebrate the opening of a new installation while enjoying free admission all day, during Free, Fun Saturday sponsored by the Highland Street Foundation. The special day of free admission also marks the opening of Henry Klimowicz’s Paper and Light installation as well as Woodland Style, a multi-artist show celebrating the crossover between art and the natural world. Additionally, a small exhibit on the history of papermaking in the Berkshires complements the material on Crane & Co. already on display.
And, don’t forget, the Museum’s Wrapped exhibit is still open, offering plenty of mummified mystery and history. The Museum is also open for free from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. during each 3rd Thursday event in Pittsfield, and Museum members are invited for free admission on September 12.
Berkshire Museum
Free admission, Sept. 4
39 South Street
Pittsfield, MA
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Posted by Taitia Shelow on 08/30/10 at 04:54 PM • Permalink
Jam with Uncle Rock in Chatham
September 12 @ 3 - 5 p.m.
Robert Burke Warren, aka Uncle Rock, has a “rock of all ages” persona born during a sabbatical from the performing life, when stay-at-home fatherhood led him into the world of children, where he found there to be a dearth of musical depth. Warren wanted a shared musical experience, but was unable to find music with Beatles-esque hooks, Grimm’s Fairy Tales depth, and Woody Guthrie folksiness. So while working as a teacher’s assistant at his son’s Woodstock, NY, preschool, he created his own music for preschoolers and their parents.
Uncle Rock brings his artful approach to oft-overlooked topics like conspicuous consumption (“Too Many Presents”) the plight of Arctic-dwelling friends (“Polar Bear Over There”) the need for downtime (“Nothin’ Doin’”) and even death (“Picnic In The Graveyard”) to PS/21 for a concert to benefit Family Resource Centers of Columbia County. Family Resource provides free, drop-in playgroups at four locations in Columbia County, open seasonally to children and their caretakers.
Family Resource Centers benefit concert
$8 adults; $5 children
PS/21
Route 66
Chatham, NY
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Posted by Taitia Shelow on 08/30/10 at 04:50 PM • Permalink
New Corn Maze and Other Fall Fun in New Lebanon
Fridays through Sundays, now until Veteran’s Day
K.B. Chittenden and his family were looking for a fun and profitable way to make use of their New Lebanon, NY, farmland, and came up with an idea that also fills a need by providing a unique place for families to spend time exploring in the outdoors. They designed a 10-acre corn maze on their property, Fair Weather Farms, and added other attractions like a petting zoo, horse and hay wagon rides, playground, fire pits and concession stand to create a place where families can enjoy themselves for a few hours and learn about agriculture as well. In October, a four-acre pumpkin patch will be added to the mix.
If trying to find your way along a one-and-one-half mile trail through cornstalks higher than seven feet isn’t difficult enough, Fair Weather Farms hosts “flashlight nights,” with the added challenge of darkness thrown in. The first Flashlight Night will be held September 10, then every Friday and Saturday night in October. Check their website periodically for more special events and for hours of operation.
Fair Weather Farms
Admission $9; kids 3-12, $7; under 2 free
220 West Street
New Lebanon, NY
(0) Comments
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Posted by Taitia Shelow on 08/22/10 at 01:55 PM • Permalink
Hancock Shaker Village Offers Daily Kids’ Tours
Now through September 29 @ 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Hancock Shaker Village welcomes children ages 6 to 12 to see the Village through the eyes of a Shaker child during daily tours designed especially for them. Guides will show the children how their Shaker counterparts lived, played and attended school.
This kids-only tour includes a make-and-take craft, visits to areas of the Village including the Dwelling, schoolhouse, and Barn Complex, plus a framed photo of your tour group. Tours last 90 minutes and begin at the ticket desk.
Young Shaker’s Tour
Members $8; non-members $10
Hancock Shaker Village
34 Lebanon Mountain Road
Hancock, MA
(0) Comments
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Posted by Taitia Shelow on 08/09/10 at 08:13 PM • Permalink
Travel Through the Solar System Without Leaving Earth
Self-guided tour through New Milford, CT
Looking for one last, memorable educational field trip with the kids before school starts? Or even a way to reinforce science concepts once school begins? The John J. McCarthy Observatory in New Milford created a “to scale” solar system by installing bronze and brass pieces representing the planets at 12 locations across the town. Pick up a passport at the New Milford Library on Main Street then wander through the entire solar system.
