This Saturday, families with young children are invited to a fun and educational event: the Parent Infant Center, which provides early learning and after school care for infants to grade 6 and is dedicated to promoting literacy and pre-literacy as a family activity, is organizing a Family Book Fest at the Rotunda (40th & Walnut). This is a free event and open to the public from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

There will be lots of reading, crafts and other family fun activities for ages 7-under. WXPN’s Kathy O’Connell, host of Kids’ Corner, will join in with read-aloud stories, followed by a concert with Two of a Kind.

Bring a slightly used children’s book for the swap table and take home some new stories to share with your family.

Here’s a couple of fun pumpkin carving and decorating events taking place in the neighborhood this weekend:

“Build it Bus” for pumpkin carving at Clark Park

Saturday Oct. 27, 1:00-2:00 pm

Woodland Presbyterian Church is hosting a Fall pumpkin carving and craft time in Clark Park. The “Build it Bus” will be there too! The bus is a place where kids can come and use woodworking tools to carve the pumpkins and make crafts. The first 50 to arrive will get pumpkins to take home with them. Look for the converted paratransit bus in the parking lot by the soccer field between 1 and 2 pm.

Pumpkin Day at Vineyard Community Church

Sunday Oct. 28, 1:00-4:00 pm

If you are looking for something fun and free to do this upcoming Sunday with your family, check out the annual Pumpkin Day event hosted by Vineyard Community Church. Due to the forecast calling for rain, it’ll be indoors, in the new church building located at 123 S. 51st Street.  If by chance the weather is gorgeous, the event will be held at Malcolm X Park (52nd & Pine). There will be plenty of fun things to do that involve all things fall, including pumpkin decorating, face-painting, fall crafts, jewelry making, games and prizes, and yummy fall treats!

This Saturday, Penn Museum celebrates the National Archaeology Day and invites folks of all ages for an afternoon filled with fun and adventures. A host of adventurous activities honor the fictional explorer-archaeologist Professor Henry Walton Jones (aka Indiana Jones). Here’s what will be happening at the museum tomorrow from 1 to 4 p.m.:

Guests to Indiana Jones Day can join in a What in the World? game show; hear real archaeology adventure stories from a world-traveling National Geographic archaeologist; take part in a hands-on program using archaeology to solve a mystery; and even touch a real ancient mummy (without a curse!). Kids and families can take a literal “run in Indy’s footsteps” in an outdoor obstacle course, make Indy-inspired arts and crafts, follow a scavenger hunt for (not so) hidden treasures, and try movie-inspired cuisine (monkey brains, anyone?).

This is a free event with Penn Museum admission ($12 for adults; $10 for seniors [65+]; $8 for full-time students [with ID] and children [6-17]; and free for children under 6). Visitors wearing an Indiana Jones-style fedora receive $2 off the price of admission!

Indiana Jones Day is cosponsored by The Philadelphia Chapter of the Archaeological Institute of America. For more information about the event, visit this page.

Tangle Movement Arts was back with their “tinycircus” at the Go West! Craft Fest yesterday at The Woodlands cemetery. This saucy performance on the silks was a particular hit with the kids in attendance.

If you own some scary or creepy books or books with themes like fall, Halloween, harvest, leaves, pumpkins, etc., you can donate them for this cool Halloween event. This year, All Hallow’s Read is organizing a book hunt for spooky books hidden in Woodlands Cemetery. The event will take place on Saturday, Oct 20. After the hunt, there will be an opportunity to read the books and share them. The idea of All Hallow’s Read was created by author Neil Gaiman, who suggested that people should give each other scary books on or around Halloween.

There are several locations in West Philly where you can drop off your books:

Walnut West Library (40th and Walnut) – drop your book in the regular donation box
Lucien E. Blackwell Regional Library (52nd and Chestnut) – donation box is located in the children’s section
Locust Moon Comics and Movies (34 S. 40th Street)
Bindlestiff Books (4530 Baltimore Ave)
House of Our Own (3920 Spruce Street)
Woodlands Mansion (40th and Woodland Ave)

Donations are accepted through October 15. For more information and to learn about how else you can help at this event, please visit this page.

Here’s some exciting news for our little neighbors. Crossroads Music, located at Calvary Center (48th and Baltimore), is now offering free monthly music programs for kids under 12 and their parents/caregivers. The first program is on Saturday, Sept. 15 (see more info below). All programs begin at 6 p.m. and last 30-40 minutes. Seating is first come, first served.

Saturday, September 15
Duende Musical (pictured)
Music from Spain and Latin America

Sunday, October 14
AquaAria
Folk music from Italy

Sunday, December 2
Kaïssa
West African music

Sunday, December 16
Shtreiml
Klezmer

Sunday, January 27
Peter Tang Ensemble
Music from China

NOTE: Funding for children’s programs comes from the Union Benevolent association – please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to help keep these events accessible to all children in the community.