Events and Outings

Here are our picks for great events and activities for children and families this weekend. Find more events for the whole week in Marin and beyond in our Family Events Calendar.

Friday, September 21

• Nature for Kids: Indian Tree
  Indian Tree Preserve, Novato
  Friday, 10 am–1 pm
  Come explore the little grove of redwoods and find out more about the different habitats and animals that live in each place. This walk is free of charge, no registration is necessary. We request that no animals (except service animals) attend. David Herlocker will lead. Directions: Meet at the Vineyard Rd Trailhead in Novato. From Hwy 101 in Novato, take the Atherton Ave/San Marin Dr exit west on San Marin Dr (turns into Sutro Ave after the Novato Blvd junction), and turn right at Vineyard Rd. Trailhead is where the pavement ends.For more info, call (415) 893-9508 or visit their website.
• Pajama Night at Doodlebug Marin
  Doodlebug Marin, San Anselmo
  Friday, 6–9 pm
  Kids put on their pajamas and enjoy pizza, crafts, stories, face painting and more. Cost: $30 per child and $25 each additional family member. Reserve your spot by calling (415) 456-5989 or online here.
• The Family Overnight Experience on the USS Hornet
  USS Hornet Museum, Alameda
  Friday, 5 pm–Saturday, 10 am
  Bring the family (ages 5 and up) on the untimate overnight adventure on the historic aircraft carrier the USS Hornet. Come explore the decks of the famous World War II ship from the captain's bridge to the engine room. Kids and adults sleep in original crew bunks, eat dinner and breakfast in the crew's mess hall and much much more. Read our overnight experience here. Cost: $100 per person. For more info and an itenerary, visit their website.
• Broadway Bound Kids! Presents Grease!
  Marin Center-Showcase Theatre
  Friday, 7:30 pm, Saturday, 2 & 7:30 pm, and Sunday 1 & 5 pm
  BBK! presents the rockin’ family musical Grease!, suitable for all ages. Poodle skirts, hula hoops, yo-yo’s, leather jackets, bobby socks and saddle shoes and don’t forget the Brylcream—come be transported back to 1959 and join the senior class at Rydell High. Directed by Paulio Duran. Tickets: adults $16, $14 for children and seniors. Purchase tickets online or by calling (415) 473-6800. Location: 10 Avenue of the Flags, San Rafael.

Saturday, September 22

• Dipsea Hike for Zero Breast Cancer
  Mt. Tam State Park
  Saturday, 8 am–1 pm
  Get out and get physical for a great cause! This six-mile non-competitive, all-ages trail loop is a great way to spend time with friends—enjoy breathtaking Mount Tamalpais views, experience the legendary Dipsea steps, and enjoy food, music and prizes with great people. Raises funds for Zero Breast Cancer’s prevention-focused research efforts. Register online or by calling (415) 507-1949 or visit their website.
  
• Esurance Tennis Classic
  Mill Valley's Harbor Point Tennis Club
  Saturday & Sunday, 9 am–5 pm
  This year's legendary tennis players include Lindsay Davenport, the Bryan Brothers, Gigi Fernandez, Murphy Jensen, and others. This fundraiser raises funds for a variety of charitable causes, including the To Celebrate Life Breast Cancer Foundation and the Youth Tennis Advantage. Tickets are $35 per day or $50 for both days for adults, and $20 per day for juniors under 18. Location: 475 East Strawberry Drive. For more info or to purchase tickets, go to their website.
  
• Marin Country Mart Farmers Market
  Marin Country Mart, Larkspur Landing
  Saturday, 9 am–2 pm
  Enjoy pony rides, face painting, petting zoo, and a visit from the Marin County Library Bookmobile, as well as family music by Christopher Smith from 9:30–10:30 am. In addition, there's more live music, fresh produce, pastured meats, flowers, locally produced foods, and more. For more info, visit their website.
  
