Category: Family Fun

Family fun for whenever

Winter fun

• The Black Ice Pond Hockey Championship is slated for Friday, Feb. 7, through Sunday, Feb. 9, at White Park in Concord. According to the website, 95 teams participate in the event, which also features games, a rock wall, bonfires, live entertainment, food trucks, ice and snow sculptures and more. The event also includes the Shinny Classic for youth hockey teams, the website said. See blackicepondhockey.com and check the event’s social media pages for weather-related updates.

Family music

• The Nashua Chamber Orchestra will hold a Family Concert on Saturday, Feb. 8, at 1 p.m. at the Nashua Public Library (2 Court St. in Nashua; nashualibrary.org). The orchestra will play “Concerto for Two Violins” by Vivaldi; selections from Carmen; “The Waltzing Cat”; “Trumpeter’s Lullaby” and Leopold Mozart’s “Toy Symphony.”The event is free and open to the public. See nco-music.org for more on the orchestra.

At the museums

• SEE Science Center (200 Bedford St. in Manchester; see-sciencecenter.org) will hold a Community Discovery Night on Friday, Feb. 7, from 5 to 8 p.m. The event, whose theme will be “Celebrating Black Influence in Science,” will feature food, music and science activities, according to the website, where you can register for this free event so the Center can plan the food.

• The Last Ice, a short documentary by New Hampshire science teacher Greg Stott and Vermont filmmaker Nick Natale, will screen Friday, Feb. 7, at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord (starhop.com) as part of this month’s Super Stellar Friday programming, which begins at 6:30 p.m. Stott, the 2023 NH Charitable Foundation recipient of the Christa McAuliffe Sabbatical award, used his sabbatical to make a film about the last ice age and its effect on the Connecticut River Valley, according to the website. Admission costs $13 for adults, $12 for 62+ and ages 13 through college, and $10 for ages 3 to 12.

• The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire (6 Washington St. in Dover; childrens-museum.org) will hold a Valentine’s Day Dance Party with musical guest Mr. Aaron on Sunday, Feb. 9, from 1 to 3 p.m. Tickets cost $18 per person. The dance party will run from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. The afternoon will also feature Valentine’s crafts as well as play at the museum. Go online for tickets.

Also at the Children’s Museum, save the date for Lindsay and Her Puppet Pals on Saturday, Feb. 15, at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. The museum will also celebrate the opening of two new exhibits: Little Farmers and the Play Loft. Saturday playtimes are 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. Admission costs $14.50 for everyone over 12 months old and $12.50 for 65+.

On screen

• O’neil Cinemas Brickyard Square 12 (24 Calef Highway in Epping; oneilcinemas.com) will hold a sensory-friendly screening of Dog Man (PG, 2025) on Saturday, Feb. 8, at 10 a.m. The house lights will be higher and the volume a little lower, according to the website.

• The “Family Movie Night” movie at the Flying Monkey (39 S. Main St. in Plymouth; flyingmonkeynh.com) on Wednesday, Feb. 12, at 6 p.m. is 1939’s The Wizard of Oz. Doors open at 5 p.m. and tickets cost $3 for everyone 3 and older, according to the website, which said the family movie nights also feature a special kid-friendly menu (yes, there are chicken tenders).

Indoor ice

• Everett Arena in Concord (15 Loudon Road) has public ice skating Sundays from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and Monday through Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., $6 admission (free for age 3 and younger), $6 skate rentals and $5 helmet rentals. See concordnh.gov for details and info on other activities at the arena.

• For public skating at the JFK Memorial Coliseum (303 Beech St. in Manchester), see the calendar at manchesternh.gov. This weekend, public skate is Sunday, Feb. 9, from 2 to 4 p.m. Skate rentals cost $5.

Family fun for whenever

Dinner and a movie

• Burnt Timber Brewing & Tavern (96 Lehner St., Wolfeboro, burnttimbertavern.com) will hold a “Date Night, Kid-Approved” event on Friday, Jan. 31, at 6:30 p.m. with a movie for kids to give parents a chance to have dinner. The tavern will screen Wild Robot (PG, 2024) in one of its rooms where kids can bring bean bags and watch the movie, according to a press release. Meanwhile, parents can enjoy a meal in the main dining room, the release said.

• Happy Feet (PG, 2006) will screen at Chunky’s Cinema Pub, 707 Huse Road in Manchester, on Tuesday, Feb. 4, at 11:30 a.m. as part of the Little Lunch Date Series. Admission costs $5 per person and includes a $5 food voucher.

Gametime

• The NHTI Lynx men’s basketball team has games Thursday, Jan. 30, at 8 p.m. (versus Central Maine Community College); Saturday, Feb. 1, at 2 p.m. (versus Word of Life) and Sunday, Feb. 2, at 2 p.m. (versus Paul Smith’s College) at the Dr. Goldie Crocker Wellness Center on campus in Concord. The women will play Central Maine on Thursday at 6 p.m., Word of Life on Saturday at noon and Paul Smith’s College on Sunday at noon. Admission is free. See nhtiathletics.com.

