This weekend is a mixed bag of summer fun. Take in an outdoor kids’ concert at Wolf Trap, set a lantern adrift at National Harbor, score free admission at the Maryland Science Center or enjoy a hike with a naturalist. Want to keep it easy and enjoy your own backyard? We have ideas for that, too!
photo: iStock
Shine On with the Water Lantern Festival
As the sun begins to set, the Water Lantern Festival lights up the night with hundreds of lanterns. Get ready to set your own lantern adrift and illuminate the Potomac River with messages of love, happiness and hope. It’s a night that you and your family will never forget. Sat.-Sun. Event details.
Get Cave-like with The Croods
Check out Alamo Drafthouse Cinema’s Kid Camp all summer long for $3 movies. This weekend’s feature is The Croods, a Dreamworks animated cartoon about a caveman family’s family to find a new home. Sun. Event details.
Beat the Heat
Turn your backyard into the family fun zone with one of these awesome backyard games. From a water balloon piñata to an epic game of squirt gun soccer, we rounded up 25 of our favorite summer games. Activity Details.
Cast Off
Fri. nights were made for fishing! You can borrow all the gear you need to catch-and-release fish with the Anacostia Riverkeepers. Fri. Event details.
Score Free Tix at the Maryland Science Center
The Maryland Science Center is free this weekend for all Bank of America customers. Simply present your card for access to this awesome hands-on museum in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. Sat.-Sun. Event details.
Sing in the Woods
Longtime bassist for They Might Be Giants, Danny Weinkauf, along with his award-winning Red Pants Band, brings rollicking, family-friendly tunes to Wolf Trap. This performance is guaranteed to get kids dancing and singing along to clever songs from his new albums, ranging from “Dinosaurs on Roller Skates” to “Your Love is a Metaphor.” Sat. Event details.
Get Batty
Join a naturalist for a night hike to search for bats with a sonar detector and learn about bat adaptations, get crafty with some bat-themed projects and end the night with a campfire, s’mores and the legend of how bats came to be. Sat. Event details.
—Meghan Yudes Meyers