• Children's Toy and Clothing Sale
  Marinwood Community Center
  Saturday from 10 am–4 pm
  Marinwood Morning School's semi-annual Children's Toy and Clothing Sale is a great place to shop for a variety of toys, books, games, clothing and much, much more. For more information, call Susan Press at (415) 479-3123. The Marinwood Community Center is located at 775 Miller Creek Road.
• Northgate Kids’ Sing ‘n' Play!
  San Rafael
  Saturday, 10–11 am
  Kids of all ages are invtied to come play, sing and dance in an interactive musical playgroup that will be led by talented local Marin music teachers. This free summer series of musical playgroups will offer a different music-focused program (provided by Kidzter) every other Saturday morning at Northgate. Kids will get a free musical instrument to help keep to the rhythm all summer long. Every other Saturday from 10–11 am in the Macy’s wing. For more info, visit their website.
• 13th Annual Sonoma County Book Festival
  Santa Rosa
  Saturday, 10 am–4 pm
  The Sonoma County Book Festival offers fun for the entire family! The Sonoma County Book Festival is a free public event brought to you by the Literary Arts Guild. This event transforms downtown Santa Rosa into the literary capital of Northern California. Thousands of book lovers return every year for a full day of fun under welcoming white tents. Location: Fourth Street and Santa Rosa Avenue in Courthouse Square, Downtown Santa Rosa. For more info, visit their website.
• Tim Cain Sing-along
  Cafe Du Cirque, San Rafael
  Saturday, 11–11:30 am
  Come see local family entertainer Tim Cain for a morning of dancing and singing. Location: 1408 4th Street, San Rafael. For more info, call (415) 454-8200 or visit their Facebook page.

It's Summerfest time! Come have fun and help save critical school programs for San Rafael City Schools at the HeadsUp Summerfest Carnival on Saturday, September 29, 2012 from 11 am to 5 pm.

This fun and free event takes place at San Rafael High School and features game booths, a giant slide, bounce houses, a petting zoo, face painting, henna body art, photo booth, kiss-a-pig, a dunk tank, wheel of fortune, art displays, performances by school music groups, BBQ treats, local band GWood Gents, and more. Also on hand will be the celebrated Summerfest Cake Walk—show off your baking skills or join the fun and win a cake.

Students can submit entries to the essay writing and art contest with the theme Making San Rafael a Better Place to Live. Write an essay on no more than one page that tells what you do now, what you will do, or what you'd like to do someday to make San Rafael an even better place to live. Winning essays will be from four age groups: grades K–2, 3–5, middle school, and high school. Entries are due by Friday, September 21; mail to HeadsUp, PO Box 150157, San Rafael, CA 94901, attn: K. Murphy.

Get ready to believe! Tickets for the California State Railroad Museum's annual holiday Polar Express train rides go on sale to the public on Monday, October 1, 2012. Climb on board a train pulled by a streamlined diesel locomotive from the museum's collection and read along with Chris Van Allsburg's classic holiday story as you and your family make your round-trip journey to the North Pole. Meet Santa Claus himself, sing Christmas carols, and drink hot chocolate—served by dancing waiters, of course.

Each child attending receives a special gift, and children are encouraged to wear their pajamas. Tickets to this wildly popular holiday event sell out very quickly, so if you want to go, order yours as soon as you can. Tickets are available online only starting October 1. Ride in the coach cars ($30 per person), first-class El Dorado Observation Car ($45 per person), or reserve a table for four in the first class Audubon Dining Car ($180). All tickets are subject to a service fee of $3.50 per ticket ($12 for dining car table reservation). Children under 2 years of age are free and must be seated on an adult's lap.

The annual Esurance Tennis Classic at Mill Valley's Harbor Point Tennis Club is a great event for all tennis lovers big or small. This year the Esurance Tennis Classic will host legendary tennis players including Lindsay Davenport, Bryan Brothers, Gigi Fernandez, Murphy Jensen, and others.

