Category: Family Fun

Family fun for the weekend

To the Moon

• The Manchester library is hosting an out-of-this-world talk via Zoom called Apollo to Artemis: NASA’s Most Recent & Next Missions to the Moon on Wednesday, Aug. 31, at 11 a.m. The talk will focus on the 50th anniversary of Apollo 17, NASA’s last manned mission to the moon, and the upcoming return mission to the moon, Artemis. The talk will be led by former high school teacher and NASA Solar System Ambassador Len Rabinowitz. Contact librarian Caitlin Dionne at 624-6550, ext. 7620, or by email at [email protected] for more details. Register online at manchester.lib.nh.us.

Outdoors, trucks and owls!

• Have a blast at the Field of Dreams Family Fun Day at Field of Dreams Inc. (48 Geremonty Drive Salem) on Saturday, Aug. 27, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be everything from obstacle courses and inflatable games to a petting farm, live music and local vendors. Tickets are $5 per person, children age 2 and younger are free. Visit fieldofdreamsnh.org.

• Learn all about farm equipment at the Touch-a-Tractor hosted by J&F Farms (124 Chester Road, Derry) on Saturday, Aug. 27, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Derry fire and police departments will have trucks and cop cars out in addition to the farm equipment. There will be live music from noon to 3 p.m., hayrides, food trucks, a petting farm, and more. Visit jandffarmsnh.com.

• This is the last week for All Things Owl at the New Hampshire Audubon. The photography exhibit at The McLane Center (84 Silk Farm Road, Concord) will close on Wednesday, Aug. 31. The exhibit features the work of Howard S. Muscott, a wildlife photographer who has been shooting for more than 45 years. The photographs feature owls from the North, include several species indigenous to New England. The exhibit is open during the museum’s regular hours, Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit nhaudubon.org.

Showtime!

• The last showtimes of Frozen Jr. at the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St., Manchester; 668-5588) are Thursday, Aug. 25, at 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. and Friday, Aug. 26, at 10 a.m. Follow Queen Elsa as she is crowned and comes out of hiding for one day, only to have her secret magic exposed. Her younger sister, Princess Anna, must help save their kingdom from the icy spell Elsa casts and bring her older sister home. Tickets cost $10 and are available at palacetheatre.org.

Family fun for the weekend

Family fun

• Get kids interested in Manchester’s mural-creating event Community Canvas, which runs through Sunday, Aug. 21, at the Block Party held by My Turn and Arts Builds Community on Saturday, Aug. 20, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the rear of 50 Bridge St. in downtown Manchester, according to a post on Arts Builds Community’s Facebook page. The event will feature face painting and activities for kids as well as an opportunity to meet the artists involved in making the murals, the post said. Find out more about the Community Canvas event in the story on page 15 of the Aug. 11 issue of the Hippo. Go to hippopress.com to see the e-edition.

• The Elliot is holding a Summer Fest on Sunday, Aug. 21, from 10 am. to 2 p.m. at The Hill Bar & Grille at McIntyre Ski Area (50 Chalet Court in Manchester). The event, hosted by the Elliot Community Ambassador Circle, will feature field games, face painting, music and a buffet lunch (with hamburgers, hot dogs, barbecue chicken, cookies, brownies and more), according to https://bit.ly/3QLZtAd, where you can purchase tickets for $15 per person or $50 for a family of four (children under 12 get in free).

Beach week

• The Hampton Beach Children’s Festival continues through Friday, Aug. 19, with daily events on the beach. On Thursday, Aug. 18, the lineup includes DrumatiX (a tap dance and percussion performance) at 10 a.m.; Showtime Steve (juggling) at 11 a.m.; Hampton Beach Casino daily raffle at noon; Wayne from Maine (musical sing-along) at 1 p.m., and paint with Alyssa Pine at 2 p.m. On Friday, the week finishes off with a children’s parade at 11 a.m. (meet at 10:15 a.m. wearing a costume to participate), a grand finale with every child receiving a prize at noon at the Seashell Stage and a musical performance by Mr. Aaron, and photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus at 1 p.m. Find the full schedule at hamptonbeach.org.

