Search for gnomes in the Children's Garden using your best "I Spy" skills. Checklist provided.

Snowflake "Learn to Skate" Clinics are an introduction to Rink Side's learn to skate classes. They are open to any child ages 2-11, there will be 30 minutes of instruction and 15 minutes of free time. There is a public session following the clinic and everyone can stay to skate! (Regular admission fees apply.) Sessions are held Dec. 26-29, 31, Jan. 2-5.

Musical that chronicles the sociological effects upon youth from fatherless homes and how they manage to uplift themselves in spite of it. Kwanzaa week holiday performances are Dec. 26, 27, 28. Regular run is Jan. 12-June 1, 2013.

The 1960 musical version of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist includes the songs "Consider Yourself," "Where Is Love?," "As Long as He Needs Me," "Who Will Buy?" and "I'd Do Anything." Performances run Dec. 22-31.

Interactive learning centers include a barn slide, apple orchard and chicken coop. Maggie, a life-sized fiberglass milking cow sponsored by Golden Oaks Farm in Wauconda, will be the focus of the new exhibit. Maggie is over five feet tall and features a working udder that recirculates the water that children "milk."

A skating rink near Bloomingdales opens Nov. 17 (weather permitting). Hours are Monday through Thursday noon to 9 p.m., Friday noon to 10 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Holiday hours may be extended, visit westfield.com for details.