Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in west la, CA

Weekend Warrior: Mother's Day

by Susan Choi

May 07, 2009

Mother's Day is here! Or as I like to call it "a day to shirk my daily duties and do stuff for myself." In other words, nothing involving my three lovely children--spa time, a sophisticated meal, and sleep. But I suppose I would be willing to sneak in a few hours of family time to partake in one of the following activities:

The Hidden Garden Floral Designs on Pico Blvd near Sepulveda is hosting a Mother's Day special. Your children (supervised by an adult) can design a beautiful arrangement for Mom for $65 per arrangement. Stop by on Saturday at 11 am, 1 pm, or 3 pm and create a personalized floral arrangement, lovingly made by your children.

All the fire stations in the city of Los Angeles will be hosting open houses on Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm. Stop by, take a tour of the station, and say thanks to these brave men and women for their services.

The first of a monthly series called Drum Downtown is starting at the Music Center. Come this Saturday from 10 am to 11:30 am and enjoy this free event (first come, first served). Hand drums, shakers, tambourines, and other percussion instruments will be provided for you and your children to rock out. Bring non-perishable food or personal care items to donate to the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank.

The Japanese American National Museum is sponsoring a free family day on Saturday from 11 am to 4 pm. This month's theme is Hawai'i. All-day craft activities such as making an origami Aloha shirt, creating a lei, "shaved ice" tissue paper artwork and making Mother's Day cards.

Baby Loves Disco is on again this Saturday from 11 am to 2 pm at the Cinespace in Hollywood. $15 in advance, $18 at door.

Love You Forever by Robert N. Munsch is one of our favorite books. He will be at Zimmer Museum to read his book on Saturday from 2 pm to 4 pm. In honor of Mother's day, all women are admitted free to the museum. Children will celebrate Mother's Day at the Museum by making special Mother's day cards.

Critter Club is for three to five years olds at the Natural History Museum . This Sunday at 10:15 am, you can visit the gardens where you can meet and release helpful bug friends. Take home your very own seedling! Free with museum admission.

Weekend Warriors: Father's Day edition

by Nina Moon

June 13, 2008

When our weekends aren't already filled with kids' birthday parties or visits to the grandparents' house, my husband and I quite often look at each other dumbly, wondering what in the world we're going to do to fill the time. Half the time we just end up puttering around the house or maybe spending a few hours at the park. Sound familiar? Well, hopefully we'll be able to overcome our seemingly  Read more...

Daddy Dearest - 5 Father's Day Restaurants

by Nina Moon

June 10, 2008

Mothers are so often portrayed as the ultimate multi-taskers juggling kids, household chores, family schedules in addition to their real jobs. But in our family at least, both mom and dad are multi-tasking. I juggle caring for our two children during the day with cooking, cleaning, freelance work and soon preschool co-op responsibilities, but my husband doesn't come home from a long day at  Read more...