Huzzah! The Michigan Renaissance Festival is returning to the medieval village of Hollygrove for a season of jousting, feasting and merriment. Beginning August 20th there will be eight themed weekends of fun at the rustic fairgrounds located in northern Oakland County.
Hours are 10 am - 7 pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Festivities commence rain or shine. Parking is included with the price of admission. Visit michrenfest.com for ticket pricing and a schedule of event activities.
Pirates & Pups
Bring your dog & pirate pals for our Pirates & Pups weekend! This weekend will showcase pup rescue groups, pup training demonstrations & contests for dogs. Not only are there activities for your pups, but also for you!
Highland Fling
The Highland Games will have you cheering for your favorite athlete in this 8 series event. Championships on Saturday and State Masters on Sunday. Don’t forget to attend the Men in Kilts contest to see who can sport the best kilt.
Vikings Invasion
All barbarians are invited to participate in pillaging the village. This will be a weekend filled with competitive spirit and new experiences. Showcase your ink in their Tattoo Contest. Do you have an awesome beard or mustache to showcase, well enter a contest to win some great prizes!
Wonders of the World
This weekend will feature a world market and entertainment from around the globe. Also, all individuals and dance troupes are invited to the Michigan State Belly Dance Championship. If you don’t feel like competing, you can take a dance lesson.
Shamrocks & Shenanigans
Visiting Hollygrove is like a trip to Ireland. Kick up your heels with traditional Irish music & dance. Got a Kilt? Enter the Men in Kilts contest to discover who can wear it best. This is the largest shenanigans party in Michigan!
Harvest Huzzah
Be on the lookout for interpreters for Deaf Awareness weekend, signs will be posted at the stages they will be featured at. Don’t forget to visit the Valley of Aberdare for the BBQ competition and just to get some good ole’ delicious food. There is also an Archery Competition, held in the parking lot outside the front gate entrance.
Sweet Endings
A beautiful ending to a fantastic season. This weekend will appease your sweet tooth.
Holy Coloring Pages and Activity Sheets Batman! It's Batman Day! Enjoy this Caped Crusader themed activity kit courtesy of DC Comics to have a super fun time today:
The sleuths of Mystery Inc. are bring an all new adventure home to people on Friday, May 15 with the debut of the animated movie SCOOB! It will be available to watch for a family movie night by renting via Premium Video On Demand ($19.99) or by purchasing your own Digital copy to own from online services including Apple TV, Movies Anywhere and Vudu ($24.99). My kids have been asking me to see this flick and I grew up watching Scooby Doo cartoons so our whole family is excited for a SCOOB! Movie Night.
Have some extra fun during your SCOOB! Movie Night with this WATCH AT HOME PARTY PACK courtesy of Warner Bros Home Entertainment:
You can also learn the brand new Scoob Dance on TikTok from celebrity dancer, Jalaiah Harmon, to add to your family movie night entertainment. Click here to see these Scooby Dooby Doo dance moves.
In SCOOB!, Scooby Doo and those meddling kids of Mystery Incorporated face their biggest, most challenging case to solve ever -- a plot to unleash the ghost dog Cerberus upon the world. As they race to stop this global dog-pocalypse, the gang discovers that Scooby has a secret legacy and an epic destiny greater than anyone could have imagined.
So on May 15 have a night full of family friendly fun having your own SCOOB! Watch Party! Grab some Scooby Snacks, show off your Scoob Dance moves and stream SCOOB! on your TV. Make it a virtual party by joining other fans watching the movie together while live chatting on Twitter at 4pm PT / 7pm ET by following @Scoob and using the hashtag #SCOOBMOVIENIGHT. During this premiere night event cast will live-tweet with fans and @Scoob will share some musical performances and exclusive clips. You're sure to exclaim "Jinkies!" if you miss out on this Twitter Party.
**A Geek Daddy received the featured product for free to review**
We have this big bin filled with toy cars that my son and daughter love to collect but which are just sitting around gathering dust because the kids never seem to play with them. So on a recent weekend when it was too cold to go outside and play, I pulled out the bin of cars and said no TV or video games today. My kids whined to me that was too boring but I had an answer for them by pulling out some InRoad Toys PlayTape.
