Save the Date
Sat, Oct 13: Monster Mash and Dash at Heritage Park - Kaysville
Sat, Oct 13: Air and Space Series: Weather in Air & Space at Hill Aerospace Museum
Thu, Oct 18: Garden After Dark - Oaklore Adademy of Magic - Red Butte Garden
Sat, Oct 27: Cedar Livestock and Heritage Festival at Frontier Homestead State Park
Sat, Nov 3: Harlem Globetrotters at Vivint Smart Home Arena
Fri, Nov 9: Illuminate - Utah's Light Art and Tech Fest 2018 at THE GATEWAY - (N Rio Grande St) Salt Lake City
Fri, Nov 23: Minecraft Create Black Friday Blitz at Code Ninjas Sandy
*Some events may have additional dates. Click through to see more information.
Dear KidsOutAndAbout readers:
When I was in 5th and 6th grade, I played baseball in my town's Little League. I was a loner, back then, and I think my parents nudged me to try a team sport. I could have played girls' softball, but I decided that a modern girl of the '80s should be tough enough to play with the boys. I was no good at baseball, but it was a friendly atmosphere, so the coaches put me in right field and encouraged me when I was at bat. Playing on the Panthers was fun, but it was sort of passion-free: I didn't feel particularly connected to my teammates or even to the game of baseball.
I wasn't as bad at the cello as I was at baseball, but, like most of the kids in my school orchestra, I wasn't exactly talented, either. Mr. Babcock, the music teacher, had a (mostly) good sense of humor about how mediocre we all were, and he did his best with what he was given. He would also help kids prepare for community orchestras if they wanted to. I never got good enough for Allstate Orchestra, but during my sophomore and junior years, I auditioned for New Jersey's Region II Orchestra, whose participants were from Central Jersey. The music was a lot more challenging than what you'd get in public school, and it was the real stuff, like Fauré and Copland and Ives and Rimsky-Korsakov.
During the last performance of my second year in Region II, we were playing the fourth movement of Beethoven's Fifth. I was sitting in the back of the cello section, as usual. But suddenly, for some reason, I was no longer just sawing away back there: I found myself listening to what we were playing, and it struck me as the most beautiful thing I'd heard in my entire life. Moreover, I realized, I was part of what was bringing that uplifting experience into being, me and all the other mediocre kids from places like Plainfield and Flemington and Matawan and Woodbridge. I wanted to leap up and fling my arms around them all. None of us is really good, I marveled. But together, we are awesome.
So thanks to a few tolerant and dedicated music educators and a bonus from a Master, I suddenly understood the real meaning of teamwork: Take a bunch of humans with a drive to create something useful or beautiful, put us into a room with a unified purpose, and no matter how thoroughly mediocre we are as individuals, together we are awesome.
—Debra Ross, Publisher, EntertainmentCalendar.com
For 60 Years our passion for skiing and snowboarding is what connects us to our guests.
Exclusively at our Salt Lake City Store in Olympus Cove, get season rental ski and snowboard packages starting at a hundred and nine dollars for kids and one sixty nine for adults! Plus our new Junior Beginner package for only eighty nine dollars, while supplies last! Hey Park City Kids! The Christy Sports in Kimball Junction has junior season rentals starting at a hundred and nine dollars too!
Christy Sports, We’ll See You Out There!
Get into the Spooky Spirit with These Books!
The wind is howling, the bats are swooping, the jack-o-lanterns are flickering. . . and you and your little one are curled up, safe and snug with a stack of not-too-spooky Halloween picture books! Click here to find a list of fifteen of our all-time favorite Halloween read-alouds.
Should you make your own costumes this Halloween?
Halloween is only weeks away, and that means it's time to start thinking about Halloween costumes! Now, we know that making your own costume is not for every kid (or every parent!). If speed and convenience are your top priorities, by all means, pick something up at your local store. But putting together your own costumes offers the opportunity for plenty of creativity and perhaps a little family bonding time.
Our Hudson Valley editor Anne Siller explains more in her piece, "Why would anyone MAKE their child's Halloween costume?"
Need a little inspiration? We've gathered up some make-your-own ideas from readers and staff, and you can find them here.
