Earth Connection School of Wilderness Survival and Ancient Skills invites families to learn to make fire without matches. Participants will learn the history of making fire from rubbing sticks together then team up to make fire with a bow and drill. Native stories about the origin of fire and a firm talk about fire safety conclude the class. A parent or guardian must attend for each family and be responsible for the kids that they have brought. All materials provided. Please bring a snack and a drink. To attend this class, visit the website and read though the information, then click on the Family Course Application, fill out the form and mail in with the tuition. Applications and tuition must be received at least seven days before the class. Once an application is received, class information and detailed driving directions will be sent. Fairview Swim Club grounds, Belvedere Boulevard and Free State Rd. 996-2002.
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The Frontier Culture Museum invites families for a Caroling Party and guided tours of the four historic farms. Reservations required. Rt. 250 in Staunton. 540-332-7850.
Kids in grades kindergarten and up can check out Hollywood’s take on their favorite books at Northside Library. See how the books were changed, find out what others think, and share snacks. This week’s feature is The Wizard of Oz by L Frank Baum. Haven’t read the book? No problem—they’ll help you find a copy. Registration recommended. Albemarle Square. 973-7893.
Kids in grades kindergarten and up can check out Hollywood’s take on their favorite books at Northside Library. See how the books were changed, find out what others think, and share snacks. This week’s feature is Cinderella. Haven’t read the book? No problem—they’ll help you find a copy. Registration recommended. Albemarle Square. 973-7893.
4pm. Free.
Scottsville Library celebrates the season with craft day. Wee ones and others can create snow men who can live inside. Plan to join us for stories, cocoa, and fun. 330 Bird St. 286-3541.
Modern folks can give thanks as people did in Jefferson’s day at the fifteenth annual Jeffersonian Thanksgiving Festival. The festival involves battle reenactments, period music, games and craft demonstrations, carriage rides, dancing, concerts, lectures, and more. Downtown Charlottesville, Market or Water Streets. 249-4032.
The Paramount Theater’s Family Flicks feature the holiday feel-good film, It’s a Wonderful Life. On the Downtown Mall. 979-1333.
Sage Moon Gallery is decked out for the holidays with a Gingerbread Village in Winter Wonderland complete with electric trains, a Christmas Tree Forest, Santa’s workshop helpers, and a story-telling corner. Santa is on hand from 3-8pm for whispered wishes, Freckles and Friends provide magic and balloon art, and First Night Virginia brings friends to previews their New Year’s Eve entertain. East end of the Downtown Mall. 977-9997.
Kids of all ages are invited to join Santa and his friends busily preparing for Christmas in the North Pole workshop. Have your picture taken with Santa and work on crafts with his elves. Carver Recreation Center, downtown. 970-3260.
Crozet Library hosts their seventh annual Book Swap Party. Kids ages 7-13 can exchange that tired stack of books they’ve read 10 times for new reads. Stick around afterward for a game and lots of book loving fun. Registration is required. In the old train station on Three Notch’d Rd. 823-4050.
Santa arrives with over sixty of his friends, including local civic organizations, marching bands, antique cars, horse-drawn carriages, and Charlottesville/Albemarle area princesses in the Barracks Road Shopping Center’s annual Holiday Parade. Parade route begins in front of Harris Teeter.
An old-fashioned Revolutionary pipe and drum band parades along the Downtown Mall celebrating Mr. Jefferson’s Thanksgiving. Historic costumed characters take part in a procession that starts at the Ice Park and ends in the Pavilion. It includes musical performances, dances and musket firings, and brief greetings from historic and modern public officials. 249-4032.
Thomas and Martha Jefferson invite you to the Three President’s Ball, an authentic period ball with music and dancing performed and taught by the Cuckoo Assembly Dancers. The entrance fee covers a full meal and special children’s activities in an adjacent area. Part of the Jeffersonian Thanksgiving Festival. Omni Hotel, Downtown. 249-4032.