This product encourages children to engage in imaginative play by allowing them to create their own roads and rails to use with toy vehicles. I handed over the PlayTape to my kids and let them construct their own race courses, winding roads, and railroad tracks to entertain themselves with. They had a blast laying out designs with this special tape on our dining room floor and spent a few hours playing with miniature toy cars and trains that hadn't been given much attention in a long time up until then.
The PlayTape stuck really well to our hardwood floor but more importantly when the kids were all done it also easily lifted up leaving no sticky residue at all. The last thing you want is your nice floors left with marks or gunk on them and with this fun product you can be rest assured that won't be a problem. Another nice aspect of InRoad Toys PlayTape is that when your kids have wrapped up playing with it you can throw it in the recycle bin rather than the trash can because it is recyclable.
We had four rolls of PlayTape for my kids to be creative with which included 2 sizes of paved roadway, a dirt trail, and railroad tracks. My kids then laid out a rectangular race track. Of course every race track needs an airplane runway so they added that in the middle. When their cars weren't racing they needed someplace to park so they added a dirt parking lot to the mix as well with the dirt trail themed PlayTape.
I appreciated that my kids were easily able to tear apart the PlayTape to create the roads, tracks and trails they envisioned without my having to intervene to do it for them. It was also nice that they could usually re-position the PlayTape several times while playing without it losing its ability to adhere to the floor so they could switch things up a bit or not have to worry about laying down something exactly perfect the first time. This stuff will adhere to any flat surface including walls, which can make for some interesting scenarios, but while it is easy to remove from many surfaces mess free the PlayTape is sticky enough I wouldn't recommend placing it on carpet.
Looking for an idea to keep the kids entertained on a rainy day when traveling for a summer vacation or amused while your family is visiting relatives? Pickup a sheet of poster board and a few rolls of InRoad Toys PlayTape, which are both easily transportable, and take them and a few toy cars along with you.
My kids built a drag racing strip, railroad crossing, parking lot, and a dirt road to play with their toys on a piece of poster board I picked up for them to use with InRoad Toys PlayTape. Note though unlike sticking it on a floor or wall, you aren't going to be able to pull off the PlayTape without ruining both it and the poster board.
My 7 year old twins have enjoyed hours of fun racing their toy cars around the network of roads they've built with the PlayTape on several occasions. It really was great having them get some good use out of all the toy cars they've collected and seeing them being creative and imaginative while they played. When you tear off a strip of PlayTape from a roll it really is only good for one session of play. When the kids are done playing it is time for the material to be recycled rather than try to save it and use again. Fortunately there is enough material on each roll to be used for several play times. My kids have engineered themselves some pretty intricate road systems on several different afternoons with the original four rolls we were provided for this review.
InRoad Toys PlayTape gets A Geek Daddy nod of approval because it is an affordable item made in the good ole USA that encourages kids to engage in creative and imaginative play without creating a mess or headache for mom or dad to have to address. Rolls of PlayTape range in price from $4.99 to $13.99 and the product has received quite a few awards and accolades.
You can purchase InRoad Toys PlayTape online or you can pick up some rolls at a HOBBY LOBBY store near you. CLICK HERE to search for a local HOBBY LOBBY or another retailer that may be carrying InRoad Toys PlayTape near you.
THE JUNGLE BOOK is such a classic Disney animated movie because its transcends generations when it comes to people appreciating this 1967 portrayal of Rudyard Kipling's book for providing good quality family friendly entertainment. It's not just the telling of the tale through Walt Disney Studio's reputed animation but also its upbeat musical soundtrack that enhances the movie watching experience. I have a great memory from being a young kid of the whole audience joyfully singing along together The Bare Necessities while seeing a showing of THE JUNGLE BOOK at the movie theater. It always puts a smile on my face now as a parent seeing my children parade around the room to Colonel Hathi's March or dance around the room like monkeys to I Wanna Be Like You when our family watches THE JUNGLE BOOK on DVD. It's nice to see your children appreciate something as much as you did when you were their age. THE JUNGLE BOOK is definitely a movie that any family with young kids should have in their home video collection.
