Tag: Field Trips

Renaissance Faire

The Bristol Renaissance Faire started this weekend, and you have a couple months to make your plans to attend. For each weekend until Labor Day you can enjoy this amazing event.

From their website:

Every Faire day recreates a time when knights were noble, maids were merry, and turkey legs, titanic. Once you enter the portal gates, you travel back in time to the year 1574, and you’ve walked right into an exciting village festival day. And what are we celebrating? Queen Elizabeth, Herself, is visiting Bristol! It’s time to eat, drink and be merry! Revelry is the order of the day!

For 9 glorious weekends starting in early July, each Saturday and Sunday, plus Labor Day Monday, visitors take a rollicking romp through Elizabethan England, complete with 16th Century games, rides, arts, crafts, food, music and one-of-a-kind encounters with a spectacular cast of characters. The Faire boasts a beautiful 30-acre site with open-air stages featuring Swordfighters, Minstrels and Jesters. Meet Robin Hood or Queen Elizabeth, in person! All entertainment is included in the price of admission.

Nearly 200 artisans display their wares in the Bristol Faire Marketplace. Potters, glass blowers, jewelers and forgers busily go about their work, as shoppers discover rare finds around every corner. Offerings range from sterling silver jewelry, hand-thrown pottery and fine crafted leather works to hickory walking sticks, rich tapestries to hammered pewter.

When: Saturdays, Sundays & Labor Day
Jul. 10 thru Sep. 6, 2010
Where: Off I-94 at the IL/WI Border • 10am – 7pm rain or shine
More info, phone: 847-395-7773

This 90 second video will give you an up close look at the Faire:

There are coupons available for this coming weekend and a smaller coupon for the other weekends. So, if you do plan on attending be sure to take advantage of those savings.

Raging Waves

Special Events

Making Waves with Backpacks
backpack

July 11th – 18th Blessings in a Backpack Week

You can make a difference in a child’s life simply by bringing in new or slightly used backpacks and receive a discount on your daily admission price all week long. This unique program is designed to feed elementary school children whose families qualify for the federal free and reduced meal program, and may not have any or enough food on the weekends. The program is administered through schools and a local grocer partners with the program to provide food in the backpacks. Every Friday, students receive their backpacks with food staples and they return their backpacks on Monday.

For every new or gently used backpack that is donated, you will receive $5 off the regular price of a full-day pass.

Helping others and enjoying big family fun at Raging Waves makes it a perfect day!

$1 movies!

$1 Kids Summer Movies Start on June 14 and runs 9 Weeks!

A Different Fun Film Each Week!

$1 per ticket, all ages!  Each week, Monday through Friday at 10:00am we offer an entertaining PG movie for only $1.

Playing at the following theaters:  Bay City 8, Canton Cinema, Capital 8, Forum 8, Grand Haven 9, Hamilton 16 IMAX, Holland 7, Jackson 10, Kalamazoo 10, Kendall 10, Krafft 8, Lafayette 7, Lansing Mall Cinema, Oxford 7, Portage 16 IMAX, Quality 16, Randall 15 IMAX, Saginaw 12, Savoy 16, W. Columbia 7, Wabash Landing 9, Willow Knolls 14

Click here for movie lineup

Adler Planetarium free days

Free days at Adler Planetarium coming up next week. These are the free dates for the rest of the year:

Charter One
Charter One Discount Days at the Adler are made possible by the generous support of the Charter One Foundation.
June
September
October
November
December
7-11
7, 13-17, 21, & 28
5, 12, 19, & 26
2, 9, 16, 23, & 30
7, 14, & 21

Check out the Planetarium’s website for all the rest of the details and to plan your trip.

Free museum days this week!

More free field trips! Info from Free things in Chicago . . .

Looking for things to do in Chicago with the kids? Here are some of the museums in Chicago that have free days this week.  Found another? — leave a comment for the community!

The Chicago History Museum is free to the public every Monday, 9:30am-4:30pm.

The Museum of Science and Industry has free general admission (basic entry) to the public on Monday May 3

The Adler Planetarium is free on May 4th with hours being 9:30am – 6pm during the summer; 10:00am – 4:00pm otherwise; Charter One Discount Days at the Adler are made possible by the generous support of the Charter One Foundation.

The National Museum of Mexican Art is free every day but closed on Mondays.

Museum of Contemporary Photography. Free every day and open Mon.-Sat. 10am-5pm (Thurs. until 8pm), Sun. 12-5pm. 600 S. Michigan Ave. at Columbia College, Chicago.

The Notebaert Chicago Nature Museum has “Free Days” every Thursday.

The Oriental Institute. Free every day (suggested donation of $7 adults, $4 children). Open Tues.-Sat. 10am-6pm (Wed. until 8:30pm), Sun. 12-6pm, closed Mondays. 1155 East 58th Street at University of Chicago.

The Art Institute of Chicago is free to the public every Thursday evening (May 6) from 5pm-8pm.

The Chicago Children’s Museum is free for everyone – every Thursday evening (may 6 this week) from 5-8pm

The Lincoln Park Zoo is free and open to the public 365 days per year. Generally open 10am-5pm.