• And if you are near Hampton Beach on Monday, Aug. 22, head to the beach across from the playground for an outdoor screening of Sing 2 (PG, 2021) at dusk (approximately 7:34 p.m., according to the website). The screening is the last of the scheduled Movie Night Mondays of the summer season (the next week’s film is Space Jam: A New Legacy). Admission is free and bring your own blanket or chairs.

Trip to the farm

• Sunfox Farm (127 Mount Delight Road in Deerfield; sunfoxfarm.org, 244-9888) continues its Sunflower Festival through Sunday, Aug. 21. The farm is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; entry costs $10 per person on weekends and $8 per person on weekdays (children under 10 get in for free). Take pictures among the flowers and pick your own flowers for $2 per stem, according to the website. The weekends feature vendors and live music; this weekend’s lineup is Brad Myrick (10 a.m.), Rebecca Turmel (12:30 p.m.) and Joel Begin (3 p.m.) on Saturday, Aug. 20, and April Cushman (10 a.m.), John McArthur (12:30 p.m.) and Sam Hammerman (3 p.m.) on Sunday, Aug. 21, according to the website.

• Shop for some farm-fresh eats at Friday Family Fun at J&F Farms (124 Chester Road in Derry; jandffarmsnh.com, 437-0535) on Friday, Aug. 19, from 4 to 7 p.m. The evening will feature music from a Beatles tribute band, a food truck, hayrides, a corn maze, ice cream and the opportunity to meet and pet the farm’s animals, according to a post on the farm’s Facebook page. For $5 you can purchase a cup of grain to feed the animals, according to the website. Admission to the corn maze, which opened earlier in August, costs $10 per person, according to the website.

• Take the kids to meet some farm animals and climb on some tractors at the New Hampshire Farm Museum (1305 White Mountain Hwy. in Milton; nhfarmmuseum.org) for Truck and Tractor Day on Saturday, Aug. 20, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tractors, trucks, wagons and antique cars will be on display and tractor rides will take you around the farm to visit the cows, sheep, goats, horses, rabbits and chickens. Meet the blacksmith working the forge, purchase eats for a farm picnic and listen to music from Lance Maclean and the Moose Mountain String Band, according to the website. Admission costs $10 for adults, $7.50 for 65+ and $5 for ages 4 to 17; admission is free for kids under 4 and for active military, the website said.

On stage

• The Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St. in Manchester; palacetheatre.org, 668-5588) finishes up its 2022 Bank of New Hampshire Children’s Summer Series with two more plays on the schedule.Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs runs through this week: Thursday, Aug. 18, at 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. and Friday, Aug. 19, at 10 a.m. Disney’s Frozen Kidsends the season next week with shows Tuesday, Aug. 23, through Thursday, Aug. 25, at 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. and Friday, Aug. 26, at 10 a.m. Tickets cost $10 per person.

• The young performers of the Palace Youth Theatre summer camp will present Legally Blonde the Musical Jr. on Friday, Aug. 19, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Aug. 20, at 11 a.m. Tickets cost $15 for adults and $12 for kids.

Family fun for the weekend

Curtain up

A tale as old as time is coming to the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St., Manchester). Beauty and the Beast will take place on Thursday, Aug. 11, at 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.; and Friday, Aug. 12, at 10 a.m., as part of the Palace’s annual Children’s Summer Series. Follow the story of Belle, a girl from a small town in provincial France, as she learns to live in an enchanted palace and slowly falls in love with the cursed prince who resides there. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at palacetheatre.org.

This is the last week to be a part of Ariel’s world with the Peacock Players’ (14 Court St., Nashua) performance of The Little Mermaid Jr. Follow Ariel as she dreams to walk among human beings and meet her true love on the surface. The final dates and times for the shows are Friday, Aug. 12, and Saturday, Aug. 13, at 7 p.m., and Saturday, Aug. 13, and Sunday, Aug. 14, at 2 p.m. Tickets range from $15 to $18 for adults and from $12 to $15 for kids ages 12 and younger. Visit peacockplayers.org.

