Dec. 23, 2008

By Kate Pancero
Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Get out there and play

Although many local attractions are closed, Christmas Day in Chicago won’t be completely quiet, as the Spertus Museum hosts Something Else! A Community Festival. The festival includes arts and crafts, games and activities.

Live entertainment includes acts from Circus Boy, Ballet Folklorico, the Rope Warrior, songstress Sandy Sylver and juggler Jason Kollum. Explore the wall of doors and drawers, the Big Block video area and the Rope Tunnel at the Gray Children’s Center. For a full list of activities, visit the Web site.

With the holiday season in mind, families are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item to be donated to needy families. The Spertus Museum, located at 610 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, is open from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Thursday. Admission is $10 per family. For more information, call (312) 322-1700 or visit spertus.edu.

Inside fun

Burn off all of those holiday calories this weekend at Mayor Daley’s Sports Festival. Your family will have a ball playing at the more than 30 activities, which include football, baseball, basketball, martial arts, soccer, boxing and fishing. Learn a new sport or two as your family takes in a few tournaments and demonstrations.

Parents can get in on the fun as they meet up with personal trainers, take a kickboxing or salsa lesson and health screenings. At the Chill Out Zone, kids can exercise brains with coloring, board games, reading and Kapla Blocks building.

Other opportunities include meeting members from the Chicago Sky as well as dancing and singing with Radio Disney (from noon-4 p.m. daily). Watch the Harlem Globetrotters dribble, shoot and interact with the little ones from noon-1 p.m. Monday. Stop by the Chicago Parent booth for your goody bag and water bottle on Sunday and Monday. For a full list of activities, visit the Web site.

Mayor Daley’s Sports Festival is at McCormick Place, 3201 S. Martin Luther King Drive, in halls A and B and is open from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday-Monday. Admission is free and discounted parking is available in Lot A for $9. For more information, call (312) 744-3370 or visit cityofchicago.org/specialevents.

Piece of the prize

This week, two lucky Chicago Parent readers will win six Beethoven movies on one DVD and “Beethoven’s Big Break,” which comes out on DVD Dec. 26. To win, visit our discussion board.