The year 2020 has certainly been anything but typical when it comes to children's learning. With schools closing early in the spring because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a slow and troubled start to online learning in Fairfax County, and instructional plans for the fall (and maybe all of the 2020-2021 academic year) still undetermined, parents are looking for ways to supplement their children's learning however they can. Those with elementary Continue Reading...
USA Science and Engineering Festival returns to DC
UPDATE 3/12/20: Events cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic By Patricia Hall, FairfaxFamilyFun.com The USA Science & Engineering Festival, which bills itself as the largest event of its kind in the United States, kicked off in 2010. Ten years later, we've got some updates, and they are of the "good news, bad news" (and yet more good news) kind. First, the good news: the biennial two-day expo happens on the even-numbered years, which Continue Reading...
Beyond a touch-a-truck: VDOT Incident Management Open House
By Patricia Hall, Fairfax Family Fun Kids (and adults!) love trucks, and touch-a-truck events in Northern Virginia are plentiful and popular. Beyond learning about trucks and industry vehicles and what they do, you can learn about what it takes to keep traffic flowing and how local agencies coordinate emergency work by attending the annual Incident Management Open House. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) hosts this event to Continue Reading...
Escape Velocity: fun STEAM learning in a sci-fi realm
Want an "out of this world" experience? Enjoy one this weekend without leaving Planet Earth -- or even the metro DC area -- by attending Escape Velocity! The annual three-day event celebrating science fiction returns to National Harbor in Maryland (across from Old Town Alexandria in Virginia) Memorial Day weekend, May 24-26, 2019. The event is a futuristic world’s fair to promote informal STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and Continue Reading...
Light City Baltimore festival to set the Inner Harbor aglow
By Patricia Hall, FairfaxFamilyFun.com Baltimore always makes for fun trip. With so much to do, it's a great place for families to visit. Here you can enjoy numerous museums, historic spots, the Baltimore Aquarium, ship tours, and more. And now you have an added incentive: Light City Baltimore, a free nine-day free festival of light, music, and innovation, starting March 31, 2017. The festival, which made its debut in 2016, is the first Continue Reading...
STEM fun rules at Maker Faire NoVa
By Patricia Hall, FairfaxFamilyFun.com Who didn't love "show and tell" as a kid? If you especially liked presentations that involved something someone conceived and created, you'll love the grown-up version of show-and-tell: the Maker Faire that returns to Northern Virginia later this month. Whether it involves technology or textiles, computers or crafts, if it's something you can think of and something you can make you probably will find it Continue Reading...