The Peterborough Players are bringing the fable The Emperor’s New Clothes to life at their new outdoor space, the Elsewhere Stage, on the grounds of the Players (55 Hadley St., Peterborough).

Performances will run Friday, Aug. 12, and Saturday, Aug. 13, with all shows starting at 10:30 a.m. The show follows a haughty, rich emperor who hires two tricksters to weave him new cloth from rare material. The show is performed by the Players Second Company, which features young professionals and is geared toward a younger audience. Tickets are $15 each for adults and $10 each for children, and are available online or at the door. Visit peterboroughplayers.org.

Hi-ho, hi-ho, it’s off to the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St., Manchester) we go for a production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The show is part of the Palace’s annual Children’s Summer Series. It follows Snow White, the fairest girl in the kingdom, as she tries to escape her jealous stepmother, the evil queen. The show will run Tuesday, Aug. 16, through Thursday, Aug. 18, at 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., and on Friday, Aug. 19, at 10 a.m. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at palacetheatre.org.

Party time!

Celebrate the end of summer reading at the Hollis Social Library (2 Monument Square) with its annual Summer Reading Wrap Party on Friday, Aug. 12, at 2 p.m. The library will be hosting games at the Lawrence Barn Community Center, and the town’s fire department will come by for an ice cream surprise. Kids of all ages are invited. Admission is free, but registration is required. Register at hollislibrary.org.

A student’s airplane will take to the skies during PlaneFest! at the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire (27 Navigator Road, Londonderry) on Saturday, Aug. 13, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The festival will celebrate all things that fly, including a demonstration of “Aviation Toys We Can’t Sell You.” There will also be family fun games and activities, aircraft displays, and the Young Eagles program. The event is free to attend. Visit nhahs.org.

There will be more than just a fun beach day at the 15th annual Hampton Beach Children’s Festival, which runs from Monday, Aug. 15, through Friday, Aug. 19. Festivities will include magic shows, a costume parade, dancing, storytellers, balloons, ice cream and more. See the Aug. 11 issue of our sister publication, the Seacoast Scene, for a full list of festival events and attractions. Visit issuu.com/seacoastscene to access the e-edition for free.

Movie madness

Get your adventure hats on for Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (PG-13, 1981), the next “Pics in the Park” screening at Greeley Park (100 Concord St., Nashua) on Friday, Aug. 12, at dusk. The movie follows Indiana Jones, an American archaeologist from 1937, as he goes on a quest to find the lost Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis can steal it for themselves. The movie is free to attend. Visit nashuanh.gov/546/SummerFun.

Grab your donkey for Shrek(PG, 2001) on Saturday, Aug. 12, at noon. As part of the Manchester International Film Festival, the Rex Theatre (23 Amherst St., Manchester) will be hosting a screening of the cult classic kids’ movie. The movie follows the ogre Shrek, who is hired by Lord Farquaad to rescue the beautiful princess Fiona from the tower she was locked in as a little girl. Visit palacetheatre.org to purchase tickets.

Summer fun

Learn all about the stars, planets and other astral bodies at the Manchester Parks and Recreation Department’s Uncharted Tutoring Space Art Program. Kids will use homemade rockets, paper lanterns and other art projects to learn and explore outer space. The program runs Monday, Aug. 15, through Friday, Aug. 19, from 10 a.m. to noon each day. The program costs $100. Register online at manchesternh.recdesk.com/Community/Program.

The New Hampshire Fisher Cats will have all kinds of family-friendly activities at their home games at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium (1 Line Drive, Manchester) from Thursday, Aug. 11 through Sunday, Aug. 14. Fireworks, puzzles, and a University of New Hampshire Soccer Night are among this week’s promotions and games. Tickets range in price from $9 to $17 and can be purchased at nhfishercats.com.

