19:
The word “FunikiJam” doesn’t quite roll off the tongue – it’s a mash-up of Japanese and Indonesian words meaning “musical atmosphere” and “time” – but the NYC-based children’s entertainment group will be teaching kids all sorts of new words from world cultures during the Summer Fun Thursday event at The Shops at Willow Bend in Plano.
Take the kids to Grand Court at 1pm for singing, rhyming and chanting with the group led by Brian Barrentine, founder of FunikiJam’s award-winning entertainment and education programs.
For some pre-FunikiJam entertainment, join The Energizers at noon for games and prizes. The first 500 kids who register will get a Sonic voucher for a free hot dog.
Sign up to receive our Weekend Guide newsletters each Thursday to your inbox, and for more family-friendly events every day, visit the calendar at dfwchild.com/calendar.
18:
LEGO lovers, DUPLO darlings, take note. Today Klyde Warren Park is unveiling a new type of playground equipment that will blow other toy blocks out of the water. Imagination Playground is made up of large, blue foam blocks, mats and tubes that young builders can stack and connect to form little cars, bridges, forts – whatever they can think to create.
The company that created the soft, lightweight and nontoxic blocks is based in New York City, where the first Imagination Playground Park opened in July 2010. Now the playground sets are popping up across the globe.
Klyde Warren Park is debuting its own Imagination Playground in a Cart during a public play session this morning from 10am–noon, and the equipment will be rolled out for open play each Tuesday from 9am–noon.
Sign up to receive our Weekend Guide newsletters each Thursday to your inbox, and for more family-friendly events every day, visit the calendar at dfwchild.com/calendar.
17:
Get your feet wet with these watery (and water-inspired) activities on Monday and Tuesday in Dallas-Fort Worth. First up, today the Perot Museum in Dallas opens its new ocean-themed exhibit that features your own creations as works of art, and on Tuesday, you can join the World’s Largest Swimming Lesson at multiple pools and aquatic centers in the area.
Recycle Reef opens
The newest exhibit at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, open today, is actually a giant activity station where you and the kids can create sea creatures from recyclable craft materials and learn about the importance of recycling at the same time. Grab pieces of cardboard and find a spot at one of the 90 craft stations, look around the room for your craft inspiration – seahorses, eels, crabs, sharks – and spent as much time as you like fashioning your own ocean animal. Then take your creation home, or head into the second section of the exhibit and an attendant will help you add your craft to Recycle Reef’s kelp forest, deep ocean, shipwreck or coral reef. Admission is $15 for adults and $10 for kids 2–11, plus a $2 surcharge.
World’s Largest Swimming Lesson
On Tuesday, thousands of swimmers around the world will try for a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records and attempt to break the 2011 record for the largest simultaneous swimming lesson. Grab your swimsuits and goggles and visit worldslargestswimminglesson.org to find the nearest participating location to you. Each of the 17 Dallas community pools is hosting the free, swimming event at 10am on Tuesday.
In addition to being a great excuse to head out to the pool, the swimming lesson is meant to educate families and prevent drowning, which the organization says is the second leading cause of injury-related death of kids ages 1–14. For tips on water safety, visit worldslargestswimminglesson.org/water-safety. Be safe and have fun this summer!
Sign up to receive our Weekend Guide newsletters each Thursday to your inbox, and for more family-friendly events every day, visit the calendar at dfwchild.com/calendar.
14:
Father’s Day on the Field at Cowboys Stadium
You’ve watched the Dallas Cowboys in high-definition, either from your own television or on the stadium’s colossal video board over the field. Now from 10am–9pm on Saturday, you can get down on the field for an even closer look at where the players do their thing and for some football fun with the family at the same time.
Father’s Day experience includes a stadium tour, games with the kids on the field, and a meet-and-greet with some cool people: the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, alumni members of the team, and two Minions from Despicable Me 2. For tickets, call 817/892-8687. Tickets sold over the phone until noon today are $12, and you can get in for $17.50 for adults and $14.50 for kids tomorrow at the door.
A Reely Super Saturday in Fort Worth
The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History is the place to be on Saturday night for three reasons:
1) Super Saturday
First off, get the in the door for half price and a free comic book by doing what the kids already like to do, i.e. wear a superhero costume out in public. Kids 12 and younger can come dressed as their favorite superhero in honor of Superman’s 75th birthday. DC Comics published the first Superman comic book in 1938. Don’t have a costume? Make your own mask and cape inside Innovation Studios and meet the stormtroopers from the 501st Legion.
2) Reel Adventures Scavenger Hunts: The museum recently began showing the 2006 film Night at the Museum on the Omni Theater’s IMAX screen. Get your tickets for Saturday’s 7:10pm showtime, and for some actual live entertainment at the museum, show up at 5:30pm for a scavenger hunt, live animal demonstrations, historical characters and science-related activities.
3) Star Party: After the screening, head to the south parking lot and look for the group of people surrounding impressive looking telescopes. Those are members of the Fort Worth Astronomical Society and the Noble Planetarium staff, and they’ll be inviting kids and adults alike to look through their telescopes and see which celestial bodies are showing their faces.
Sign up to receive our Weekend Guide newsletters each Thursday to your inbox, and for more family-friendly events every day, visit the calendar at dfwchild.com/calendar.
13:
In honor of Stephanie Mauldin, who was diagnosed with autism when she was just 2 years olds, everyone is coming out to NorthPark Center on Saturday for Stephanie’s Day, and we mean everyone, including the Mavs ManiAACs, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey clowns Kelly and Becky, and the part-superhero/part-Elvis/whole-chicken David Chicken as well as the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, Dallas Mavericks Dancers and personalities from CBS 11 and TXA 21.
Bring the family out to the free, ninth annual event from 10am–2pm to watch the children’s performances, and you can stop by the vendor booths to meet with representatives from therapy services, camps, advocacy groups and healthcare providers for information on local resources available for children with special needs.
For more family-friendly events, check out our summer issue of Thrive magazine, or visit the calendar at dfwchild.com/calendar and select Special Needs Friendly.
13:
This weekend Barbie is coming to DFW and is bringing her Dreamhouse with her. She put up her pink Malibu mansion for sale in February, and with a pink motorcade in tow (Chevy Corvette, Volkswagen Beetle, Fiat 500 and moving truck) she recently set off on a national tour to “find a new dream home.” (Mattel just opened the Barbie Dreamhouse Experience in Florida).
Bring the Barbie doll fans in your household to play dress-up and walk the runway in a glam fashion show, build your own Mega Bloks Barbie room to take home and create your own Barbie fashions. You’ll find Barbie on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11am–3pm at these locations:
June 14: North East Mall, 1101 Melbourne Rd., Hurst, 76053
June 15: Walmart, 521 N. Cockrell Hill Rd., Dallas, 75211
June 16: Firewheel Town Center, 245 Cedar Sage Dr. Garland, 75040
Get a goody bag and sign up online for a chance to win your own bedroom makeover by a Barbie designer for your own personal version of Barbie’s Dreamhouse.
Sign up to receive our Weekend Guide newsletters each Thursday to your inbox, and for more family-friendly events every day, visit the calendar at dfwchild.com/calendar.
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The word “FunikiJam” doesn’t quite roll off the tongue – it’s a mash-up of Japanese and Indonesian words meaning “musical atmosphere” and “time” – but the NYC-based children’s entertainment group will be teaching kids all sorts of new words from world cultures during the Summer Fun Thursday event at The Shops at Willow Bend in Plano.
