Grab and Go Kids' Planner: February 26 & 27

UNION COUNTY HAPPENINGS:

FEBRUARY 26TH

 KIDS & FAMILY EVENTS

 Curious George Visits Storytime

Venue: Barnes & Noble 240 Us Highway 22, Springfield

When: 11 a.m., Saturday

Cost: Free

Description: Storytime will be extra special this Saturday!  Curious George will be making a visit.

Why: Toddlers LOVE Curious George! 

Website: http://www.barnesandnoble.com

Phone:  973-376-8544

Beauty and The Beast

 Venue: Governor Livingston High School, 175 Watchung Blvd, Berkeley Heights 

When: 10 a.m. -noon, Saturday

Cost: Email GLBreakfastWithBelle@gmail.com for reservations.

Description: An exciting opportunity for Berkeley Heights & Mountainside residents of all ages to join Belle and all the characters from Beauty and the Beast for breakfast. There will be a mini-production of Beauty and the Beast, a sing-a-long and autograph session.  

Why: Enjoy breakfast with the characters. 

Website: http://www.bhpsnj.org 

 Bird House Bonanza

Venue: Reeves-Reed Arboretum Summit

When: 10 a.m. and noon, Saturday

Cost: Members: $22/child, Non-members: $30/child (all materials included)

Description: With March right around the corner, some migrating birds will begin their return to New Jersey in search of a new home. During this workshop, children and their parents work together to build a bird house and learn about the types of birds that may call it home.

Why: A sign that Spring is almost here! 

Website: http://www.reeves-reedarboretum.org/ 

Phone: 908-273-8787

JUST FOR MOMS

Swan Lake Act 2 and Repertory Selections

Venue: Wilkins Theater at Kean University 1000 Morris Avenue, Union

When: 8 p.m., Saturday

Cost: $30 adults, $20, students and children

Description: An enchanted princess trapped in a swan’s body, a lovelorn prince, a flock of graceful swans and an evil magician.

Why: This is what people think of when they hear “ballet.”

Website: www.keanstage.com 

Phone: 908-737-7469

PARENTS NIGHT OUT

Sweeney Todd

Venue: Zella Fry Theatre on the Kean University campus, located at 1000 Morris Avenue, Union 

When: 2 p.m. or 8 p.m., Saturday

Cost: $15, $12 for faculty, staff, seniors and alumni; $10 for students.

Description: Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s musical thriller is a “heart-pounding masterpiece of murderous barber-ism and culinary crime”. In the style of the Grand Guignol, intelligent and macabre, Sweeney Todd is both horrific and hysterical, recounting the well-known tale of a vengeful barber and his whimsical and mischievous business partner and meat-pie maker, Mrs. Lovett.

Why: Musical thriller…you will laugh one moment and gasp in surprise. 

Website: www.keanstage.com 

Phone: 908-737-7469

Summit NJ 3rd Annual Restaurant Week

Venue: 30 Participating Restaurants in Summit.  (Please visit website for details) 

When: Through Sunday

Cost: Visit website for details 

Description: Each participating restaurant will be offering a prix fixe meal, a special drink or another item.

Why: This is the chance to visit your favorite restaurant or check out a new one.

Website: http://www.summitdowntown.org/ 

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27TH

KIDS & FAMILY EVENTS

Alice in Wonderland

Venue: Trinity Episcopal Church, Trinity Episcopal Theater, North and Forest Avenue, Cranford (The theater is located in the building behind Trinity Church)

When: 3 p.m., Sunday

Cost: $12, adults; $7, children & seniors

Description:  Driftwood Players presents “Alice in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll. The classic tale of Alice’s adventures in a fantasy world and the unusual creatures she meets.

Why: A spark of afternoon imagination awaits. 

Website: http://njdriftwoodplayers.com

Phone: 908-276-4047

Cinderella

Venue: Kean Stage, Wilkins Theatre, 1000 Morris Avenue, Union

When: 2 p.m., Sunday 

Cost: $15 

Description: Beloved fairy tale complete with a lovely girl, a handsome prince, a dancing slipper and a pumpkin that turns into a coach before your very eyes! This is a New Jersey Ballet Matinee for Kids & Families. 

Why: Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo, ballet style! 

