Here’s an assortment of events taking place in the neighborhood this weekend (May 3-6). For more events, visit our “Happenings” section.

• Saturday & Sunday, 10am – 4pm – “MAYA 2012: Lords of Time” Exhibition Opening Celebration, Penn Museum (3260 South Street)

This is one of the biggest and most anticipated exhibitions of the year. The opening celebration features Maya music and dance, arts and crafts and cultural traditions from Mexico and Central America. All celebration activities are open to the public with MAYA 2012 tickets or with general admission to the Penn Museum. Click here for more information on opening weekend programs.

•  Sunday, noon – 4pm – Dock Street BIG Bottle Release Party, Dock Street Brewery (50th & Baltimore)

Dock Street Brewery celebrates the release of an array of limited, naturally-carbonated beers in 750ml Champagne format. Only 12 cases will be released and available for sale on Sunday. Apart from the beer, there will be live music by Shakey Lyman (classic old school blues) and Dock Street will be preparing slices of pizza all afternoon. For more information, visit this page.

• Friday & Saturday, 10am – 3pm – Philadelphia Children’s Festival, Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts (3680 Walnut Street)

The 28th annual Philadelphia International Children’s Festival features family-friendly music, theatre and dance performances, as well as a host of fun and interactive activities in the Fun Zone on the Outdoor Plaza including crafts, face painting, jugglers and more. Individual tickets are $10 and include access to the Fun Zone. For more information on the shows and to buy tickets, click here.

• Thursday, Friday & Saturday – 8pm – The Tempest; Saturday – 1pm – Kid Curio and The Improv Avengers, Curio Theatre (4740 Baltimore Ave)

Curio Theatre presents shows for adults and children alike this weekend. The second week of Shakespeare’s The Tempest begins tonight at 8 p.m. and on Saturday bring your little ones to Kid Curio, an interactive show where kids don’t just come and watch the show, but are part of the action. Tickets for both shows are available here.

May Fair is next Saturday, May 12, and organizers are looking for volunteers to assist with the Children’s Games component of the fair, which is a lot of fun.

At least 25 volunteers are needed. The fair will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the day will be split into two-hour intervals for each volunteer. The children’s activities include a bounce tent, an obstacle course and games.

For more information and to sign up, contact Mark Young of Spruce Hill Community Association at: yark.moung@gmail.com

For more information about the fair, go to Spruce Hill Community Association’s website.

Here’s a sampling of events scheduled in the neighborhood this weekend. For more upcoming events, visit our Happenings page.

• The Woodlands is hosting a Science Scavenger Hunt this Sunday, April 29, as part of the Philadelphia Science week. The beehives will be opening every half hour, the archaeologist will have artifacts from the greenhouse site for kids to sift through, and the Academy of Natural Sciences will have dinosaur fossils (including fossilized dinosaur poop) at paleontologist Ferdinand Vanidiveer Hayden’s grave site. Also UC Green will be there with tree related activities, seed planting at the community garden, and last, but not least, the College of Physicians will have a Civil War Medical Kit and information on Satterlee Hospital at the grave site of Jacob Mendez DaCosta.

• Also on Sunday, at 7:30 p.m. Crossroads Music presents Cobalt Blues Band performing “Pumped-Up” Chicago & Delta style blues. The concert is preceded by a free children’s program at 6 p.m. with Cobalt Blues’ singer Joe Becton (pictured), who will demonstrate African American musical styles from their origins to the present day. Both events will take place at the Calvary Church (48th & Baltimore). For more information and to purchase tickets ($5-15), go here.

• On Saturday, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. St. Mary’s Nursery School is hosting an adults-only cocktail reception at the LGBT Center at Penn (3930 Irving St). It is open to community members. Proceeds from this event will go to upgrade the school’s playground equipment and to improve classroom spaces. Tickets are $30 in advance and a limited number of tickets will be available at the door. Click on the flyer for more information.

West Philly resident Michael Froehlich and his 2-year-old daughter Zora love playgrounds. No wait, they really love playgrounds.

What began as the occasional bicycle excursion from their home on 48th Street to nearby playgrounds like Malcolm X. Park has turned into a full-on quest to document a bunch of playgrounds in this part of the city – 31 playgrounds in all.

“We went a little overboard,” said Froehlich, a legal aid attorney.

The result, the website zoraplays, is an invaluable guide to playgrounds that includes photos of equipment, sketches of the playground’s layout and a map showing the location. Each playground was within a mile of their home.

Froehlich said he and Zora’s goal is to help convince people that there is fun beyond the usual spots like Clark Park and Cedar Park.

“I hope that this project will show people that there are a lot of great playgrounds in our community so they should get on their bicycles and ride out and explore them,” he said.

The big question, of course, is which is Zora’s fav?

“I’d like to say that Zora has developed a discerning eye for quality playgrounds,” said Froehlich. “But the truth is that she loves all playgrounds. Tall slides, wide slides, single slides, double slides: she digs them all with the same gusto.”

As for Froehlich himself? “Malcolm X. Park,” he said. “There’s so much there.”

 
– Emma Eisenberg contributed to this story

There are a few Easter egg hunts being held in the neighborhood this and next weekend. If you know of any others, please drop us a line at: editor [at] westphillylocal.com

Saturday, March 31, 3:30 p.m. – Parent Infant Center lawn (42nd & Locust)
This egg hunt is organized by the Woodland Presbyterian Church. Eggs filled with candies and a chance to win prizes for the little ones to hunt!

Saturday, April 7, 1 p.m. – Walnut Street West Library (40th & Walnut)
Children will receive books and stuffed animals. There will be an egg hunt for very young children in an area separate from the older children.

Saturday, April 7, 3 p.m. – Clark Park (43rd & Chester)
For kids ages 0-8. Rain or shine. The event is free, but the egg hunt spaces are limited. There will be crafts and refreshments for everyone and a raffle prize at the end. There will also be a couple of bunnies to see and pet.

Saturday, April 7, 4 p.m. – St. Mary’s Church (3916 Locust Walk)
On the Nursery School steps (West side). All children and their families are welcome. This is a BYO basket event.

There is space available in the spring Clark Park Youth Soccer Program. Kathleen Turner, the program coordinator, has sent us this information:

“Clark Park Youth Soccer still has space at all age levels — 5 to 11 — for more kids. We’d be very happy to have more girls to balance out the teams, so if there are any future Abby Wambachs or Alex Morgans out there, sign them up!

You can still download registration forms, but please do not mail them! Walk-in registration to fill the remaining slots on all teams will take place Saturday, March 24 beginning at 10 a.m., at Rosenberger Hall (43rd Street near the basketball court).”

For more information about the soccer program, including the Spring schedule and fees, visit: http://www.friendsofclarkpark.org/?page_id=58