Santa arrives in Charlottesville in style riding in a horse drawn carriage down the mall. He’ll set up shop at the Ice Park, where he will be available to listen to the wishes of children of all ages, then the carriage will be available for free rides on a first come, first serve basis. Charlottesville Downtown Mall. 961-5846.
Part comedy, part quick-change artistry, part tightrope act, holiday hijinks definitely ensue when two actors make over a hundred head-to-toe costume changes to portray some twenty-odd residents of Texas’ third-smallest city, Tuna. Slow-talking radio jocks Thurston Wheelis and Arles Struvie report on all the yuletide activities — including the annual yard-display contest (plagued by a vandal known only as the Christmas Phantom) and the Tuna Little Theatre production of A Christmas Carol, threatened by unpaid electric bills and a Ghost of Christmas Past who won’t give up his spit cup. Enjoy a festival of laughs with this hilarious holiday show at The Paramount Theater. Downtown Mall. 979-1333.
Visitors to the Science Museum of Virginia can get on board and explore miniature cities, towns, villages, and rural areas and journey to a rural New England vacation spot, a classic traveling circus, and Hawaii at the 31st Annual RF&P Model Railroad Show. Have a model train problem? Bring the piece in question for a free repair. 2500 W. Broad St., Richmond. 800-659-1727.
Those who want to get into the holiday spirit are invited to join the Montessori School of Charlottesville for the first annual holiday jog/walk for the whole family. The 1.5 mile pedestrian race and tour winds through the bright lights and holiday decorations of the famously spirited neighborhood behind the Cutler Avenue Montessori School (Agnese Road, between Rio and Locust). Afterward, participants can warm up to the finish with some hot chocolate. Registration required. No race day registration. Deadline for mail-in entry is December 3, 2008 (shirts not guaranteed after this date). Download Registraion Form
The Old Michie Theatre presents The Three Billy Goats Gruff, a hand puppet play, followed by The Three Little Pigs as a marionette puppet play. These two classic children’s fairy tales will delight young and old audiences alike with music, audience participation, colorful scenery and a hands-on puppet experience after the show. 221 East Water St. 977-3690.
The Jefferson Youth Theater performs The Wizard of Oz at The Hollymead School Auditorium in a 90-minute musical production that is perfect for the whole family. 249-2803.
Local adventurers can take a trip around the world without leaving the state. Meet lemurs in Madagascar, visit with nomads in Tibet, canoe along the Amazon, explore the Namib Desert with migrating dunes that are one thousand feet tall, take a spin with dog sledders in Greenland, and discover what life is like for lions, hippos, elephants, giraffes and cape buffalo in the Okavango Delta in Botswana. You can take your popcorn along as you sit back in your theater seat to watch The Greatest Places in IMAX at the Science Museum of Virginia. 2500 W. Broad St., Richmond. 800-659-1727.
Adventurous kids can join Mouse on a journey through the deep, dark woods in the whimsical adaptation of the popular picture book “Gruffalo” performed by Tall Stories Theater Company at The Paramount Theater. On the Downtown Mall. 979-1333.
Theatreworks USA presents an enchanting musical adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ beloved adventure story “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.” The story of four siblings in war-torn England who accidentally enter the land of Narnia through a magic wardrobe and ultimately fulfill an ancient prophesy by defeating the cold-hearted White Witch, restoring sunshine and peace to the spell-bound Narnia, and returning the great Lion King Aslan to his throne. The Paramount Theater, on the Downtown Mall. 979-1333.
Kids of all ages can make their own paper out of the stuff in the trashcan at Scottsville Library. Learn how to recycle scrap paper and add interesting objects to personalize it and make it into beautiful art paper. 330 Bird St. 286-3541.
Think you have what it takes to be a secret agent? Sleuths in first grade and up who think they do can accept their mission and come to spy training academy at Northside Library where they will learn the ins and outs of being a master spy. Registration for this mission is required. Albemarle Square. 973-7893.