Based upon how fond my family is of THE JUNGLE BOOK it peeked my interest to see that Disney is releasing a new live action version of the film arriving at movie theaters across the United States on April 15, 2016. While this new movie will differentiate from the original by lacking its cartoonish musical charm it is promising some impressive special effects that will seamlessly blend live action with photorealistic CGI animals and environments. Hey and it has got Bill Murray voicing Baloo so you have to appreciate that! From looking at the trailer, I'm looking forward to checking out this new adaption of THE JUNGLE BOOK when it arrives at the movie theater.
Directed by Jon Favreau (Iron Man), based on Rudyard Kipling's timeless stories and inspired by Disney's classic animated film, THE JUNGLE BOOK is an all-new live-action epic adventure about Mowgli (newcomer Neel Sethi), a man-cub who's been raised by a family of wolves. But Mowgli finds he is no longer welcome in the jungle when fearsome tiger Shere Khan (voice of Idris Elba), who bears the scars of Man, promises to eliminate what he sees as a threat. Urged to abandon the only home he's ever known, Mowgli embarks on a captivating journey of self-discovery, guided by panther-turned-stern mentor Bagheera (voice of Ben Kingsley), and the free-spirited bear Baloo. Along the way, Mowgli encounters jungle creatures who don't exactly have his best interests at heart, including Kaa (voice of Scarlett Johansson), a python whose seductive voice and gaze hypnotizes the man-cub, and the smooth-talking King Louie (voice of Christopher Walken), who tries to coerce Mowgli into giving up the secret to the elusive and deadly red flower: FIRE.
While you are awaiting spring weather to arrive here are some fun THE JUNGLE BOOK activity sheets to help keep kids amused these last few weeks of winter courtesy of our friends at Walt Disney Studios. Just download and print to enjoy:
Some of my buddies and I got together the other day to watch some football and enjoy a few brews at a local pub when the topic came up that there hasn't been much snow on the ground to allow our kids to go sledding so far this year (sorry if that jinxed our friends impacted by Winter Storm Jonas). So than it was pondered amongst our group what are the best conditions to enjoy sledding down a snowy hill? We put the combined brain power of a television weatherman, high school science teacher, automotive engineer, architect, and attorney to the test and here's the consensus on the best sledding conditions for a snowy winter day.
Temperature:
You'd think it would be best to have the weather as cold as possible so that your sledding surface is icy and slick but that is not necessarily the case. Actually the best temperature to break out the sled is about 29 or 30 degrees Fahrenheit.where it is cold enough that the snow isn't all wet and mushy yet warm enough that the sled's pressure sliding down the hill will melt the flakes underneath it creating a thin film of water to slide down upon.
Our engineering buddy, who also plays rec league hockey, explained that building up speed on a sled is similar to being able to ice skate really fast. I hadn't realized that when skating people are skimming over water rather than ice. It was explained to me that a person's weight pushing down against the metal blade of his or her skate creates enough pressure to briefly melt the ice below them. So you are actually sliding over a thin layer of water rather than ice when skating. This allows people to move quickly while skating because the water they are sliding across is smoother than the surface of ice. So the goal for picking up speed when sledding to get the best experience rushing down a snow covered hill should be to create enough pressure with your weight against a sled's surface to create a sheen of water to slide on.
The Type of Snow Matters:
It's not just the temperature that can impact the quality of the snow you sled down. Your sledding experience can be impacted from the point when the snow first starts falling down from the sky. You may want to look at a thermometer when the snow first starts falling because that temperature also impacts whether or nor you'll have ideal sledding conditions. If the weather is too cold you are going to have grainy snow flakes and if it is too warm there will be fluffy ones. Both grainy and fluffy snow create friction against a sled slowing it down so that you won't be setting any speed records racing down a hill. According to my meteorologist friend, what you want to look out for are the "large flakes" that form when the temperature is in the range of 25 to 28 degrees Fahrenheit. These large flakes compact well providing a perfect surface to sled on.
Choose a Steep Hill:
Even with the best weather conditions if the hill isn't steep enough you aren't going anywhere fast. The high school science teacher in our midst reminded us GRAVITY trumps everything else when it comes to getting the fastest speeds on a sled. The steeper the hill someone sleds down the more gravity there is to pull them down to the bottom.