• The Rivier University Raiders women’s ice hockey team will play Mass. Liberal Arts on Saturday, Feb. 1, at 6:40 p.m. at the Conway Arena (5 Stadium Drive, Nashua). See rivierathletics.com.

• The Saint Anselm College Hawks men’s ice hockey team has games Friday, Jan. 31, at 6 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 1, at 3 p.m., both versus Post University at Sullivan Arena (100 Saint Anselm Drive, Manchester). See saintanselmhawks.com.

• The SNHU Penmen men’s ice hockey team also has two games this weekend: Friday, Jan. 31, at 7:40 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 1, at 1 p.m., both against Saint Michael College. Home games take place at Ice Den Arena (600 Quality Drive, Hooksett). See snhupenmen.com.

On stage

• Catch the final show of the Palace Youth Theatre’s Grease, school edition on Thursday, Jan. 30, at 7 p.m. at the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St., Manchester, palacetheatre.org). Tickets cost $16 to $19.

Family fun for whenever

More winterfest

• Bedford Winterfest, hosted by The Bedford Mom, will take place over two days this weekend. Day 1, Saturday, Jan. 25, will take place on the sledding hill behind Ann DeNicola Memorial Playground and feature sledding, activities for kids, face painting and more from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; see thebedfordmom.com. Admission is free but reservations are required.

Day 2 will take place at Joppa Hill Educational Farm (174 Joppa Hill in Bedford; theeducationalfarm.org) on Sunday, Jan. 26, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission is free but reservations are required. Activities will include sledding, crafters, farm animals, s’mores, hot cocoa, arts and crafts, scavenger hunts and more, according to the website.

Movie morning

• Before you head to Concord’s Winter Fest (see page 12 for details) head to Red River Theatres (11 S. Main St. in Concord; redrivertheatres.org) for a screening of 2006’s Happy Feet, the animated movie (which won its year’s animated feature Oscar) on Saturday, Jan. 25, at 10 a.m. Tickets cost $5.

Books!

• Annette LeBlanc Cate, author and illustrator of picture books including Look Up!: Bird-Watching in Your Own Backyard and The Magic Rabbit, will discuss her new release Seven Little Ducklings at Balin Books (Somerset Plaza, 375 Amherst St., Nashua; balinbooks.com) on Saturday, Jan. 25, at 1 p.m. “When a plump mother duck awakens one morning, she’s stunned to discover that her seven eggs have hatched in the night and all of her ducklings have wandered off. Now she has to search for them out in the wild!” according to a book description in a Balin email.

Save the date

• SEE Science Center (200 Bedford St. in Manchester; see-sciencecenter.org) will hold a Community Discovery Night on Friday, Feb. 7, from 5 to 8 p.m. The event, whose theme will be “Celebrating Black Influence in Science,” will feature food, music and science activities, according to the website, where you can register for this free event so the center can plan the food.

In other SEE news, registration is open now for the Center’s summer camps. The weeklong camps begin in mid-July and have a variety of science-related focuses. See the website for details.

• The Derryfield Country Club (625 Mammoth Road in Manchester; thederryfield.com) will host a Royal Princess Breakfast on Saturday, March 1, from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Kids can enjoy a brunch, storytime and games with costumed princesses. Tickets cost $40 for children ages 2 to 12 and $55 for adults. A $65 VIP ticket for kids includes an early admission time, photo-ops and a tiara, according to the details available via the restaurant’s website.

• Middle schoolers at High Mowing School (Pine Hill Campus, 77 Pine Hill Drive in Wilton; highmowing.org/hilltop) will present The Hilltop Circus: An Unexpected Journey on Friday, Feb. 28, at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. and Saturday, March 1, at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. The students’ circus skills include “acrobatics, trapeze, juggling, clowning, unicycling, aerial fabric, wire-walking, trampoline, human pyramids and more,” according to the press release. Admission is a suggested donation of $12 for adults, $6 for children; bring a donation for Wilton’s Open Cupboard Food Pantry for a free bag of popcorn, the release said.

• The Nashua Historical Society will hold a Little Red Tea Party on Sunday, March 2, at the Florence H. Speare Memorial Museum library, located at 5 Abbott St. in Nashua. The all-ages event will feature tea, scones, petite sandwiches and other treats; a historical presentation about the story of Little Red Riding Hood; a STEM-inspired tea experiment; a craft; a raffle and more, according to a press release. Doors open at 12:30 p.m. and tea service starts at 1 p.m., the release said. Reservations cost $20 per person, $15 for children 12 and under, the release said. See nashuahistoricalsociety.org/events.