12 minute read
Notebook • Kathleen Donner
kids&family
Blossom Kite Festival
On Saturday, March 26 (rain date, March 27), from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., rediscover the joy of kite ying back on the Washington Monument grounds, at featured parks, and at home in 2022. The Blossom Kite Festival is a longstanding DC tradition encouraging attendees of all ages y kites among the cherry blossom trees. The iconic outdoor event is fun, free, and open to the public. This year will feature both virtual and in-person options so that you can y your kite from your favorite neighborhood park or anywhere across the globe. nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/event/blossom-kite-festival/.
Photo: Courtesy of the National Cherry Blossom Festival
NPG Teen Portrait Competition
The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery has opened the Call for Entries for its triennial Teen Portrait Competition. Artists between the ages of 13 and 17 may submit a photographic portrait to the juried competition at NPG-TeenPortraitCompetition@si.edu. The two grand-prize portraits will be printed and displayed at the National Portrait Gallery in 2022. Local teenagers designed the competition for their peers under the supervision of the museum’s education department. The competition was designed to introduce teenagers to the concept of representing identity through portraiture. The competition accepts submissions of photographic portraits only, though digital editing is allowed. The submission deadline is March 29, 2022. npg.si.edu/teen-portrait-competition-rules-requirements.
Teen Photo Exhibition by Matailong Du, 2016. Courtesy Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.
Anacostia River Festival
The Anacostia River Festival, Sunday, April 10, 1 to 4 p.m., is a premier event of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. The eighth annual Festival is a celebration of the Anacostia River, Anacostia Park and the neighborhood. It will present a series of musical performances honoring the history and sounds of communities on both sides of the river amplifying the stories, culture, and heritage of neighboring African American residents. Guests can enjoy the sights and sounds of Go-Go music, local drum lines, and military bands and will be socially distanced through chalked “pods” to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience. The Festival, at Good Hope Rd. and Anacostia Dr. SE, will also feature pre-registered and socially distant river activities such as canoeing and shing. Visit bridgepark.org to register.
Critically endangered spider tortoise hatches at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. Photo: Connor Mallon, Smithsonian’s National Zoo
Be a Conservation Hero: Join Zoo Guardians
Calling all animal lovers and budding conservationists: the National Zoo is recruiting you for the Young Guardians Initiative. Your mission: save species. If you choose to accept it, you’re in for a wild ride—caring for animals and combating the threats they face. Join Zoo Guardians, a mobile game where players build their own zoos, interact with animals through augmented reality, and learn what species need to thrive under human care and in the wild. Guided by their animal keeper mentors, players can choose from among 67 species to adopt, care for and conserve. Grow your Zoo IQ by completing quests, building habitats, creating social groups and adding enrichment items. Zoo Guardians is free and available at zooguardians.com.
©2022 Gullane (Thomas) Limited.Thomas & Friends™: Explore the Rails! was created by Minnesota Children’s Museum, presented by Fisher-Price.
The world’s most beloved #1 blue engine has rolled into National Children’s Museum this winter for exciting fun and adventure. Thomas & Friends: Explore the Rails!, will be at the Museum through Sunday, May 15. Featuring favorite engines and destinations from Thomas & Friends, this STEM–focused exhibit seeks to engage children, ages two through seven, and families in foundational skills that foster STEM literacy through playful learning experiences. The exhibit incorporates foundational STEM practices that encourage thinking mathematically, making comparisons, experimenting to solve problems using a variety of methods and tools, thinking creatively and reflecting on actions and results. Museum admission is $15.95 for one adult and one child. The National Children’s Museum is at 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. nationalchildrensmuseum.org.
DC High School Students Take College Classes for FREE
Calling all DC public and public charter high school students: Jumpstart your college career for free. Dual enrollment allows high school students to experience the academic rigor of college courses and understand what is required for success in college. The fall 2022 Dual Enrollment Consortium Program application opens for all DC Public and Public Charter school students on March 3, 2022 and closes April 1, 2022. Read more about qualifications and apply at osse.dc.gov/page/osse-dualenrollment-opportunities.