University Montessori School hosts it’s 9th Annual Fall Fun Fair and Silent Auction with great food, fun games, and prizes for pre-school and young elementary children, seasonal stories, crafts, face painting, live music for all ages, and a silent auction. 1034 Reservoir Rd. 977-0583.
Kids in first grade and up can have a blast making fun penguin key chains to place on your backpack. We provide the materials needed to make these great decorations. Registration is required. Albemarle Square. 973-7893.
Kids ages 8 and up can come in out of the cold for a workshop at Gordon Avenue Library. Make a fuzzy fleece scarf that has a bonus feature: a pair of pockets that double as hand warmers. Registration is required. 1500 Gordon Ave. 296-5544.
The entire family can get into the game at UVA’s Fall Festival of Fun with intramural-recreational sports. The North Grounds Recreational Center is teeming with enthusiastic youth instructors who will provide activities for all ages. Parents are welcome to stay for the fun, or take a couple of hours off. Registration is required. 510 Massie Rd. 924-3791.
Wee ones ages 3-5 can nestle in for the fall season at a special story time each Monday night in November at Crozet Library. Wear your pajamas, bring a special blanket or stuffed animal and get ready to snuggle in and listen to some great stories before bedtime. Registration is not required. Drop-ins are welcome. In the old train station on Three Notch’d Rd. 823-4050.
Kids of all ages can join Grandpa as he introduces you to some amazing creatures, great and small, during this fantastic puppet show by award winning author David Messick. This musical review of animal songs and stories provides entertainment for the whole family. Performed today at Crozet Library. In the old train station on Three Notch’d Rd. 823-4050.
Whether you’re in the market for vintage clothing or David McCullough’s biography of John Adams, you can find it at the eighth annual Tandem Tag Sale. They have everything imaginable, including antiques, furniture, house wares, toys and games, decorative home accessories, sporting goods, a Better Items Boutique, and much more. Sunday is half-price day when you can fill a grocery bag with clothes for $1. Proceeds benefit the school and several local charities. Tandem Friends School across the street from Monticello High School on Mill Creek Road.
In conjunction with its new Back Gallery exhibit New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music, the Virginia Discovery Museum hosts a Roots Music Kids’ Concert Series at Cityspace, located across from the Museum on the Downtown Mall. Today’s concert features Bluegrass with the Wednesday Night Regulars. While you’re in the area, be sure to check out the exhibit. East end of the Downtown Mall. 977-1025.
In conjunction with its new Back Gallery exhibit New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music, the Virginia Discovery Museum hosts a Roots Music Kids’ Concert Series at Cityspace, located across from the Museum on the Downtown Mall. Today’s concert features Blues with Jamal Millner. While you’re in the area, be sure to check out the exhibit. East end of the Downtown Mall. 977-1025.
In conjunction with its new Back Gallery exhibit New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music, the Virginia Discovery Museum hosts a Roots Music Kids’ Concert Series at Cityspace, located across from the Museum on the Downtown Mall. Today’s concert features the UVA Klezmer Ensemble. While you’re in the area, be sure to check out the exhibit. East end of the Downtown Mall. 977-1025.
In conjunction with its new Back Gallery exhibit New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music, the Virginia Discovery Museum hosts a Roots Music Kids’ Concert Series at Cityspace, located across from the Museum on the Downtown Mall. Today’s concert features Tejano Music with Lua. While you’re in the area, be sure to check out the exhibit. East end of the Downtown Mall. 977-1025.
Young musicians can drop in at the Virginia Discovery Museum on Fridays and learn to make music together. While you’re there, be sure to check out New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music, the latest exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution in the Museum’s Back Gallery. East end of the Downtown Mall. 977-1025.
