Get out there and play

Now that spring is here and the days are slowly finding warmer temperatures, it’s time to celebrate. This weekend, the Notebaert Nature Museum is hosting Spring Into Action Day to help kick off the season with special programs. Activities include bin composting, a green market, nature watching and adopting a butterfly.

The event kicks off with the Green City Market, open from 8 a.m.-1 p.m., which is filled with seasonal produce and product tastings. Learn how to compost and create your family’s new compost bin with compost critter ($8 per bin) at Bin There, Dump That from 10 a.m.-noon and learn the latest in composting at Composting Tips, 11:30 a.m. Adopt a new friend during the Adopt-a-Butterfly event with two releases, 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Once you’ve adopted your butterfly, you’ll get to help release it. This program is $20, $15 for members. Registration is required and is available until noon at the museum.

The Notebaert Nature Museum is located at 2430 N. Cannon Drive, Chicago. Some events require an additional fee. For more details, call (773) 755-5100 or visit naturemuseum.org.

Get your tickets here

Five lucky Chicago Parent readers will win a family five-pack to ReptileFest April 4-5 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Each family pack includes tickets for two adults and three children. ReptileFest is held at the University of Illinois at Chicago, 901 W. Roosevelt Road, Chicago. For more information, visit reptilefest.com. To win, visit our discussion board.

Sweet prize

This week, five lucky Chicago Parent readers will win “Marley and Me” on DVD. To win, visit our discussion board. 

Get out there and play some more

Celebrate our beautiful planet by giving it a break. This Saturday, from 8:30-9:30 p.m., the world will celebrate Earth Hour. Chicago has been named, again, the flagship U.S. city for Earth Hour 2009, an hour when more than 2,500 cities all over the world turn off their lights to give the Earth a break as well as show their concern for the environment and its changing climate.

ComEd reported an electricity savings of 818 megawatt hours from Earth Hour 2008. That’s the equivalent of taking 1 million cars off the road for one hour. Along with turning off your lights for an hour, Earth Hour 2009 is also emphasizing long-term sustainable goals by incorporating Earth Hour into our daily lives. A few ideas include turning out the lights when leaving a room and unplugging electronics when they aren’t in use. Families are also encouraged to replace their bulbs with energy efficient compact fluorescent ones.

For more information on how your family can continue to make a difference, visit EarthHourUS.org. For more kid-friendly Earth Hour activities, visit earthhourkids.org.

Piece of the prize

If your kids get excited when things go bump in the night, they’ll spook when you win our Goosebumps prize pack. Five lucky Chicago Parent readers will win “Goosebumps: Return of the Mummy” and “Goosebumps: The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight” on DVD. For more information, visit Amazon.com. To win, visit our discussion board. Error parsing XSLT file: \xslt\article-detail.xslt