Black Kids Swim
The Black Kids Swim website celebrates and publicizes the truth that African-American children can and do excel in the sport of swimming. Black Kids Swim highlights the accomplishments of Black children in the sport of swimming and also serves as a resource for families with experienced swimmers and those with children who want to explore the sport of swimming. There are also multiple resources to help Black children learn basic water safety skills. Black Kids Swim wants to see children do more than simply survive in the water. They want them to develop valuable techniques that can benefit them physically and professionally throughout their lives. blackkidsswim.com.
Applications Open for DPR Summer Camp
mer camp offerings for ages three to thirteen. Registration for camps will open on a rolling basis during the week of April 4. To ensure their programs are accessible, DPR will again offer reduced rates to qualifying DC residents. dpr.dc.gov/page/ about-camps. NMAAHC Launches Website for Kids
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture has launched an educational website that will provide a variety of learning activities designed to share African American history using the museum’s collection. The “North Star: A Digital Journey of African American History” website is designed for the discovery and creative use of Smithsonian’s digital collections and tools by educators and students in grades six through twelve. Accessible through desktop, laptop and tablet devices, this site gives students and educators access to more than 35 digital education curricula that will share an overview of American history through the African American lens. The North Star digital journey exposes users to themes, people and moments in history, with units such as Slavery in Colonial America, The Civil War, The Black Arts Movement and the Modern Civil Rights Movement. nmaahc.si.edu/ learn/digital-learning/north-star.
Me and the Bee Playground
Kids of all ages can “shrink” to bee-size on this pollinator-themed playground sponsored by Land O’Lakes, Inc.! Discover towering flowers and larger-than-life bees, hop along particles of pollen and climb over honeycomb steps. Slide down a hive dripping with golden honey and crawl inside hollow trees where bees build their homes. Then, check out the real pollinator garden that lines the playground. Learn the story of pollination, from bee to food production, and find out how you can help protect bees in your own backyard. The National Zoo is open Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Free entry passes are required for all guests including infants. nationalzoo. si.edu/visit/attractions/me-and-bee-playground.
Beastgirl at the KC
In this exciting world premiere for young adults based on the chapbook Beastgirl and Other Origin Myths by New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Acevedo, playwright C. Quintana and composer Janelle Lawrence bring this collection of folkloric poems to the stage with live music.
Mother Goose at Imagination Stage
A brand new, music-filled piece by the creators of Wake Up, Brother Bear and Mouse on the Move!, Mother Goose leads the audience through some of her most beloved nursery rhymes, using puppets and props to bring to life Humpty Dumpty, Old King Cole, the Eensy Weensy Spider, and more. The magical Mother Goose invites your little ones to join in with each rhyme’s story, teaching them that the very best way to do what needs to be done is to do it together. Tickets are $12 for kids and adults. Mother Goose on stage at Imagination Stage, 4908 Auburn Ave., Bethesda, March 11 to April 9, is best suited for ages one to five. ASL-interpreted performance is March 26 at 10 a.m. imaginationstage.org.
The play explores the mythological and geographic adventures of three first generation American sisters. From the border in the Dominican Republic to an apartment rooftop in New York City, Beastgirl considers what it means to walk the world as “beastly” beings and how the myths that make us can be both blessing and birthright. $20. Beastgirl is at the Kennedy Center from April 7 to 22. Most enjoyed by age twelve and older. kennedy-center.org.
Make Way for the Ducklings engineergirl.org
PAW Patrol Live! “The Great Pirate Adventure”
In PAW Patrol Live! “The Great Pirate Adventure,” Mayor Goodway is getting everything shipshape for a big Pirate Day celebration in Adventure Bay. When Cap’n Turbot falls into a dark and mysterious cavern, it’s PAW Patrol to the rescue! Chase, Marshall, Rubble, Skye, Rocky and Zuma save Cap’n Turbot and discover a secret pirate treasure map that leads them on an epic adventure. The performance is an interactive live stage show, encouraging audiences to learn pirate catchphrases, dance the pirate boogie and help the pups follow the treasure map and solve picture puzzles throughout their mission. PAW Patrol Live! “The Great Pirate Adventure” is at the EagleBank Arena, 4500 Patriot Cir, Fairfax, for seven performances from March 31 to April 3. Tickets are on sale now. ticketmaster.com. Mr. and Mrs. Mallard are exhausted from their search for a starter home when they land in the Boston Public Garden as a potential home. Surprised by a few conditions in the Garden, the Mallards move on to continue their search until their baby ducklings are born. When the ducklings begin to explore the world around them, the challenges of parenthood in the busy Boston
environment create a fun bit of family drama. A classic story for all ages, this world premiere musical celebrates family, Boston, children, and the beings who make an unfamiliar place a home. $25. Adventure Theatre’s Make Way for the Ducklings is on stage at Glen Echo, 7300 MacArthur Blvd. Glen Echo, MD, through March 27. adventuretheatre-mtc.org.
