Places to Go, Things to Do

Basketball tournaments, Zoo breakfasts, river cleanups

Of course, if it's March, it's basketball tournament time. Besides the Missouri Valley Conference men's and women's meets, the NCAA will hold its Midwest Regional men's tournament here also.

But, there are all sorts of other activities for kids.

There are the Breakfasts with Bunnies at the Zoo, Irish step dancing at the Missouri History Museum, cave exploration at Rockwoods Reservation and an early spring hike at Fort Bellefontaine.

If you'd like to help do cleanup along Missouri's rivers, the Confluence Partnership is holding a Trash Bash along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers as well as some smaller area streams.

Your family might like to watch the 41st St. Patrick's Day parade on Saturday, March 13, in downtown St. Louis.

And, a note of a special event for April: There will be the first annual St. Louis Youth and Family Volunteer Fair. That's a new event to help kids find organizations looking to fill summer jobs with younger volunteers.

Every month, Young Saint Louis.com looks for events and activities in the St. Louis metro area in which kids and their families might like to participate. Always, the focus is on fun things and YSL.com emphasizes free or inexpensive things.

Missouri Valley Conference basketball meets

The men's and women's Missouri Valley Conference basketball tournaments will be held in St. Louis in March.

The men's tournament will be Thursday through Sunday, March 4-7, at the Scottrade Center in downtown St. Louis.

The women's tournament will be the following week, Thursday through Sunday, March 11-14, at the Family Arena in St. Charles.

The winners of both tournaments get automatic berths in the NCAA national tournaments.

For information on the men's tournament, call (314) 291-1888 or visit www.mvcsports.com.

For the women's meet, call (314) 421-0359 or visit www.familyarena.com.

NCAA men's regional basketball tourney

The Midwest Regional of the NCAA Division 1 basketball tournament will be held Friday through Sunday, March 26-28, at the Edward Jones Dome in downtown St. Louis.

For information, call (314) 917-6222.

Zoo's Breakfasts with the Bunny

Two Breakfast with the Bunny events will be held be held Saturday, March 20, and Sunday, March 21, at the Saint Louis Zoo. The breakfasts are at 9 and 11 a.m. each day.

For reservations, call (314) 645-4857 or visit www.stlzoo.org/events.

Irish step dancing at History Museum

The St. Louis Irish Arts group will present an Irish Step Dancing program on Sunday, March 14, at the Missouri History Museum. The program starts at 2 p.m. and admission is free.

For information, call (314) 746-4599 or visit www.mohistory.org.

Cave exploration at Rockwoods Reservation

A cave exploration event for kids 7 and up will be held Tuesday, March 30, at the Rockwoods Reservation from 2-3:30 p.m.

Be sure to wear appropriate clothing because the exploration requires kids to crawl on their stomach for several feet.

Reservations are required. Call (636) 458-2236 or you can visit www.mdc.mo.gov/areas/stlouis/.

Early Spring Hike at Fort Bellefontaine

Kids 6 and up are invited to get an early look at spring with a 3-mile hike at Fort Bellefontaine County Park on Sunday, March 28, from 1 to 3 p.m.

The park trail follows Coldwater Creek through the woods where a variety of plants will be coming out for spring. You will explore the site of the first American fort.

For reservations, call (314) 877-6014 or visit www.mdc.mo.gov/areas/areas/bottom.

"Trash Bash" to clean area rivers, streams

Volunteers are needed for the Confluence Trash Bash which will clean up along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and several smaller streams that flow into the rivers.

The cleanup will be Saturday, March 27, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Lunch will be provided for all volunteers.

Volunteers will meet at the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge and at Creve Coeur Park.

For more information, visit http://www.confluencegreenway.org/m-events.php.

Meramec River float trip

St. Louis County is sponsoring a St. Patrick's Day float on the Meramec River on Wednesday, March 17, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Canoes, paddles and life jackets will be provided. But, you need to bring a lunch, water, binoculars and other personal items for the all-day float.

Reservations are required and the cost is $15 per person.

For reservations, call (314) 615-8481.

St. Patrick's Day parade

The 41st annual St. Patrick's Day Parade will be held in downtown St. Louis on Saturday, March 13. There also will be an Irish Village in Kiener Plaza.

For information, visit www.irishparade.org.

Fossil Hike at Greensfelder Park

A fossil hunt for kids will be held at Greensfelder Park on Saturday, March 6, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. The event is for kids 7 to 14.

Admission is $3 per person. Advance registration is required. Call (314) 615-8481.

Science Center's Dinosaur exhibit is ending

The long-running Dinosaurs Unearthed exhibit at the St. Louis Science Center is tentatively scheduled to close on Sunday, March 28. If you haven't seen this exhibit at the Center's Exploradome, you and your family have only a couple more weeks.

For information, call (314) 289-4444 or visit www.slscl.org.

In April, Volunteer Fair at Magic House

If you're a teenager who'd like to do volunteer work during the summer, you might have found that it's hard to find organizations that will hire younger kids.

If you're interested in knowing groups that are looking for younger volunteers, you might like to set aside the date of Sunday, April 11.

That's when the first-ever St. Louis Youth and Family Volunteer Fair will be held at the Magic House. Admission will be donation of one can of food which will be donated to needy families.

The fair will be a good place to learn about agencies and organizations who use younger volunteers and how you can apply for positions.

You can learn more about this new program, by visiting www.stlouisvolunteen.com.