Website: www.keanstage.com 

Phone: 908-737-7469

JUST FOR MOMS

Homeopathy and Optimal Physical, Emotional and Mental Health

Venue: The Terra Sky Center for Wellness, 510 Morris Ave, Summit

When: 2 p.m. - 4 p.m., Sunday

Cost: Registration required.

Description: The Terra Sky Center for Wellness is having a presentation by Janice Solomon a certified classical homeopath. This 45-minute introduction into homeopathy and its benefits will be followed by an additional presentation for anyone interested in more information.

Why: The ABCs of homeopathy.

Website: http://www.terraskycenter.com/

Phone: 908-277-1222

PARENTS NIGHT OUT

Downtown Westfield Restaurant Week, February 27 – March 6

Venue: Select Participating Restaurants (visit website for restaurant information)

When: Starts Sunday, runs through Sunday, March 6

Cost: $20 for two-course dinner; $10 for two-course lunch

Description: Enjoy daily specials for the week at Westfield’s fine eating establishments. Tax, gratuity and beverages not included. Reservations are recommended. Please call the restaurants directly.

Why: Serious Eats! Enjoy prix fixe meals with your spouse and enjoy a meal without any kiddie interruptions!

Website: www.westfieldtoday.com

Phone: 908-789-9444

FEBRUARY 26TH

KIDS & FAMILY EVENTS

Glow-in-the-Dark Yoga

Venue: Mia Yoga at The Wellness Loft, 89 Walnut Street, Montclair

When: 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., Saturday

Description: Glowing materials, one-hour yoga class and snacks! (ages 7 & up w/parents)

Why: The exercise is as hard to resist as the title for this kids' program!

Website: http://miayogamontclair.com/ 

Phone: 973-752-8232

Seed Starting 

Venue: Essex County Environmental Center, Garibaldi Hall, 621a Eagle Rock Ave., Roseland

When: 10 a.m., Saturday

Cost: $8

Description: “Seed Starting” will be presented by Rutgers Master Gardeners of Essex County. Participants will learn the basics of starting vegetable and flower seeds at home, growing medium, seedling care, and seed selection.

Why: It is a wondrous moment when that first seedling emerges…

Website: http://www.essex-countynj.org 

Phone: 973-228-8776

Yo Gabba Gabba Skate Day

Venue: Branch Brook Park Roller Skating Center, 7th Ave & Clinton Ave, Newark

When: 11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. Saturday 

Cost: $5, child & skating adult; $2 for non-skating adults 

Description: Skating with Yo Gabba Gabba! 

Why: Join DJ Lance Rock, Muno, Plex, Foofa, Toodee, and Brobee in Gabba Land.

Website: http://www.usaskating.com/dynamic.asp?schimg=spev_sch.gif&sel=7&LinkID=6 

Phone: 973-482-8900 

JUST FOR MOMS

All-State Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band and Women’s Choir

Venue: New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center St., Newark 

When: 3 p.m., Saturday 

Cost: Price varies, please visit website for tickets 

Description: This performance features a collective of some of the most outstanding young singers and instrumentalists from throughout New Jersey.

Why: Discover the wonders of symphonic orchestra music.

Website: http://www.njpac.org/ 

Phone: 888-GO-NJPAC 

PARENTS' NIGHT OUT

Proof

Venue: Nutley Little Theatre, 47 Erie Place (off Brookfield Avenue), Nutley

When: 2 p.m., Saturday

Cost: $15

Description: Winner of the 2001 Tony Award for Best Play, as well as the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, this intimate family drama set in the world of academia explores the grey area between madness and genius: how does one provide “proof” of one’s ownership of ideas, of sanity, of love? On Broadway, Mary Louise Parker of Weeds fame played the lead role of Catherine, the brilliant mathematician’s daughter who may have inherited his madness as well.

Why: Seize the chance to see this.

Website: http://www.nutleylittletheatre.com/ 

Phone: 973-667-0374

Carol Beaugard and Blue Express

Venue: Mofiddles, 4260 Town Center Way, Livingston

When: 7:30 p.m., Saturday

Cost: $15

Description: “Blue Express” performs a great mix of driving bluegrass, pleasing folkgrass and Americana music.  Exceptional vocals and instrumentation with a contemporary sound, humor and a great sense of fun are the band’s special ingredients.

Why: Music…music…music…get your toes tappin’. 

