You too can go Smashing Pumpkins
Apparently this is a thing, and I’m here for it. (callback to a great 90’s band) Smashing Pumpkins. Grab your kids, take your previously carved (or if you’re like us, not yet carved) pumpkins to JP (also events in Somerville, Lincoln, and Reading) and smash them together! the pumpkins not the kids. And then compost afterwards. It’s a win win for mental health and the earth.
Snowport opens this weekend - we tried to go last year but made the mistake of doing so on a weekend night. This year, early season or midweek at opening is the recommended play with kiddos. To round out the weekend, check out Boston Halal Food Fest in Roxbury on Saturday or get to Boston Lights at Franklin Zoo for its last weekend. Wednesday is Veteran’s day - for kids activities if they’re not at a 1 day camp are a play at the Children’s museum and a puppet premiere in Brookline.
Last little note from me - We (that means me. its just me) just launched some socials on IG and Threads! I’m renown for my poor social media game but will attempt to keep up with these every week to give you all a different format for keeping up with what’s going on every week.
As always, I appreciate all of you who open this every week. We have 2/3rds of you open this email weekly (the normal for a newsletter is 1/4). I hope you’re finding it useful - if so, share with a friend!
Picks of the Week
English High School parking lot, 144 McBride St, Jamaica Plain · Saturday, November 7, 11:00 AM–2:00 PM · Free · Drop-in · All ages
Kids bring their old jack-o'-lanterns and smash them at the smashing stations, and everything goes to compost. Pull out any candles, wax, paint or glitter before you come.
More smashes this weekend: Somerville at Chuckie Harris Park, Saturday 11:00 AM–1:30 PM (free, with a bake sale; can't make it? drop pumpkins off Friday 2:30–5:30). Codman Community Farms in Lincoln, Sunday 10:00 AM–2:00 PM ($1 suggested donation per pumpkin, with live music, pizza and ice cream sandwiches for sale). Reading at the high school, Saturday 9:00 AM–noon.
Seaport Common, Boston · Opens Friday, November 6 (Fri 11 AM–9 PM, Sat 10 AM–9 PM, Sun 10 AM–8 PM, Mon–Thu 3–8 PM) · Free to walk in · Drop-in · All ages
The Seaport's winter village opens for the season with 125+ makers and a lot of food. Kids head to the LEGO Creativity Corner for free drop-in crafts like snow globes, ornament decorating and sensory bins, and on Tuesdays LEGO hands out a free snowman build kit while supplies last. Weekends get a line, so a weekday afternoon is easier with little ones.
ISBCC outdoor lot, 100 Malcolm X Blvd, Roxbury · Saturday, November 7, 12:00–4:00 PM (rain date Sunday) · Free · RSVP on Eventbrite · All ages
Halal food vendors from around the city set up in the Islamic Society of Boston's lot, with cultural displays and family activities. It's free, but they ask you to register. Roxbury Crossing on the Orange Line is right across the street.
☔️ Bad Weather Backups
The Westin Boston Seaport District, 425 Summer St, Boston · Saturday, November 7, 9:00 AM–12:00 PM · Free · Registration on Eventbrite · Ages 5–18 with a parent
Kids try hands-on engineering demos and activities run by the Society of Women Engineers, and older kids can talk to working engineers. Hotel parking is paid, so the Silver Line to World Trade Center is easier.
Museum of Fine Arts and Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston · Saturday–Sunday, November 7–8 · Free general admission with a Bank of America card · Drop-in · All ages
Show a Bank of America debit or credit card at the MFA or the ICA this weekend and you get in free. It covers the cardholder, so check the museum's page for what the rest of your crew pays.
Boston Children's Museum, 308 Congress St, Boston · Wednesday, November 11 (Veterans Day), all day · Free with museum admission · Drop-in · Ages 3+
Kids make shapes and shadows with everyday objects in the STEAM Lab on the second floor. Handy if school's out for Veterans Day. The lab usually closes for an hour around lunch.
☀️ Outside Adventures
Memorial Drive from Western Ave to JFK St, Cambridge · Sunday, November 8, 11:00 AM–7:00 PM · Free · Drop-in · All ages
DCR closes this stretch of Memorial Drive to cars one last time this season. Bring bikes, scooters or the stroller and ride along the river with no traffic. It's weather permitting.