Family fun for the weekend

Out in nature

• Creepy and crawly bugs are the big focus at the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center (23 Science Center Road, Route 113, in Holderness; 968-7194) with the Insect Alive Guided Tour on Friday, Aug. 5, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Walk through the center’s new giant insect exhibit (featuring five much-larger-than-life animatronic insects) with retired NH Fish and Game Biologist Emily Preston and learn about local insects in New Hampshire, according to the website. This event is appropriate for kids ages 6 and older. The cost of the tour is $11 (purchase of admission to the trails is also required) and advance registration required. The Giant Insect exhibit will be on display throughout the center’s Live Animal Trails through Sept. 30. Admission to the trails costs $22 for adults, $20 for age 65+, $16 for ages 3 to 15 and is free for children 2 and under.

Play ball!

• The New Hampshire Fisher Cats kicked off a run of games against the Richmond Flying Squirrels earlier this week but comic book fans might especially want to save the date for the game on Saturday, Aug. 6, at 7:05 p.m. for Cats-Con. The evening will celebrate superheroes, villains, movies, comics and more with characters from Double Midnight Comics and post-game fireworks. Ticket price ranges from $14 to $17.

• Also on the schedule for this week’s games: post-game fireworks after the game on Thursday, Aug. 4, at 7:05 p.m., Pride Night at the game on Friday, Aug. 5, at 7:05 p.m. and a pre-game Princess Brunch before the game on Sunday, Aug. 7, at 1:35 p.m. Click on “baseline” on the tickets page for Sunday’s game to fin the Princess Brunch tickets which cost $25 each and include admission to the game. The brunch starts at 10:30 a.m. and includes a sing-a-long at noon.

• Delta Dental and New Hampshire Fisher Cats are encouraging kids to brush their teeth with free tickets to home games. Kids ages 12 and under can win two free tickets for completing the seven-day challenge of brushing and flossing twice a day. Fill out the downloadable form and bring it on either Aug. 12 or Sept. 3 to Northeast Delta Dental Stadium; see milb.com/new-hampshire/community/oral-health-challenge.

On stage

• The Peacock Players (14 Court St. in Nashua; peacockplayers.org, 886-7000) are putting on their first ever student-produced play, The Little Mermaid Jr., Friday, Aug. 5, through Sunday, Aug. 14. Showtimes are Fridays at 7 p.m., Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $15 to $18 for adults, $12 to $15 for children ages 12 and younger.

• The Interlakes Children’s Theatre (One Laker Lane in Meredith; interlakestheatre.com) will presentThe Aristocats Kids on Saturday, Aug. 6, and Sunday, Aug. 7, at 11 a.m.. Tickets cost $10 each.

Playtime at the Children’s Museum

• Author AJ Smith will read his bookTea Time for Dinosaurs at the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire (6 Washington St. in Dover; childrens-museum.org, 742-2022) on Saturday, Aug. 6, at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. The event will include dinosaur activities and a scavenger hunt, according to the website, where you can purchase admission for either the 9 a.m. to noon or 1 to 4 p.m. session. Admission costs $12.50 for everyone over 12 months, $10.50 for 65+.

• Splashing good fun, at the ocean or the museum! Members of the Seacoast Science Center (Odoirne Point State Park, 570 Ocean Blvd. in Rye; 436- 8043, seacoastsciencecenter.org) will get to play for free at the Children’s Museum for the entire month of August. Members of the Seacoast Science Center can also purchase a membership at the Children’s Museum with a 10 percent discount. Register for playtime on the museum’s website.

• And coming up at the Children’s Museum: The annual Teddy Bear Clinic and Picnic will be held Wednesday, Aug. 17, with the clinic from 9 to 11 a.m. and snacks from 11 to 11:30 a.m. Bring a stuffie in need of a check-up and the bear (or other stuffed animal) will receive an ID bracelet and be weighed and measured and given a band-aid if needed, all to get kids ready for their own check-ups, according to the website. The teddy bear fun is included in admission.

• And register now for the “Kick-off to Kindergarten” event on Sunday, Aug. 21, from 1 to 3 p.m. The event will include a visit by Elephant and Piggie (the characters from the Mo Willems books), crafts and more, according to the website. The event is free but pre-registration is required by Aug. 14, the website said.

— Katelyn Sahagian