Savvy Blog

Riverfest 2013 is this weekend! The three-day event is full of food, entertainment and family fun. Here are some of this year’s family activities.

KidZone
Sponsored by Deltic Timber, the KidZone Playtime Promenade is located along the banks of the Arkansas River near the Peabody Playground & Water Park in the central area of Julius Brecking Riverfront Park.

The Thea Foundation awarded four scholarships for filmmaking at the Little Rock Film Festival’s Youth Program (LRFF Youth!) screening this morning.

Speaking at the scholarship presentation, Thea Director and Founder Paul Leopoulos discussed the importance of the arts in young people’s lives.

Claymation, public service announcements, silent shorts and narratives were among the 13 impressive films screened at the Little Rock Film Festival this morning.

These films, made by Arkansas students in kindergarten through 12th grade, were chosen for screening out of more than 100 submitted as part of the festival’s Youth Program (LRFF Youth!) and the AETN Student Selects showcase.

Friday, Saturday & Sunday: The Adventures of Pinocchio
Arkansas Festival Ballet presents this storybook ballet at the Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre on Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m.

Saturday: Screening of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid – Rodrick Rules”
The LRFF2013 will screen “Diary of a Wimpy Kid – Rodrick Rules” at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 18 at Arkansas Repertory Theater.

This month’s Little Beginnings Toddler Program at the Old State House Museum is Wednesday, May 15 at 10:30 a.m. This month’s program is focusing on boats.

Little Beginnings is for children ages 2 to 4 with a parent.

Head out to Bernice Garden Farmers’ Market on Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., for the first-ever Mother’s Day Strawberry Festival.

The event features the regular farmers’ market fare, including delicious Arkansas strawberries from Barnhill Orchards and North Pulaski Farms, along with music and family activities.

SATURDAY: 40th Annual Territorial Fair at the Historic Arkansas Museum, 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. Free. The event features pioneer music, Maypole dancing, crafts for kids, stilt-walking, hoop-rolling, sack-racing, brick-making and more frontier fun (including whitewashing a fence!).

Helping Hand’s first ever “Walk, Run or Wheel” for Special Needs 5K and 2K is this Saturday, May 11.

The 5K begins at 8:30 a.m. for runners and walkers. The 2K starts at 9:30 a.m.

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Guild is hosting a Mother’s Day tea party, called Teapots & Toasts, on Sunday, May 12 as part of the Symphony Designer House XXII.

Teapots & Toasts will feature traditional afternoon tea fare, like fruit, cucumber sandwiches, chicken salad, petit fours, scones, mimosas and tea.

32nd Annual Toad Suck Daze, May 3-5 in downtown Conway, features entertainment for the whole family, a 5K/10K, lots of food on a stick and the World Famous Toad Races.

This Saturday, April 27, the second annual Thea Arts Festival will feature 39 artists from across Arkansas, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. along Main Street in the Argenta Arts District in North Little Rock.

This summer, AETN is offering two camps for budding filmmakers, writers, designers or reporters.

The AETN Youth Academy for Production camp is June 17-21 and the AETN Youth Academy Reading and Writing Camp is July 22-26.

Saturday: 10th Annual Arkansas Literary Festival features a slew of free activities for kids and teens at the Main Library and new Children’s Library and Learning Center. Click here to read our blog post for more details.

The 10th Annual Arkansas Literary Festival officially kicks of Thursday, April 18, with lots of workshops, panel discussions and activities for the whole family.

Saturday, April 20 is full of activities and fun for kids and teens.

April 12-13: ACCESS Gardens Spring Plant Sales, featuring a variety of flowers and plants, as well as hanging baskets and containers. Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and Saturday, 8 a.m.

This weekend, world-famous violinist Midori accompanies the Arkansas Youth Symphony String Quartet at two Central Arkansas Library System locations. Performances are Friday, April 12, 3:45 p.m. at the new Children’s Library and Learning Center (4800 W.

Winners of the Art of Recycling Sculpture Contest were announced last night at a reception at the Museum of Discovery. Four winners were selected out of 13 total entries from schools in Pulaski County.

An exhibit, titled “Old School: Remembering the Brinkley Academy,” opens today at the Central Arkansas Library System’s Level 4 Teen Center, at the Main Library (100 Rock St.) in Little Rock.

