SATURDAY ONLY

American Girl Fashion Shows at the Newark Museum (Newark)

Grab your darling’s eerily look-alike doll and head to this weekends’ all-out American Girl extravaganza: the 7th Annual American Girl Fashion Shows! The event features a two-part runway fashion show combining contemporary fashions with highlights of the various American Girl characters and their unique stories. During intermission, enjoy a dainty ice cream social in the museum’s elegant Engelhard Court.  Purchase a raffle ticket for a chance to win (even more) dolls and accessories–it’s all for a great cause, as proceeds support children's programs and exhibitions at the Museum. Saturday, April 9, 10:30am and 3:30pm. $35./person available online. (NOTE: Sunday’s two shows have already sold out.)  Call 973-596-6550 for more information.

Spring Beekeeping at Howell Living History Farm  (Lambertville)

Buzz down to Howell Living History Farm for a full day of spring beekeeping! Your busy bees begin with assisting in assembling beehives, then professional beekeeper Bob Hughes opens the hives to check the bees health, medicate the colony, and makes sure the queens, drones, and worker bees are ready to make some honey! An hour-long presentation, "Life of a Bee Colony" follows.  There’s also a walk-in craft program in which kids create “Bee Flowers.” With all this buzzing activity, they’re certain to “bee” ready to drop when you get home! Saturday, April 9. Beehive assembly 10:30am-12:30pm. Bee inspection with Mr. Hughes 1:30pm-2pm. Presentation 2:30pm-3:30pm. Craft program 11am-3pm (Approximate time to complete project: 20 minutes.) Admission FREE.Craft program $3./participant, available on walk-in basis. Call 609-737-3299 for more information.

A Multimedia Musical Adventure at the Algonquin Arts Theatre (Manasquan)

If your tween’s experience with the Jersey Shore is limited to Snookie and The Situation’s less-than-sober antics, it’s time to head to the Algonquin Arts Theatre for “Jersey Shore: A Multimedia Musical Adventure.” This Squonk Opera Production incorporates video, dance, and original music to entertain the audience with the true tale of Jersey’s best-known beach area.  Chomp down free chocolate from local shop, the Chocolate Carousel, as you take it all in. Sweet! Saturday, April 9 at 7:30pm. $25./Adults and seniors. $20./students.  Call 732-528-9211 for more information.

Born to Be Wild 3D Event at the IMAX Theatre at Palisades Center (West Nyack, NY)

Ready yourselves for a wild time this weekend in West Nyack! Head to the IMAX Theatre where Patrick Kwan, New York State Director of the Humane Society of the United States, helps kids understand how humans’ actions impact the lives of animals while answering any questions they may have about animals, caring for their own pets, or understanding wildlife in our home state. “Born to Be Wild 3D” follows, a 45-minute film that documents orphaned orangutans and elephants in Borneo and the extraordinary people who rescue, raise and rehabilitate them. To top it all off, children walk away with FREE "Born to Be Wild"-themed Silly Bandz. Saturday, April 9 at 10:30am.  $10.50/adults,  $9./seniors and children ages 1-12.  Call 845-358-IMAX for more information.

Art for Families at the Princeton University Art Museum (Princeton)

There’s more animal fun at Art for Families at the Princeton University Art Museum.  Drop-in for a self-guided, interactive tour (be sure to check out Kurt Schwitters: Color and Collage–the kids’ll love it), then it’s off to a game of Animal Bingo!  Saturday, April 9, 10:30am-1pm. FREE. Call 609-258-3788 for more information.

Super Science Saturdays at the Morris Museum (Morristown)

Think the only connection between coffee and dinosaurs is that you feel like a fossil until your first cup of joe in the morning? The Morris Museum proves otherwise this Saturday. Drop-in and give your little archeologist the chance to learn how to create a coffee grounds fossil! Appropriate for ages 5 and up. Saturday, April 9, noon - 2pm.$3./child plus admission: $10./adults; $7./ children and seniors; children under 3 years FREE. Call 973-971-3700 for more information.

SUNDAY ONLY

Sign Stage on Tour Presents Winnie the Pooh (Morristown)

Whether your kids are Pooh pros, or don’t know a Heffalump from a hippo, they’ll adore this adaptation of A.A. Milne’s books, as will you!  Watch Rabbit scheme, follow Pooh and Piglet on a Heffalump hunt, and help Eeyore search for his tail, all while learning lessons in friendship, loyalty and acceptance. Sign Stage On Tour specializes in Sign Language Theatre, where deaf and hearing actors perform together on stage. Whenever a character speaks, the character speaking uses Sign Language but you’ll always hear the voice too. The voice comes from a different actor speaking through a microphone, sometimes on-stage and sometimes off-stage. Visually, the stage is filled with the movement of hands and bodies yet every word is spoken to make sure all audience members, both deaf and hearing, don’t miss a thing. Appropriate for ages 4-10.  Sunday, April 10 at 1:30pm. $12./person. Call 973-539-8088 for more information.

Daffodil Day at Reeves-Reed Arboretum (Summit)

If you’re like me, you’re just happy to have a few daffodils sprouting in the yard–no snow in sight. Not so at the Reeves-Reed Arboretum; Sunday’s Daffodil Day features 40,000 of these early spring blooms! The Victorian-themed day includes pony cart rides, crafts, Victorian games, musical performances, gardening demonstrations, tea sampling, face painting, a hat parade, refreshments, and photos taken among the daffodils. Just don’t dress the kids in yellow—they might disappear in the display! Sunday, April 10, 1pm-4pm. FREE Call 908-273-8787 for more information.