Allandale Woods, 7 VFW Pkwy, West Roxbury · Friday, November 6, 11:00 AM–12:00 PM · Free · Drop-in · All ages
A Boston Park Ranger leads an hour-long walk through the woods and talks about the park's history and wildlife. Good for little ones who aren't in school on a Friday morning.
📚 Library Picks
Newton Free Library, Children's Program Room · Saturday, November 7, 2:30–3:30 PM · Free · Drop-in · Ages 4+ with a grown-up
Kids are the dinosaurs in a room-sized version of the Dinosaur Escape board game, and the whole group works together to get away before the volcano blows.
Central Library auditorium, 79 Highland Ave, Somerville · Saturday, November 7, 2:30–4:00 PM · Free · Drop-in · Ages 6–12
Kids build Rube Goldberg machines, domino towers and exploding popsicle-stick snakes, then set them off. Grown-ups stay with kids 8 and under.
Belmont Public Library, 336 Concord Ave · Tuesday, November 10, 3:30–4:30 PM · Free · Registration required · Grades K–3
Belmont High students run hands-on density experiments and challenges for little kids. It's their first workshop, and about 16 spots were left when I checked.
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Fun for the whole family
Franklin Park Zoo, Boston · Through Sunday, November 8, 5:00–10:30 PM · Tickets required (under 2 free) · All ages
Kids walk through giant lit-up lanterns of penguins, sharks, jaguars and Grand Canyon animals, plus lantern tunnels almost 100 feet long. Sunday is the last night. Buy online, because gate prices are higher and nights can sell out.
Harvard Square, Cambridge · Saturday, November 7, 4:00–10:00 PM · Free entry · Drop-in · All ages
Thai food, handmade goods and Thai dance performances for Loy Krathong, the full-moon festival where people float decorated krathongs. Go early with little ones, since it runs late and has a beer garden.
Bow Market, Somerville · Saturday, November 7, from 10:00 AM · Free (RSVP), some workshops are paid add-ons · Drop-in · All ages in the daytime
Bow Market turns into an Enchanted Forest with performers, vendors and photo spots, and you can preorder a turkey leg. There are paid add-on workshops too, like painting the medieval way. Go in the daytime; the night ends with a dance party at Remnant Brewing.
Boylston St at the Boston Public Library to City Hall Plaza · Saturday, November 7, 12:00–3:00 PM · Free · All ages
Veterans, military and civic groups and bands march from the Copley library down to City Hall Plaza. Grab a curb spot on Boylston or Tremont.
Fruitlands Museum, Harvard · Saturday, November 7, 4:00–6:00 PM (rain date Sunday) · $25 per car ($15 Trustees members) · Registration required · All ages
Kids write a wish, tuck it into the basket, and watch it go up when the big bonfire is lit around 4:45. Hot cider is for sale, cash only. It's about an hour out and usually sells out, so book the parking pass first.
🎄 The holiday guides are up
Halloween's packed away, so I put together three guides for the cold months.
Christmas markets near Boston with kids — Snowport opens Friday, and this has when the rest open.
Christmas lights near Boston with kids — drive-through, walk-through and free displays.
Sledding and snow tubing near Boston — free hills and tubing parks, for the first snow day.
The Full Rundown
Thursday, November 5
Dinosaur Nature Explorers — Newton Free Library · Free · Ages 3–5
Friday, November 6
Ready, Set, LEGO! — Robbins Library, Arlington · Free · Ages 3+
Saturday, November 7
Signing ROCKS! with Signing Basics — Brookline Village Library · Free · All ages
Sunday, November 8
Classical Music for Babies and Kids (9:30 AM) — The Foundry, Cambridge · Free · Ages 0–5
Monday, November 9
Junk Jewelry — Medford Public Library · Free · Ages 5+
Tuesday, November 10
Kids' Machine Sewing Workshop (6:00 PM) — Medford Public Library · Free · Registration required · Ages 8–12
Little Art Lab — Cary Memorial Library, Lexington · Free · Ages 2–5
Wednesday, November 11 — Veterans Day
Free Zoo Admission for Veterans (9:00 AM–4:00 PM) — Franklin Park Zoo and Stone Zoo · Free for veterans and immediate family
See all 285 events this week → the full calendar
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Have an awesome week. Dito signing off.