April 5-7: Fish Fashion Weekend, Hot Springs. Learn about the fish that live in Lake Catherine and how they are adapted for their environment. Join park staff for cane pole fishing around the marina and get an up-close look at what’s lurking under the water.

The Saline County Library is hosting a Teen Poetry Contest in April.

“Beneath the Surface” is the contest’s theme, and teens, ages 13 to 18, are invited to submit poetry about any subject related to the theme.

March 30: Burns Park’s annual Easter Egg Hunt is at Pavilion 10. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. (everyone must register), and the fun begins at 9 a.m. for special-needs children; 9:30 a.m.

Easter Eggstravaganza at Hillcrest Farmers’ Market, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 23. This is an indoor party for kids of all ages, with breakfast, crafts, Easter story and a gigantic egg hunt with toys, candy and prizes.

Wildwood Park for the Arts will host a presentation of the children’s book Fireflies and Shooting Stars by Ed Raarup, with musical arrangements by native Arkansan Michael Rice and illustrations by Lindsay Nery.

In our March issue, we told you about the 52nd Young Arkansas Artists exhibit. Read the story here.

The exhibit opens today at the Arkansas Arts Center and is on view until April 28, with works from kindergarten to fifth grade in the Alice Pratt Brown Atrium, and grades six to 12 in the Sam Strauss, Sr.

The 2013 Rock to North Little Rock St. Patrick’s Day Parade begins at Third and Rock streets in downtown Little Rock on Saturday at 1 p.m. The parade crosses the Main Street Bridge and ends at Fifth and Main in the Argenta Arts District of North Little Rock.

The Central Arkansas Library System’s new Children’s Library and Learning Center opens this Saturday, March 16, with a slew of family activities.

Beginning at 10 a.m., festivities include music by the Kinders, an appearance by the Little Rock Fire Department’s fire truck, demonstrations by the Museum of Discovery and Little Rock Zoo, tastings by Loblolly Creamery and Local Lime, as well as information on native plant seed starting and energy saving, storytelling and more.

The Promenade at Chenal in Little Rock is now offering Kids Eat FREE Mondays. Families can choose from six restaurants at the Promenade, including A.W. Lin’s Asian Cuisine, Big Orange Burgers, Bravo!

Set in the Queendom of Sensitivia, “The Princess and the Pea,” now playing at the Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre, is a re-telling of the Hans Christian Andersen story.

Buy the Book. The Central Arkansas Library System’s Used Book Sale is this weekend, March 8-10 at the Main Library. Stock up on some good reads for Spring Break. Paperbacks are 50 cents and hardbacks are $1.

The fifth annual Say Go College Week kicked off on March 4 with a pep rally at Hall High School in Little Rock. Governor Mike Beebe and higher education officials were on hand to discuss the value of post-secondary education.

On Wednesday, March 6, kids, ages 8 to 12, can learn to make burgers and fries with homemade mayo at Eggshells Kitchen Co.’s Kids Cook! class.

The class is hands-on, where everyone gets to mix, measure and taste.

Donald Price, a senior at McClellan Magnet High School, won first place in the Thea Foundation’s second annual Poetry Slam Scholarship Competition. He was awarded a $3,000 scholarship.

The competition, which was held on Feb.

Around 90 kids and teens took to the track at McClellan Magnet High School on Friday, Feb. 22, to complete their final mile of the Little Rock Parks and Recreation’s Therapeutic Recreation “Little Rockers” walking program.

February is Black History Month, and there are lots of ways to celebrate this week. Here’s a list of some fun, family-friendly (and free!) events.

Tuesday, Feb. 19: Make a Freedom Quilt for Black History Month at 4 p.m.

Exclusive interview with Adrienn Banhegyi from Cirque du Soleil with questions from Savvy Kids readers. Continue reading →

SoMa’s Annual Mardi Gras Parade, Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, and The Three Little Pigs and Three Billy Goats Gruff Continue reading →

Visit the Historic Arkansas Museum this Friday and Saturday to see George Washington’s Inaugural Bible. Continue reading →

Auditions for the Arkansas Repertory Theater’s 2013 Summer Musical Theater Intensive program for ages 10 to 23 are March 1-2 at the theater, 201 Main St. in Little Rock, with callbacks on March 3.

Parents of children with learning and developmental disabilities who are age 13 or older are invited to a free public education event hosted by ACCESS February 5th beginning at 6:00 p.m.