Website: http://www.mofiddles.com/index.html

Phone: 973-994-1083

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27TH

KIDS & FAMILY EVENTS

 Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus: Fully Charged

Venue: Prudential Center, 165 Mulberry Street, Newark

When: 5 p.m., Sunday

Cost: Prices varies, visit website to purchase tickets 

Description: Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus powers up audiences with acts from all over the globe, featuring breathtaking dare-devilry, superhuman stunts and never-before-seen performances that spark the imaginations of Children Of All Ages! Clowns from the world-famous Clown Alley charge the audience’s funny bones, while megawatts of thrills explode out of the ring, including The Human Fuse who rockets across the circus skies igniting the power of the people. And of course, amazing animals spark the audience’s awe and wonder. 

Why: The greatest show on Earth! 

Website: http://www.prucenter.com/

Phone: 973-757-6600

JUST FOR MOMS

Irish/Celtic World Dance

Venue: Bloomfield College, 467 Franklin St, Bloomfield (Westminster Arts Center)

When: 3 p.m., Sunday

Cost: $10; $5, students

Description: A Celebration of Irish Music & Dance.

Why: Start your St. Patrick’s Day celebrations early.

Website: http://www.bloomfield.edu/

Phone: 973-288.1293

PARENTS' NIGHT OUT

Always Love

Venue: St. Philomena’s Church Street, 386 South Livingston Avenue, Livingston

When: 3:30 p.m. - 5 p.m., Sunday

Cost: $18; $5, students K-12. Tickets may be purchased at the door

Description: A concert of passionate opera and enchanting romantic music. Featuring Catherine Shelley, soprano, Dan Ansaldo, tenor, Kyunyung Park, bass and David Maiullo, coach/pianist. Presented by the West Essex Chapter of the New Jersey State Opera Guild, a 501 (c)(3) organization. 

Why: Opera, the art of emotions.

Website: http://www.stphilomena.org/

Phone: 973-951-5833 

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 26TH

KIDS & FAMILY EVENTS

Colonial Cooking Contest

Venue: Museum of Early Trades & Craft, 9 Main Street (NJ Route 124 at Green Village Road), Madison

When: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Saturday

Cost: $5 (includes admission to the Museum)

Description: Participants are to research a historic Colonial period recipe. Potential contestants are welcome to stop by and browse through the Museum’s Early American cookbooks and collection of recipes. Other researching venues include local libraries, historical societies, museums and/or family recipes. Once a recipe is chosen, contestants are to prepare the dish at home as close as possible to the original recipe. They are then to bring it to the Museum on Saturday, February 26th to be judged. Each dish will be judged based on how closely it adheres to the original recipe, its taste and its appearance.

Why: Colonial cooking is not just a thing of the past. Elements of colonial cooking can be seen in modern day cooking, and it will be fun to see what and how the kids cook up!

Website: http://www.metc.org/

Phone: 973-377-2982 x14.

Planet Earth

Venue: The Morris Museum, 6 Normandy Heights Rd, Morristown

When: 1 p.m., Saturday

Cost: Free w/museum admission

Description: The Morris Museum is showing Planet Earth, the acclaimed BBC series, on the big screen in the Bickford Theatre

Why: Simply the greatest nature & wildlife series ever produced!

Website: http://www.morrismuseum.org

Phone: 973-376-4946

 Rapunzel – A Brush with Fate!

Venue: Pax Amicus Theater, 23 Lake Shore Drive, Budd Lake

When: 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., Saturday

Cost: $12

Description: Given away at birth. Locked alone in a tower.  An evil witch for a mother and now, to make it all worse — SPLIT ENDS! Talk about your bad hair day! But it’s nothing a confident young girl with a dream, a song and an industrial strength hair dryer can’t cure. Come let your hair down for a while and join us as the witch, the prince and everyone else discover why Rapunzel is a cut above the rest. Additional shows: 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., March 5 and 12

Why: Children are offered an important lesson about love.  Rage, grief, and jealousy flash through the story, but in the end, it is love that prevails.

Website: http://www.paxamicus.com/

Phone: 973-691-2100

JUST FOR MOMS

Arabian Nights

Venue: Mayo Center for the Performing Arts, 100 South Street, Morristown

When: 3 p.m., Saturday

Cost: ticket prices varies, please visit website or call the box office for tickets

Description: Nights of adventure and intrigue await as Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade and Nielsen’s Aladdin Suite weave a spell with vivid orchestral color. Ranjbaran’s exciting music, based on an 11th-century Persian epic poem, fuses ancient and modern sounds

Why: Sit back and enjoy the sounds of this symphonic tale of Arabian Nights!

