Fall is the perfect time of year to celebrate family (pumpkin spice lattes all around!) and this weekend serves up a bevy of opportunities to do just that.
The Glazer Children's Museum celebrates its third birthday in style on Sunday at Curtis Hixon Park. An outdoor dance party featuring Baby Loves Disco DJ can be expected, along with plenty of food trucks, vendors, and an amateur Ashley Whipper dog Frisbee throwing competition.
Not to be outdone, Great Explorations Children’s Museum will celebrate Nickelodeon’s 10th annual Worldwide Day of Play on Sat., Sept. 21, with special activities including hula hoop contests, dance time, balance challenges and, of course, slime.
Also on Saturday is Polk Family Fun Day, where families will have the opportunity to explore art through fun activities, art projects, live entertainment, games, balloon bending, face painting and more. If you can divorce yourself from the Starbucks counter this weekend, there are plenty of things to take the kids to enjoy.
Busch Gardens and International Plaza have teamed up for a brand new play area today, which just had its grand opening this weekend at the mall. The Busch Gardens play area located in the lower level Nordstrom wing, will open with a ribbon-cutting ceremony that will include Busch Gardens’ entertainment, as well as visits from the park’s animal ambassadors.
If the Emerald City is a more favored destination, be sure to get down to Tyrone Square Mall in St. Pete for their celebration of the 75th Anniversary of The Wizard of Oz. The little ones can take part in a Oz scavenger hunt where they will receive a special map that will lead them to stations throughout the mall with film clips, character cut outs, and movie-focused giveaways. Be sure to bring your favorite flying monkey.
Tonight, there is no better an example of art giving back to the community than this weekend’s glorious production of Sir Slob and The Princess. This fractured fairy tale is unique both on stage and behind the scenes, as this adult-performed, children’s play has specific benefits for a deaf audience.
Directed by CL’s own, Matthew Michael Schiel, Slob features an American Sign Language interpreter for every speaking role in the show, shadowing the actors and at times, even interacting with them. This special, one night only event is a fundraiser for the City Players, and is a can’t miss event.
Regarding this unique experience, Schiel comments: “It’s challenged all of us to be creative in new ways. The reason you put the interpreters on stage is to offer a more complete experience for the ASL community, but that wasn’t enough for us. To really make it complete you have to make them a part of the story. In order to do that, we had to create 11 more characters that could complement the actor they are shadowing. Now the show is twice as good because you have more things to watch and laugh at. It will be an amazing experience for both the cast and the audience.”
Glazer Children's Museum 3rd Birthday Bash, Sun. Sept. 22, 1:00 p.m., Curtis Hixon Park, Tampa, Free. glazermuseum.org.
Great Explorations Worldwide Day of Play event, Sat., Sept. 21, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., $5, greatex.org.
Polk Family Fun Day, Sat., Sept. 21, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Polk Museum of Art, 800 East Palmetto St., Lakeland, free. polkmuseumofart.org.
Sir Slob and the Princess, Fri., Sept. 20, 7:30 p.m., SPC-Clearwater Campus Theater, Arts Auditorium, 2465 St., Clearwater; $10, $5 for students with ID, wcplayers.org.
