Places to Go, Things to Do

Fitness Weekend, Earth Day, Cardinals
and more

April brings warmer temperatures, budding trees and flowers. It also brings a host of outdoor events such as St. Louis Earth Day, GO! Fitness Weekend, the start of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball season and more.

And, if you want to do rather than just watch, the St. Louis County Parks are looking for volunteer gardeners.

(Each month, Young Saint Louis.com searches for events and activities that kids and their families might like. And, we're always on the lookout for events and activities where admission is free or inexpensive.)

GO! Fitness Weekend

The GO! Family Fitness Weekend will be held on Saturday and Sunday, April 5-6, in Forest Park and downtown St. Louis.

The adult marathon race is one of the weekend's top events. But, there is plenty for kids, including the end of the Read, Right and Run Marathon program. (You can learn about this 26-week program for elementary and middle school kids by reading the feature article in this edition.)

The RRR elementary runners do their finishing 1.2 miles on Saturday while the middle schoolers run 3.1 miles. That gives the older kids 50-miles of running for the 26-week program.

Other runs include a half-marathon, the marathon relay, a 5k run/walk, a mature mile and some shorter distances for the youngest runners. There's even a diaper marathon for toddlers.

For information, call (314) 727-0800 or visit www.gostlouis.org.

St. Louis Cardinals

After the opening game of the 2008 baseball season on March 31, the St. Louis Cardinals will have 17 home games during April. During the month, they have series with Colorado, Washington, Milwaukee, San Francisco, Houston and Cincinnati.

Although the Cardinals had a disappointing season last year, the team announced that it has over 3 million tickets sold for the 2008 season.

If you'd like to attend Cardinals games, you can get information by calling (314) 421-2400 or visit www.cardinals.mlb.com.

St. Louis Earth Day

The 2008 St. Louis Earth Day Festival will be held on the Muny grounds in Forest Park on Sunday, April 20. Hours are from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

A whole range of programs and activities highlighting efforts to curb pollution and improve the quality of life are scheduled. Among the programs are The Earth Day Bazaar, The Earth Day Way and the Earth Day Exhibit.

The bazaar features products made from recycled materials. The Earth Day Way involves companies and organizations making a difference in "greening" the environment. The exhibit features "green" models, art and nature.

(For another look at Earth Day activities, read the feature story in this edition about The New City School's River Kids program.)

For more Earth Day information, call (314) 961-5838 or visit www.stlearthday.org.

Wetlands for Kids

The Wetlands for Kids Day will be held Saturday, April 5, at the Busch Memorial Conservation Area in St. Charles County. Hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and admission is free.

The program is designed to help kids learn about the value of the state's wetlands and about the birds, animals and amphibians who populate them. They'll explore a beaver lodge, view live snakes and turtles and watch retriever dogs in action.

Kids will create wetland artwork, practice archery skills and visit more than 15 stations to learn about nature with hands-on experience.

Each kid gets a free Ducks Unlimited Greenwing membership and a one-year subscription to Puddler magazine.

For more information, call (636) 441-4554.

Wings of Spring Bird Festival

The Wings of Spring Confluence Bird Festival will be held Saturday, April 26, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The location is the Riverlands Migrating Bird Sanctuary in West Alton, MO.

The sanctuary is at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers in the extreme northeast corner of St. Louis County.

There will be a hike with naturalists to explain the unique wildlife in this area.

For information, call 1-800-258-6645.

Storytelling Festival

The 29th annual St. Louis Storytelling Festival will be held in St. Louis from April 30 through May 3. Storytelling is held at several venues around St. Louis.

The storytelling includes a session featuring kid storytellers. (For a look at the preparation by young storytellers, click on to Past Stories and call up the March, 2008, edition.)

For festival information, call (314) 516-5961 or visit www.umsl.edu/storytelling.

Art Museum's Family Sundays

The St. Louis Art Museum's Family Sunday program for Sunday, April 6, will be Portraits on Parade. The admission is free.

Kids and their families will view portraits in the museum and then will create their own drawings or paintings with hands-on experience.

For information, call (314) 721-0072 or visit www.slam.org.

Zoo's Dinoroarus Exhibit

The St. Louis Zoo's walk-through Dinoroarus Exhibit opens Friday, April 18. The exhibit gives a unique look at the history of dinosaurs.

Elsewhere at the Zoo, you'll get a chance to view over 22,000 exotic animals. There is a modest admission to the Dinoroarus exhibit but admission to the Zoo in free.

For information, call (314) 781-0900 or visit www.stlzoo.org.

Volunteer Gardeners Wanted

The St. Louis County Parks are looking for volunteer gardeners to help get the county's many parks in tip-top shape for the spring. Kids can volunteer too.

The volunteer gardeners meet once a week from 8 to 11 a.m. and work alongside master gardeners and parks horticulture manager Doug Wolter. Work begins in April.

For application and details, call (314) 638-2100 or e-mail skuhnert@stlouisco.com.