Fun Orange County Parks — OC kids playgrounds and outdoor play ideas

Outdoor Family Events THIS Weekend

by Michele on March 11, 2010

Spring must be in the air, because there are all sorts of outdoor family events going on in Orange County this weekend. I rarely attempt calendar posts, because Kelly over at Just Spotted is the QUEEN of OC family event calendars (by the month and by the weekend). There’s just no competing with her amazing lists and links.

However, this particular weekend is so full of events, I just had to give you the outdoor update:

I’m super-excited about this one! The Orange County Department of Education runs a hands-on environmental education program called “Inside the Outdoors.” They are launching a Nature Scene Investigator (NSI) guidebook at their Get Outdoors OC event on SATURDAY, March 13th from 9am-Noon at the Shipley Nature Center in Huntington Beach Central Park.

Caspers Wilderness Park offers a return of their Adventure Days with free admission and tons of activities on Saturday from 10am-3pm. I will put up my post tomorrow on their awesome playground. It’s an amazingly scenic location of Ortega Highway and well-worth a family visit.

OrangeCountyParent.com editor, Lisa, alerted me to the Beehive Family Expo and Fair a charity event and food drive. It’s happening at the Great Park in Irvine this weekend BOTH Saturday and Sunday from 10am-5pm. If you go, say “hi” to Lisa from me. She points out a lot of the free activities in her newsletter and admission is just 2 cans of food. I just wrote about the Great Park – and the scoop on how to get there.

Pretend City is having their Way to Play Friday TOMORROW. Get your coupon on Just Spotted. Okay, this one’s technically indoors — but the focus is on play.
The Pretend City Good to Go From Head to Toe Family Wellness Fair is Saturday from 10am-4pm. This is outside in the parking lot. Lots of great stuff going on and raffles, etc.

I don’t know about you, but I see myself criss-crossing around OC this weekend, enjoying the beautiful weather and all the events our county has to offer.

RECAP:

Friday, Way to Play Day at Pretend City (2-for-1 admission coupon)
Saturday, Shipley Nature Center Get Outdoors OC from 9am-Noon (FREE)
Saturday, Caspers Wilderness Park Adventure Day from 10am-3pm (FREE)
Saturday, Pretend City Health and Wellness Fair from 10am-4pm (FREE-outside events)
Saturday AND Sunday, Beehive Family Expo and Fair from 10am-5pm (Bring 2 cans food per person for free admission)

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Play Date Nirvana

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Campfire Tales: Changing My Mind

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What if changing your mind is more than just a fleeting thought? More than just choosing spaghetti over a hamburger for dinner. What if you actually change the way you think about the world? Change the [...]

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Information Overload: March Park Updates

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We wanted to share some park updates for March 2010.
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Yorba Regional Park: Yorba Linda by Location, But In Anaheim By Address

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PLAY AREAS NEAR PARKING LOT 3
Location: Turns out [...]

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Superhero Playlist: You Don’t Need Superpowers to Be Super

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This Superhero Music Playlist should inspire little imaginations. I love that my 8 year old son came up with the title for this post. I can’t tell you how excited he gets when I make a new playlist. I’m a music fanatic. I must have been a DJ in another life! At every stage of [...]

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Pretend City’s “Good to Go from Head to Toe” Open Invitation

February 25, 2010

You may have seen my post about Pretend City housing an initiative called: “Good to Go from Head to Toe.” At the time I wrote that post, I hadn’t visited the museum yet. My kids were thrilled when we were invited to learn more about the initiative and the activities at the Museum.
Way to Play [...]

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Great Park: Balloon Rising With High Expectations

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The Great Park with it’s great orange balloon and great PR is currently little more than a glorified parking lot. This incarnation of the park is called the “Preview Park.” It’s designed to give you a glimpse of what’s to come. Upon its completion, this metropolitan park will be almost double the size of New [...]