Website: http://www.mayoarts.org/index.htm

Phone: 973-539-8008

PARENTS' NIGHT OUT

“Urinetown: The Musical’ by Mark Hollman

Venue: Chester Theatre Group, 54 Grove Street, Chester

When: 8 p.m., Saturday 

Cost: $24; $22, seniors & students. Reservations are encouraged.

Description: A town facing a water shortage where the government has banned private toiletries and the citizens must use pay-to-pee toilets regulated by a monopolistic company, the Urine Good Company, which charges exorbitant prices. Do the citizen’s rebel? You betcha! It not only pokes fun at local government, but, also the Broadway musical itself as a form.

Why: Need a laugh? Here’s a satire about capitalism, social irresponsibility, mega-corporations, and small town politics.

Website: http://www.chestertheatregroup.org/

Phone: 908-879-7304

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27TH

KIDS & FAMILY EVENTS

Annual Skating Club of Morris Ice Skating Showcase

Venue: William G. Mennen Sports Arena, 161 East Hanover Avenue, Morristown

When: 4:15 p.m. - 6:15 p.m., Sunday

Cost: Free

Description: Please come and cheer on the skaters, as they perform their program, to a timed piece of music.

Why: View intricate and challenging moves on ice skates.

Website: http://parks.morris.nj.us/aspparks/mennenmain.asp

Phone:  973-326-7651

JUST FOR MOMS

Power of a Peaceful Mind

Venue: Studio Yoga, 2 Green Village Road, Madison

When: 5 p.m. – 6:30p.m., Sunday

Cost: $20/class

Description: Participants can learn skillful meditation techniques for remaining balanced, flexible and peaceful in the midst of difficult situations and conflicts. Begin to oppose your real enemy: the painful mind of anger. Learn to be assertive without becoming angry; and compassionate without always giving in. Discover how responding positively will improve your life and health, leaving you feeling less stress and greater joy and meaning.

Why: For a happy life, a happy family, and a happy community, much depends on our mental attitude.

Website: http://www.studioyoganj.com/

Phone: 973-966-5311

FEBRUARY 26TH

KIDS & FAMILY EVENTS

Papermaking Class

Venue: The Attic Ensemble, 83 Wayne Street, Jersey City

When: 10 a.m. - noon, Saturday

Cost: Free, Pre-registration required

Description: Liberty State Park staff will lead a hands-on workshop on creating your own paper from used paper and natural materials.

Why: Not only is it a fun experience for you and the kids, but it’s a good way to recycle waste into wonderful possibilities.

Website:  http://www.folsp.org

Phone: 201-915-3409

JUST FOR MOMS

Zang Toi Trunk Show

Venue: NYC-JC Luxury Suites, 70 Greene Street -44th Floor, Jersey City

When: noon and 3 p.m., Saturday

Cost: Free

Description: Zang Toi established the “House of Toi” collection in 1989. Toi burst onto the scene with vibrant hues and bold designs. Never to miss even the smallest details, his garments are proof positive that time and careful attention has been placed into each and every look. 

Why: Attend this special event with the girls and get a sampling of what’s in fashion.

Website: http://houseoftoi.com/

Phone: 201-706-1017

PARENTS' NIGHT OUT

Landmark Loew’s Theater Presents: The Big Sleep

Venue: The Landmark Loew’s Jersey, 54 Journal Square, Jersey City

When: 6 p.m. – 8p.m., Saturday 

Cost: $7; $5, seniors.

Description: Starring Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall. Directed by Howard Hawkes.  
This film noir classic, one of the most influential detective movies ever made, nevertheless has one of the most convoluted scripts of any movie made in classic Hollywood.

Why: Drama, mystery and suspense.

Website: http://www.loewsjersey.org/

Phone: 201-798-6055

FEBRUARY 27TH

KIDS & FAMILY EVENTS

 PARENTS' NIGHT OUT

Sunday Brunch Buffet

Venue: The Madison Bar & Grill, 1316 Washington Street, Hoboken

When: 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., Sunday 

Cost: $25

Description: Brunch & live Jazz

Why: An ideal way to relax and enjoy

Website: http://www.madisonbarandgrill.com/

Phone: 201-386-0300