Learn as you go, taking rubbings in the passport books, which also contain creative challenges. Get the passport stamped at the town library when you’re done. The entire “trip” takes about two hours. The Observatory website also includes a link to a National Geographic tour where those wishing to learn more can continue the journey.
John J. McCarthy Observatory
New Milford High School
Route 7
New Milford, CT
(0) Comments
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Posted by Taitia Shelow on 08/09/10 at 08:11 PM • Permalink
Berkshire Museum Unwraps Mummy Mystery, History
Now through October 31
The Berkshire Museum is hosting a traveling exhibit sure to quench the curiosity of people of any age who are fascinated by Egyptian mummies. The museum’s resident mummy, Pahat, is joined by two other mummies on loan to the Museum as well as Egyptian artifacts from the Akhimim region. Wrapped! The Search for the Essential Mummy explores the public’s long-held fascination with Egyptian mummies and also delves into the relatively recent role of modern forensic analysis in their study.
In addition to the three mummies, Wrapped! includes ancient mummified cats, falcons, and a crocodile, plus fascinating artifacts like funerary scarabs, necklaces, amulets, vessels, figurines, and headdresses. Interactive displays allow visitors to make their way through a tomb, participate in a mummy-wrapping activity, and view a video on forensic reconstruction methods.
Admission is $15 adults ($5 museum members); $8 children 3-18 ($3 members); children under 3, FREE
The Berkshire Museum
39 South Street
Pittsfield, MA
For additional current activities for Kids, click here.
(0) CommentsEnjoy this post? Share it with others.
Posted by Taitia Shelow on 07/13/10 at 04:54 PM • Permalink
Matrushka: A Toy Store With Timeless Values
For 18 years, the Matrushka toy store was the best kept secret in Great Barrington. Started by parents from the progressive Rudolf Steiner School and located on the second floor of Yellow House Books, it was a not-for-profit shop that carried wholesome toys like all-wood play kitchens, hand puppets, and Chinese checkers. Two years ago, when the shop’s manager, Ruth Blair, decided to retire, the shop was sold to Brooke Redpath (left), a Steiner alumna whose three children (ages 5, 7 & 9) attend the school. “We had to go to the attorney general to change the not-for-profit status,” says Redpath. “It took a long time.”
Once she finally became the owner, Redpath decided that she needed a street-level location. “Our primary customers are young parents with strollers and grandparents who often found it challenging to climb the stairs to the old store,” she says. What’s more, the former store was a series of small rooms and the new airy store that opened over Labor Day weekend now feels much like the playrooms that Redpath believes every home with young children should have. “A playroom should be a place that stimulates the imagination,” she says. “It should be a room where children will want to spend time from age two to ten. We don’t carry anything electronic. Our basic approach is that play should be child powered. Play is in the action.” She doesn’t flinch when she hears children horsing around at the other end of the store, because she wants the store to be a hang out for them. “I want people to feel at home here on a rainy day,” she says.
While Steiner parents instinctively understand what her store is about, Redpath knows that other parents may find it challenging to encourage their children to play with old-fashioned toys and she is offering empathy and education along with exquisite merchandise. “Mothers will come in and say, ‘My children don’t play anymore’, and I will show them things for dress up or putting on puppet shows. These are things that have a universal appeal,” she says pointing to the Marble Whacker (a pared-down all wood arcade game) Anchor stone blocks (which date to the 19th century) and dress up clothes from Sarah’s Silks (which include fairy wings and other make believe items.). She also sells books and natural fiber children’s clothes. “The Merino wool long underwear has been a huge hit!” she says.
Some parents may also have sticker shock because many of the hand-crafted natural material toys are not cheap. “They’re heirloom quality,” says Redpath with sincerity. “Children recognize beauty and quality as much as adults do.” She was gratified when a customer compared Matrushka to a world-class New York toy store in bygone days. “A gentleman said, ‘This reminds me of F.A.O. Schwarz in the 1970s’,” says Redpath. “I was very pleased.”
Matrushka
309 Main Street, Great Barrington, MA; 413.528.6911
Monday - Saturday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Sunday 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.
(0) Comments