Homeschool Outdoor Education

walcamp logo
Walcamp is a year-round outdoor ministry offering facilities and a variety of programs for youth and families, churches and other groups. Walcamp is located on 180 acres of forest and open fields on the Kishwaukee River in Kingston, IL, about 70 miles west of Chicago and 15 miles north of DeKalb, IL

They offer outdoor education classes geared especially for homeschoolers, and have one coming up in May.

Here is the info from Walcamp’s website:

Aquatic Antics
May 20, 2010 – 1:00pm -5:00pm

Ever wonder what life adventures take place under water? Prepare to get wet when you join Walcamp’s aquatic life for a day of creek stomping, amphibian searching, canoeing, and more as you discover many wonders of God’s creation.

The cost is $10 per participant and siblings under 5 are free. They encourage parents to participate as well. Participants should come prepared for water — towels, dry clothes, water shoes, and no flip-flops.

To register your students and family for a Homeschool Days event, please call 815.784.5141 or email Debra, registrar@walcamp.org at least 2 weeks before the event date.
If you are interested, you can also set up your own group activity by contacting Ben at 815.784.5141 or emailing media@walcamp.org.

Free bowling for kids

Brunswick Bonus Zone :: Members-Only Values and More

While homeschoolers keep the wheels turning all year as far as fun activities, field trips, and outings, the summer always gives us some special opportunities to take advantage of.
Thanks to reader Anastasia for this link:

Kids bowl FREE all summer long at Brunswick
http://coupons.bowlbrunswick.com/ballpass/
This is truly free, you just need to register online for the Brunswick Bonus Zone in advance of arriving for your free game of bowling. The program says members will receive one free game each day from June through August.

Presumably no other purchase is required, except for shoe rental if you would need those, but there are not a lot of details in the ad. I would encourage you to call your local Brunswick to find answers to any further questions.

Every Brunswick might not necessarily be participating, but there is a fairly good list that includes more than a dozen in the Chicago area, so you will likely find one not too far from your home. And, it’s free! Perfect for those rainy or too hot days that we are sure to encounter at some point this summer.

Sign up now and take advantage of this special program.

Free admission to Holocaust Museum

The new Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center will celebrate its one year anniversary on April 19th. For this one day you can enjoy free admission to the museum.

The schedule for the day includes:

11:00 – 11:45 Eyewitness to the Holocaust, Goodman Auditorium
Listen to the individual story of someone who experienced history firsthand. 
Q/A will follow.  Space is limited.

12:00 until closing Cake and refreshments, Pritzker Hall of Reflection
1:35 – 2:15 Eyewitness to the Holocaust, Goodman Auditorium
Listen to the individual story of someone who experienced history firsthand.
Q/A will follow.  Space is limited.

4:00 – 5:00 Symbolism in the Design of IHMEC – Stanley Tigerman, Architect
Seating is limited, RSVP required | email architect@ilhmec.org or call 847.967.4814

In the museum you can also enjoy an exhibit that shares the wartime escape of H.A. Rey and his wife from the Nazi invasion of Paris during WWII. Name ring a bell? He is the author of the well loved Curious George series, and as a Jew, had to flee to America in 1940.

Special events begin the day before, so feel free to check out the Illinois Holocaust Museum website for more details.

Also, if the holocaust is a topic of interest for you or your family you might want to check out the new season at the Provision Theater which will feature The Hiding Place, an amazing story of bravery and faith in the midst of persecution and hatred.

Free stuff in Chicago!

Budgets of course limit our opportunities. But, here’s a great site that offers lots of ideas for free stuff that you can do or access.

Check out the Free Things to Do in Chicago for more, but here are a couple highlights from recent posts:

**Upcoming Mini Model Build**:LEGO-chick-free-mini-model-build-chicago

Build a free LEGO Chick: Tuesday, April 6, begins at 5:00pm until supplies last.

Bring your kids to the free monthly LEGO mini-model build at any of the four Chicago area LEGO stores  and take home a free mini-model that your child has constructed! On the first Tuesday of every month, LEGO has this free event and your children can learn how to build a cool mini model, and take it home – for free! A new model will be available every month and will be specially themed to that month – Quantities are limited and offer is good while supplies last only. One free per child. Event is open to children ages 6 to 14 only. See store for more details.

The** Chicago History Museum **is free on Mondays so come out in April 5, April 12, April 19 or April 26 2010 with the kids and family to see this Chicago museum devoted to collecting, interpreting, and presenting the rich multicultural history of Chicago and Illinois. Check out the outstanding “Abraham Lincoln Transformed” exhibit which closes on April 12 after a long run.

**Free Audio Download!** Each month Christianaudio.com gives away a premium audiobook download for free. How does it work? Well, they give away one audiobook download (that they have published or that a partner has allowed them to give away) absolutely free; available only during that month and only once, ever.

During April, ChristianAudio.com  is offering a free audiobook download of “Stuff Christians Like” by Jonathan Acuff. To get the deal, use promo code “APR2010”.

free audiobook download stuff-christians-like

Lots more free stuff to be enjoyed. Check it out!