This fundraiser takes place this Friday–Sunday, September 21–23, and and raises funds for a variety of charitable causes, including the To Celebrate Life Breast Cancer Foundation and the Youth Tennis Advantage. Tickets are $35 per day or $50 for both days for adults, and $20 per day for juniors under 18.

On Friday, September 23 from 3–4:30 pm the Esurance Tennis Classic presents Kids' Day, where inner-city youth play with tennis legends; the public is welcome to watch from the stands. The gates open at 9 am on Saturday and 10 am on Sunday. Don't miss the World Cup Team Challenge: USA vs. the World on both days from 12:30–4:30 pm, and the tennis village and food court offering refreshments, product booths, and fun on Saturday and Sunday from 10 am–5 pm.

Sausalito's Bay Area Discovery Museum, everybody's favorite hands-on place for kids to learn and explore, will be closed for its annual maintenance the next two weeks: Monday, September 10 through Monday, September 24, 2011. The museum will re-open on Tuesday, September 25, 2011. For more info call (415) 339-3900 or visit www.badm.org.

Old Mill Park is the setting for the 56th annual Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival, a weekend-long event that for generations has served as the town's farewell to summer. The Festival began in 1956 with local artists exhibiting their works in downtown shop windows. The concept moved to Old Mill Park in 1962 and nowadays attracts some 8,000 art lovers. The juried works include a wide array of prints, paintings, woodwork, photography and sculpture, and the Festival is rated one of the top 10 fine arts and crafts shows in the Northwest.

This year's Festival takes place among the towering redwoods of Old Mill Park on Saturday and Sunday, September 15 and 16, from 10 am to 5 pm. The Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival includes a Children’s Grove that hosts entertainment and interactive activities for youngsters all day. Kids' programs include:

Are your kids interested in outer space? Bring your budding astronauts to learn about space exploration in a hands-on environment at the Space Station, Novato's free, kid-friendly space museum. Located in a storefront in the newly renovated Pacheco Plaza shopping center, the Space Station is a small but rich little museum that offers families and school groups a chance to explore the history of spaceflight and exploration.

Kid can see, handle, and even try on actual space artifacts, many of which have actually flown in space. Try on a pair of Russian cosmonaut's space suit gloves for size, wear a prototype space helmet designed for the Apollo missions, and sit in a seat from a Soyuz spacecraft.

Objects on view are part of the collection of the W Foundation, a non-profit founded by Ken Winans and his wife Debbie Wreyford-Winans, and include American, Russian, and Soviet-era space equipment, clothing, photographs, a meteorite, and more. The W Foundation also works with organizations and events like Oakland's Chabot Space and Science Center, the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda, and San Francisco Fleet Week to present educational exhibits on the history of space exploration.

Love backyard chickens? Thinking of taking the plunge and setting up a coop for your own feathered friends? Then check out Novato's second annual Pleasant Valley Coop Tour, taking place on Sunday, September 9, 2012. You'll get to tour some of Marin's swankest avian homes, learn about the art of backyard chicken keeping, the finer points of coop construction, and the rewards of chicken ownership. You'll also be supporting Novato's Pleasant Valley Elementary School and its outdoor education programs, so it's all for a great cause.

Tickets for this self-guided tour and innovative school fundraiser cost $10. You can order them online or in person at Novato Horse and Pet Supply at 7546 Redwood Boulevard.

All that chicken coop touring will make you hungry, so lunch is available to purchase with your ticket, too. Featuring locally organic ingredients and prepared by Novato's White Rose Ranch, box lunches cost $15 for adults and $7.50 for children.

Here are our picks for great events and activities for children and families this weekend. Find more events for the whole week in Marin and beyond in our Family Events Calendar.