The Virginia Discovery Museum hosts the Smithsonian Institution exhibition: New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music. New Harmonies tells the American musical story through photographs, instruments, lyrics, and artist profiles. The exhibition not only describes the work of well-know artists like Ma Rainey, BB King, Jimmie Rodgers, the Carter Family, Mahalia Jackson, Woody Guthrie, and Joan Baez that have inspired generations of musicians. It also captures the spirit of musical styles that are at the heart of our local heritage: Tejano, zydeco, polka, Cajun, conjunto, and klezmer. Kids can get into the music at a 1920’s radio/recording studio, hang out on the porch with instruments, strum a giant guitar, and more. Adults will like this one, too. East end of the Downtown Mall. 977-1025.
Volunteer guide Rachel Bush reads to kids ages 3-5 about the great outdoors then leads a walk along the trails at Ivy Creek Natural Area. Meet in the Education Building. Earlysville Rd. 973-7772.
Crafty kids ages 5 and up can make seasonal nature crafts with natural materials at Ivy Creek Natural Area. Members of the 4-H club will be on hand to lend a hand. Earlysville Rd. 973-7772.
Natural history buffs and others are invited to hear some of the cultural history of the River View Farm and explore the barn at Ivy Creek Natural Area. River View was the working farm located on the Ivy Creek property. This rare opportunity showcases a variety of displays and artifacts found around the area formerly known as River View Farm. Earlysville Rd. 973-7772.
The potato is the food of the future, according to the United Nations. Potatoes produce more nutritious food more quickly, on less land, and in harsher climates than any other major crop - up to 85% of the plant is edible human food, compared to around 50% in cereals. The Blue Ridge Virginia Chapter of the United Nations Association of the USA celebrates the potato with a gala feast to underscore hunger in the world and to celebrate the UN’s proclamation of 2008 as the “International Year of the Potato.” The event features music by the “United Notions” and special guest speaker David Smith, Deputy Director of the UN’s Washington D.C. Office. To register for this free event, contact bruce.carveth@gmail.com indicating the number in your party. Bring a pot-luck potato dish to share. Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church, 717 Rugby Rd. 295-3289.
The Virginia Aviation Museum offers high flyers a flightful treat at Flight Night. Visitors can take a hayride pulled by a vehicle designed to tow planes, climb into a yellow Piper Cub and take the controls for a pretend flight, make and fly a paper bat, create your own UFO, and go on a scavenger hunt. Young flyers can visit the Kids Ready Room and ride the pedal planes, get fake tattoos, make a scary necklace, test your skills at one of the flight simulators, and more. Come in costume and get your picture taken in front of a Vietnam-era A-4 Skyhawk light attack bomber. Decorate a candy bag to take home all your treats. 5701 Huntsman Road, Richmond International Airport. 804-236-3622.
Professor Cline’s Haunted Monster Museum is even more spooky, more scary, more terrifying, more of everything this time of year at The Natural Bridge. 800-533-1410.
What are some of the creatures that depend upon each other in healthy waterways in our area? Nancy Newman from the Virginia Museum of Natural History talks to kids ages 5 and up about local freshwater fish, frogs, turtles, water birds, and aquatic mammals—from the bottom to the top of the food web. No registration required. Gordon Avenue Library, 1500 Gordon Ave. 296-5544.
Ghosts! Goblins! Witches! Oh my! Northside Library is crawling with them at their Halloween party. Kids in first grade and up can dress up in costume and enjoy spooky stories and tasty treats, as well as fun games, a parade through the library, and a craft. Registration is required.Albemarle Square. 973-7893.
Wee ones ages 2-7 can wear a costume to the Virginia Discovery Museum’s annual Halloween party where they can make a spooky craft, play Halloween games, and win fun prizes. Pre-registration is required. East end of the Downtown Mall. 977-1025.
Student residents in the historic living quarters of UVA’s Lawn create Halloween havoc for local children as they don outlandish costumes and dole out treats. Older children might also enjoy an introduction to The Lawn’s most famous resident, Edgar Allan Poe. 4-5:30pm. Free. UVA Grounds.