Our Perfect Sledding Thesis:
So our thesis is for the optimal sledding experience you'll want to look out for when it is snowing with the temperature at about 25 degrees Fahrenheit and find the steepest hill you can sled down after it has stopped snowing and warmed up a bit to 30 degrees Fahrenheit. That's not it though...you or someone else needs to sled the hill a few times to compact the snow creating a defined path for your sled to skim down. Then you have reached sledding perfection!
Picking a Sled:
Oh wait...there is one more thing to consider. The sled! Now we've determined the perfect conditions to race down a snow covered hill what should be our vessel. An old-fashioned rosebud sled, a taboggan, an inner tube, or a long hull plastic flyer (which are the ones my kids actually have)? After another round of beers the consensus came down to the plastic saucer style. These allow riders to place the most weight within the smallest area of space which increases the pressure while they are sliding to create the most heat on the snow allowing for the desired hydroplaning effect to provide the best speeds down a hill.
Now keep in mind these are just the discussions of some guys enjoying a drink at the bar but if you get the chance we'd enjoy hearing if you tested out our thesis on how to get the best sledding experience on a snow covered hill. Remember too that sledding is a great outdoor activity to do during the winter months and you don't need the best conditions to enjoy a perfect experience having fun in the snow.
Just because for many of us the weather begins to get brisk during the Fall season doesn't mean your family can't be outside enjoying itself. From apple orchard trips to themed 5k runs to visits to haunted houses there are more fun things to do in the Fall than I can try to count. That being said, I joined with my friends from the Social Fabric Blogger Network to try and list as many fall family friendly activities as we could all come up with taking place across the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom. Enjoy checking out all these great blog posts and if you have a favorite Fall activity or event not mentioned below, feel free to plug it in this post's comment section so we can all learn about it!
While lazy summer days may be fun they can also really set kids behind when it comes time to return back to school. A good way to keep children amused during the break is to check with your local library to see if they are offering a summer children's program. Libraries across the United States often participate in the Collaborative Summer Library Program which is a consortium of states working together to provide high-quality summer reading program materials for children and teens. This year's theme is "EVERY HERO HAS A STORY" which participating libraries can base activities and programs around to entertain and educate children throughout the summer. It is important to keep children reading throughout their summer break to maintain proficiency so they don't start the new school year with diminished academic skills. While some library programs focus on just reading others also include programs that promote math, science, history, and an appreciation for learning in general. These programs primarily take place during the month of July so now is a good time to check into them and get your kids enrolled.
My kids started off their summer with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle day at the library which involved doing various feats around the children's section like a bean bag toss, bucket stacking competition, and scavenger hunt to get them familiar with visiting the library.
Other activities taking place throughout June/July include reading to a therapy dog, competing in a LEGO building block challenge, doing experiments at a science fair, enjoying a magic show, attending a safety presentation with police/fire departments and participating in a program called "Be a Math Hero." Most of these activities are an hour long and they are sprinkled throughout the month so children still have plenty of time to enjoy just being a kid during the summer. Plus these programs tend to be somewhat entertaining for the kids as well as educational which is always a plus for me from my parenting perspective.
In addition to the activities and programs offered, my kids also are challenged to submit a list of books they've read each week to the library for a chance to win prizes. Also every kids who participates in the reading challenge gets some FREE books from the library at the end of the year. Our librarian has told me that they've received a donation of Kohls Cares books so that every child participating is guaranteed a good quality new book to take home as a reward for their participation. I'm sure this varies from library to library but we appreciate seeing Kohl's being involved in the community with our local public library, especially because our family does a lot of shopping there.
Most of these programs are aimed at children from preschool to fifth grade. If you have some kids in that age range that don't have a whole lot planned to do for the summer, I encourage you to contact the libraries in your area and see what they have going on. To search for public libraries near you, visit publiclibraries.com
This year was the third year in a row that we've hopped over the the Detroit Zoo to participate in its annual Bunnyville activities. Taking place the Friday and Saturday before Easter, the zoo provides fun activities, games and entertainment for children that are FREE with paid admission to the zoo. Being that we live a fifteen minute drive from the zoo and have an annual family pass this egg-stravaganza is always a nice extra benefit of having a zoo membership that my kids really enjoy.
We started off our visit to Bunnyville with a stop at the Jelly Bean Jamboree where the kids rubbed on some temporary tattoos, built custom bracelets, and made bunny faces from paper plates and cotton balls while enjoying live music performed by Mr. Seley and the Troublemakers that put a rock spin on some popular children's songs like "Old McDonald Had A Zoo."