Friday, September 7

• North Bay Children's & Maternity Consignment Event
  Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa
  Friday, 10 am–7 pm, Saturday, 10 am–3 pm & Sunday, 9 am–2 pm
  The North Bay's largest children's and maternity consignment sales event, Just Between Friends returns September 9–11 to the Sonoma County Fairgrounds, Hall of Flowers. It's 27,000 square feet of shopping and consigning awesomeness, and everyone is welcome to join the fun! Shop HUGE deals on new and gently-used clothes (0–12 years and maternity), games, toys, furniture, strollers, mommy supplies, etc! For more info, call (707) 456-7523 or visit their website.
• Mill Valley Library End-of-Summer Party!
  Mill Valley Library
  Friday, 2:30–4 pm
  Bubble Man Mike Miller, games, hula hoops, ice cream and more! Don't miss it! Party in the amphitheater below the library. All ages, no sign-up needed. Location: 375 Throckmorton Avenue. For more info, call (415) 389-4292 x106 or visit their website.
• Friday Nights on Main
  Downtown Tiburon
  Friday, 6–9 pm
  Bring the family and enjoy music, dancing, shopping and food. Bring a picnic or enjoy dining outdoors at your favorite local restaurant. Friday Nights on Main will run through September. For more info, call (415) 435-5633 or visit their website.
  
• Film Night in the Park—Mamma Mia!
  Old Mill Park, Mill Valley
  Friday, 8 pm
  This Friday's movie is Mamma Mia! Arrive by 8 pm—films begin at dusk. Popcorn, candy, and sodas will be sold. Bring blankets, pillows, backrests, and low chairs. Film Night suggests leaving pets at home. Donations are appreciated. Old Mill Park  is located at the 300th Block of Throckmorton in Mill Valley. For more info, visit their website.

Saturday, September 8

• Marin Country Mart Farmers Market
  Marin Country Mart, Larkspur Landing
  Saturday, 9 am–2 pm
  Enjoy pony rides and a petting zoo for the kids from 10 am–2 pm adjacent to the farmer's market. Arts and crafts and face painting for kids from 9 am–2 pm and kid's music by Christopher Smith from 9:30–10:30 am. For more info, visit their website.
  
• Cal Star Gymnastics Indoor Power Play
  70 Digital Drive, Suite #3, Novato
  Saturday and Sunday, 9–10:30 am
  Participants 5 years and under can run, jump and play in an open gymnastics environment. Bring the kids in on a rainy day to burn some energy. This program takes place every Saturday and Sunday morning during the week. The cost is $13 per child. For more info, call (415) 382-7827 or visit their website
  
• Infant/Child CPR and Choke-Saving
  UU Marin San Rafael
  Saturday, 10 am–noon
  This unique and enjoyable two-hour class is perfect for parents, parents-to-be, nannies, granparents and caregivers! Hands-on training with mannequins. Certification for nannies, babysitters, anyone who cares for little ones.Learn CPR for Infant/Child (newborns to preteens), choking rescue techniques for a choking infant and child, Basic Safety for Infants and certify through CPR Family (American Heart Assn. Guidelines). Classes sell out.Advance registration required. In-home classes available. Cost: $35 per person. Location: 240 Channing Way in San Rafael. For more info or to register, visit their website.
  
• Dream Circle Benefit Concert
  Westminster Presbyterian Church, Tiburon
  Saturday, 11 am–noon
  Join the Dream Circle Band for a fun sing-, clap-, and dance-along interactive kids' concert on Saturday, September 8 at 11 am at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Tiburon. The stellar lineup includes regular band members Tim Cain, Miss Kitty, Christopher Smith, Cindy Cohen, Peter Penhallow, Dick Mithun, and CC Dawson plus Val Serrant on African percussion, Kevin Gerzevitz on accordion and Larry Rhodes on bassoon. This concert is a community event to honor cellist and pianist, Michael Knapp, who passed away this summer. There is a suggested $10 per person donation at the door. Kids one and under are free. For more info, visit their website.
  
• 17th Annual Ghirardelli Square Chocolate Festival
  San Francisco
  Saturday & Sunday, noon–5 pm
  Family fun includes arts and crafts and other activities. Tickets must be purchased to participate in chocolate tasting—$20 for 15 samples. For more info, visit their website.