Cherry Blossom Fest and more family fun this weekend

    This weekend, the weather is expected to stay sunny and warm. It’s the perfect environment to celebrate the outdoors and the Earth. With fun and diverse activities, your family will be entertained all weekend.

     

    The Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival at Morris Arboretum tops our list, and the second weekend of this festival is guaranteed to be as interesting as the first. On Saturday, April 21st at 11am, the River of Life Martial Arts & Wellness Center returns to the Arboretum to perform Ken Jutsu, an ancient Japanese swordsmanship technique. Originally used by samurai on the battlefield, Ken Jutsu is a combination of personal combat and strategy that is adapted and applied today to find harmony in one’s life.

     

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    This presentation is followed by the Zen Archery Demonstration. Guests will learn about the ancient Japanese art of archery – considered the highest discipline of the Samurai warrior. Today this is known as Kyuko, this exercise combines the qualities of heart and mind at the moment of the arrow’s release.

     

    A Japanese festival would not be complete without existique and colorful clothing. The Kimono Dressing Demonstration brings this to Morris’ celebration. Fumiyo Batta, an extensive collector of kimonos, will be exhibiting kimonos, discussing the history of this interesting piece of clothing and demonstrating how to wear one. Audience members will be welcome to participate as well.

     

    After and before these fun celebrations, you can enjoy the 35 varieties of blossoming cherry trees, along with other trees, flowers, fauna, and fountains on the Arboretum’s 92-acres. Children are especially encouraged to explore Out on a Limb, part of the Arboretum-wide interactive Tree Adventure exhibit that offers a perspective from 50 feet up in the treetops complete with climbing nets so kids can climb the trees like the squirrels!

     

    And don’t Forget that this weekend is Earth Day!   Celebrate with your family by spending the time outside, learning more about nature or celebrating with other Philadelphians. These additional ideas will offer your kids some great fun and educational opportunities:

     

    April Earth Day Festival at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University: This festival on Saturday, April 21st from 10am-5pm highlights important discoveries of the institution’s research on the earth. Over 80 exhibitors will be outside the museum! Visitors can meet real Environmental Scientists, examine and test out tools they use in their jobs such as shocker boat and microscopes. There will also be a demonstration of electroshocking.  http://www.ansp.org/get-involved/programs/festivals/earth-day/

     

    Philadelphia Science Festival – Science Carnival on the Parkway: Saturday, April 21st 11am-4pm. A huge outdoor carnival celebrating science! Over 100 exhibitors will have family-friendly experiments, interactive activities, and games. Kids can extract DNA from a strawberry, enjoy liquid nitrogen ice cream, tour a helicopter, meet live animals and more! There will with TWO stages including Kids Corner Stage with Kathy O’Connell as hostess and emcee. www.philasciencefestival.org

     

    Weird Waste Day – Celebrate Earth Day by getting rid of all those electronic items you don’t know what to do with by recycling them responsibly. Saturday, April 21st 1-4pm at Norwood Fontbonne Academy parking lot.

     

    Children and Men’s Clothing Swap – Go green with your wardrobe update!! For a $15 donation you can bring in your in-good-condition hand-me-downs, and take home as many items as you like. (All sizes & all seasons!) Sunday April 22 at the Cooperative Nursery School (Unitarian Society of Germantown).  

     

    Northwest Philly Parents is a partnership between Germantown Avenue Parents and Newsworks.  

     

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