Music to the Rescue! Super Cello!
The Engineer Girl website is designed to bring national attention to the exciting opportunities that engineering represents for girls and women. Why girls and women? Because despite an increase in female participation in many traditionally maledominated professions such as medicine and law, women remain grossly under-represented in engineering. Engineering and engineers are central to the process of innovation, and innovation drives economic growth. Diversity of thought is crucial to creativity, and by leaving women out of the process of innovation, we lose a key component of diversity and stifle innovation. The website is a service of the National Academy of Engineering and grew out of the work of the NAE Committee on the Diversity of the Engineering Workforce. engineergirl.org.
Smithsonian Summer Camp Returns
Whether in person on the National Mall or virtually from your home or vacation getaway, Smithsonian Summer Camp offers one-of-a-kind opportunities to connect with the Smithsonian’s museums and research and meet the people behind it all. A diverse, creative, and experienced team of instructors have designed content for kids entering first through ninth grades. Through visits to museums, talking to experts, and creating projects and artworks, kids explore Smithsonian-focused themes including the natural world, space, art, design, history, world cultures, and much more. Registration is open now at smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/adventures/.
Photo: Courtesy of Smithsonian Associates
Because: A Symphony of Serendipity (Little things can have a big effect.)
How can music change a young person’s life? See for yourself when Kennedy Center Education Artist-in-Residence Mo Willems’s story of chance makes its world premiere as a concert with the National Symphony Orchestra on Sunday, March 20 at 2 and 4 p.m. The 2 p.m. concert is sensory-friendly. Most enjoyed by age five, up. $20 to $55. kennedycenter.org.
Family Dance Workshop: American Ballet Theatre
The city is safe with the help of a unique cellist: professional musician by day, superhero by night. Scottie Rowell of Atlanta’s Teller Productions and NSO cellist David Teie unite to tell a fantastic story using puppets, props, and plenty of music to help a very super musician save the day. Most enjoyed by age three, up. Super Cello is at the Kennedy Center April 9 and 10. Sunday, April. 10 at 4 p.m. is a sensory-friendly performance. kennedy-center.org. Free, no tickets required. On Sunday, April 3, 11 a.m., join dancers at the Kennedy Center for this 45-minute workshop led by artists from American Ballet Theatre. Designed for families with children ages 10 and under, the workshop explores music, movement, and/or themes of a ballet while taking families through learning simple ballet steps or choreography. Children must participate with an adult. Pre-registration will be available approximately one month before the event and is highly recommended. kennedy-center.org.
The DC MPD Cadet Corps High School Program
e DC MPD Cadet Corps High School Program is designed to prepare high school seniors for entrance into the full-time Cadet Corps. is program enables high school seniors to complete their senior year of school while working part-time for the Metropolitan Police Department Cadet Corps. is part-time option will provide students with unique opportunities to develop their leadership skills, participate in physical training, and learn about policing. Participants will work 12 hours per week and earn an annual salary of approximately $10,691 ($16.91 per hour). Upon graduation from high school, part-time cadets will be converted into a full-time member of the Cadet Corps, and they will be enrolled in the University of the District of Columbia and complete the remainder of their training. joinmpd. dc.gov/career-position-2020/cadet.
American Youth Philharmonic Orchestras Applications Open
With a nationally recognized artistic sta , a dedicated professional sta , and a host of volunteers, AYPO annually selects and trains more than 400 of the area’s most talented young musicians. Students up to age 21 are encouraged to audition in June for the opportunity to participate in one of their six orchestras and six instrumental ensembles. Auditions will take place virtually this season with video submissions due Friday, May 27. Rehearsals for the 2022-2023 season will start on Monday evenings in September and continue through May. aypo.org. ◆
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