Next was a stop at the Ford Education Center for a sp-egg-tacular magic show by the Amazing Clark followed by a stroll around to view some of the animals and a zookeeper talk at the grizzly bears exhibit. Than it was off to the Children's Hospital of Michigan Whisker Painting Station so the kids could get their bunny faces on.
The Funny Bunny Games are always a hit. This year's activities included a hoop toss, floating duck contest, beanbag throw, and don't drop the egg walk for prizes that included dinosaur masks, a handheld pinball maze game, pencils, and some fruit gummy snacks. All of which thrilled and excited my kids.
Every year we've attended this egg-stravaganza my kids favorite part has been the Bunny Follies live play, especially when they get everybody in the audience to do the chicken dance.
The theme of the skit is on how Elmer the Bear wants to replace the Easter Bunny with the Big Brown Easter Bear. The show has some humorous gags and musical numbers that get the audience engaged and my kids talk about it for days afterwards.
The Bunny Follies really are egg-cellent!
Our family has really enjoyed the Detroit Zoo's Bunnyville activities during our kids preschool and kindergarten years. Based upon the activities though the event probably peaks out as being suitable for children in first or second grade so while Bunnyville has become somewhat of a family tradition it might not be that much longer lived as the twins move on to first grade this Fall. If you are a parent of a preschooler or kindergarten aged child that lives in the Metro Detroit area, Bunnyville at the Detroit Zoo gets A Geek Daddy Nod of Approval and I highly recommend hopping by to enjoy the festivities.
Spring is here, the sun is out and it is time to get your Vitamin Z!
The hot thing that has caught my son's attention and imagination lately are the How to Train Your Dragon movies and television shows. So he was thrilled when our family included his favorite dragon, Toothless, into our Halloween activities by carving a jack-o-lantern of the character. In fact, we switched up our Friday family game night routine last week and made it a #DragonsDay themed evening creating some fun dragon masks, carving our Toothless pumpkin and watching the original How to Train Your Dragon movie from DreamWorks Animation.
My friends at Fox Home Entertainment helped us put together our special How To Train Your Dragon night by providing templates for pumpkin carving and dragon masks that I was able to print out. I've included these below if you'd like to incorporate them into your Halloween festivities.
DreamWorks How To Train Your Dragon 2 will be coming out on Blu-ray & DVD on November 11, 2014 distributed by Fox Home Entertainment so incorporating jack-o-lanterns and masks into your Halloween activities can be a fun way to get your kids excited about the upcoming home video release. My son has been asking every week since we saw this movie at theaters this summer when he could see it again so watching the original movie and including Dragons into our Halloween really built up his excitement for us bringing the sequel home in a few weeks. It was also a reminder that he needs to keep his grades up and keep being good at school if he wants us to let him watch How To Train Your Dragon 2 when it comes out. A little bit of carrot and stick parenting there combining reward and punishment in one simple DVD package. My daughter enjoys the movies too but to be honest she's just not as engrossed by dragons as much as my son is.
If you don't want to wait until November 11th to enjoy How to Train Your Dragon 2 there is one way you can view it right now ... it became available for digital download on October 21, 2014. Our household prefers Blu-ray though for watching flicks on our big screen tv.
About How To Train Your Dragon 2
It's been five years since Hiccup and Toothless successfully united
dragons and vikings on the island of Berk. While Astrid, Snotlout and
the rest of the gang are challenging each other to dragon races (the
island's new favorite contact sport), the now inseparable pair journey
through the skies, charting unmapped territories and exploring new
worlds. When one of their adventures leads to the discovery of a secret
ice cave that is home to hundreds of new wild dragons and the mysterious
Dragon Rider, the two friends find themselves at the center of a battle
to protect the peace. Now, Hiccup and Toothless must unite to stand up
for what they believe while recognizing that only together do they have
the power to change the future of both men and dragons.
DISCLAIMER: A Geek Daddy Blog did not receive any compensation for this post but is a member of the Fox Home Entertainment Insiders Blogger program which provides this site with free movies for reviews and giveaways in exchange for promotional opportunities with our audience.