A Wellness Approach to Learning Disabilities
There are many successful people who have overcome challenges related to learning. How did they do it? We have a pretty good idea. And, we are certain they didn’t eat Fruit Loops for breakfast every morning or have a diet of say, CHEESE. At Click on Learning, we’ve helped thousands of people find success. Visit our website to sign-up for our LD friendly email series called “21-tips to Improve Learning.” Or, give us a call 801-477-6933. ---Ed Therapy assessments 30% off during September and October---
The Secret Garden, a faithful retelling of the classic novel, plays at Utah Children’s Theatre from October 13 through November 17. Performances are Fridays at 7:00 pm and Saturdays at 1:00 and 4:30 pm from October 13 through November 17. Mary Lennox, an orphan who lives with her reclusive uncle in England, finds her late aunt’s secret garden. She uncovers the garden’s secrets, which leads to more mysteries hidden in the manor. These discoveries make unlikely friendships and help heal Mary and the people around her. Tickets are $16, and may be purchased at https://uctheatre.org/ or by calling 801-532-6000.
Dracula vs. Henry Botter - The Off Broadway Theatre
If you’re a Harry Potter fan, get ready to be mesmerized! If you’re a Dracula fan, be prepared to be petrified. If you’re an OBT fan, get set to laugh your glasses off! Henry Botter and his classmates have a new teacher—one with evil intentions. When students mysteriously wind up dead and drained of blood, it’s up to Henry to solve the crime. Featuring great visual effects, magical songs, and Salt Lake’s most eccentric vampire (you might even call him a “fantastic beast”), it’s a frightfully-funny Halloween horror for the whole family.
Click here for more information.
Want to get out into nature, but you’re not sure where to go or how to do it? Join Utah’s Hogle Zoo for a monthly outing to learn more about the world around us, get outside, and have some fun! We’ll bring the tools and information you need; you bring enough water to drink and the right clothes to enjoy a morning outdoors.
Click here for more information.
This October, Pumpkin Nights is back with more displays, new entertainment, and fun for the whole family. Journey through eight different themed lands, all crafted using over 3,000 hand-carved real and synthetic pumpkins. To learn more about what’s in store, go to pumpkinnights.com.
Click here for more information.
Enjoy this fun and family friendly 90-minute evening train ride through the Heber Valley and along the shores of Deer Creek Reservoir. This wonderful train ride includes sing-a-longs, low cost foods and treats, and many other surprises in store. Monday Night Trains are perfect for date nights, families, and large groups. Affordable prices! Be sure to arrive early to experience the Old West gunfights prior to boarding at 6:40pm!
Click here for more information.
Halloween season is in full swing! We collect the Halloween activities all in one place, dividing them into Halloween-Scary and Halloween-Fun. Click here for KidsOutAndAbout's list of Halloween activities in our area.
And are you in the market for a pumpkin, to eat or to carve? Click here for our big list of pumpkin patches. Discover a new place to get them this year.
Where can you combine the great outdoors, exercise, problem-solving skills, and family bonding? Why at a corn maze, of course! Autumn means corn maze season: get out there and get lost!
Re-visit an old Favorite or Check Out a New Place with Our List of Local Corn Mazes.
Looking for some Corn Maze Tips? We've got them for you.
Halloween Can Be Extra-Scary with Allergies in Your Family
Ice cream. Pasta. Cashews. Peanuts. Candy. Eggs. For some kids and their parents, these signify a trip to the ER or worse. This is the world of food allergies, and according to Audrey Kinsman, creator of the Switch Witch. it’s quickly growing. “There’s two kids in every classroom with food allergies,” Kinsman says. “Think of it this way – if a child picks up a blue crayon – that child could die. That’s how a mom of a child with food allergies feels.”
Kinsman responded by creating the Switch Witch for her child. Read about her story here.
Allergies are yet another reason why we at KidsOutAndAbout recommend you try to Go Beyond Candy when it comes to offering treats this year.
Halloween Foods. . . Besides the Candy
Whether you welcome the idea of scaring guests silly with a feast of clever, spooky dishes or you're just trying to figure out how to fit a little nourishment into a busy evening of trick-or-treating and door-answering, we've got you covered!
Victoria Shearer, author of numerous cookbooks, shares a round-up of some favorite Halloween classics in her article Spooky Halloween Dinner. Looking for inspiration? You're sure to find it here.
Meanwhile KidsOutAndAbout's own June Santini, known among the home office staff for her exquisite pies, bacon jam, and paninis, offers up her solution to Halloween Dinner: Pumpkin Stew. If you find your October joy in the farmers' market instead of the candy aisle, you'll love this recipe. Leave it on the stove, easy-peasy, or pour it into a hollowed-out pumpkin to wow your friends.
