This week you can take your dad for a free tour of the World Golf Hall of Fame or take your tot to a special painting session at Paisley Grace Designs just in time for Father’s Day. You can also catch a minor league ballgame, a Broadway show visiting Jax (Cinderella!) or check out an amateur radio field day in Home Depot’s parking lot.
Read about these events and more in this week’s Top 10 list of local family-friendly events, but don’t forget there are MANY more events for your family on Amelia Island, in Jacksonville and beyond:
What’s new on Mamamelia.com:
Looking for affordable private swim lessons for your kids? Swim Amelia Swim offers lessons in this pool on Amelia Island.
- Introducing Swim Amelia Swim! We hear so often from parents asking where they can get private swim lessons for their kids. This business, owned by a woman with over 50 years experience teaching swimming, offers lessons on the island for all ages, from 6 months to 100+, including special needs instruction. Read our Q and A with Swim Amelia Swim owner Patricia Sheppard here.
- Still looking for camps? Our 2017 Amelia Island Area Summer Camps roundup will give you one handy place to consider the many available camps. Check out the current list here. Just be advised, the best of the best fill up FAST.
- Kid-Friendly Movies are Back for the Summer! See our full directory of kid-friendly movies offered cheap all summer in Fernandina, St. Marys and Jax all summer here.
- Paw Patrol LIVE is coming to Jax July 1 and 2! Get the details on the show AND our $5 discount code to Paw Patrol: “Race to the Rescue” here. Stay tuned — we’ll be giving away 2 tickets to the show later this month!
- Save the date! The Patriotic Express will be offering open air train car rides pulled by a steam locomotive on July 4. See famous characters from history and enjoy a fun ride. Kids 2 and under free! Learn more about this open air train ride in St. Marys here.
- Amelia Music Studio, off Island Walkway in Fernandina, in offering “test drive” piano lessons. If you’re considering piano lessons for your little one, but not quite sure you’re ready to commit to a weekly time and the cost of books and your own keyboard, Amelia Music Studio’s Carrie Anderson Mays invites you to a special opportunity to sample lessons. She’ll provide all materials, you just provide the little one for two brief (30 minute) lessons to find out whether it’s a good fit. These test-drive lessons are available select weeks in June and July. Learn more at ameliamusicstudio.com/piano-explorers.
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Mamamelia’s Top 10 Event Picks for the Week Ahead
1) 10 a.m. Saturday: Toddler Time at Paisley Grace Designs / Fernandina Beach
Paisley Grace Designs believes that nurturing creativity is one of the most important things you can do for your child, BUT Creativity is MESSY! So to help you keep the mess out of your home, they are opening up TODDLER TIME. Recommended for ages 2-6 (but YOU know your child- so ages won’t be strictly enforced). Register for this Saturday to make a special gift for dad just in time for Father’s Day. Learn more and register at paisleygracedesigns.com.
2) 11:30-2:30 next Thursday, June 22: Peterbrooke Chocolatier for a Day Camp / Fernandina Beach
Become a chocolatier for a day at Peterbrooke Chocolatier for a Day Camp!
– Learn about chocolate.
– Make some chocolate treats.
– Package them into a gift box.
– Pizza for lunch and Gelato for dessert.
$48 per person, reservations required.
(904) 277-0162
3) 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, June 16: Pop with Pops at Chick-fil-A / Yulee
Looking for the perfect Celebration to honor your Dad? Reserve a spot for You & your POPS (dad, granddad, husband…) to enjoy your favorite Chick-fil-A meal along with an old fashioned Coke- or Root Beer- Float for $7. Great food, FUN & sweet memories guaranteed at this special event, Pop with Pops…Celebrating the Coolest Pops June 16th! Registration required — sign up here.
4) 6 p.m. Saturday: Callahan Speedway Go-Kart Races / Callahan
Every Saturday Night at 6 p.m., Callahan Speedway hosts exciting go-kart races. Come sit in the grandstands and enjoy the show! Admission is $10 (ages 6 years & Under FREE). For information on getting started in Cart Racing, call 904-254-7085.
5) Now through Sunday, June 18: Broadway in Jacksonville: Cinderella / Jacksonville
Rodgers + Hammerstein’s CINDERELLA, the Tony Award®- winning Broadway musical, is showing for a limited time at the Times Union Center for the Performing Arts in Jax. This lush production features an incredible orchestra, jaw-dropping transformations and all the moments you love—the pumpkin, the glass slipper, the masked ball and more—plus some surprising new twists! Tickets range from about $39 to $85, or $100 for tickets + Cinderella Brunch. Details at fscjartistseries.org.
Showtimes are:
- 7:30 p.m. tonight, June 15
- 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June 16
- 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, June 17
- 1:30 and 7 p.m. Sunday, June 18
6) Kids’ Movie Matinee Deals / Fernandina Beach, St. Marys and Jacksonville
Every summer, local movie theatres offer a great deal on kids’ movies that they show early on weekday mornings. It’s a fun way to get out of the heat and have a “date” with your little one! See the details and showtimes at local theatres for the whole summer here. This week’s highlights are:
- B&B Theatres Summer Kids Series in Fernandina Beach, $3 per-person, 10 a.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays:
- June 15 (this morning): Storks Batman
- Next Tuesday-Thursday, June 20-22: Trolls
- Kings Bay Cinemas Summer Kid Show Series in St. Marys, $1.50 admission, $1.50 drinks, $1.50 Website popcorn, 10 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays
- June 15 (this morning): Trolls
- Next Tuesday-Thursday, June 20 and 22: Kung Fu Panda 3
- Regal Cinemas Summer Movie Express in Jacksonville, $1 admission, 10 a.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays:
- Next Tuesday and Wednesday, June 20 and 21: Monster Trucks and Penguins of Madagascar
7) 12 to 6 p.m. Sunday: FREE Fathers’ Day Admission for all at World Golf Hall of Fame / St. Augustine
Everyone gets in free this Sunday at the World Golf Hall of Fame in celebration of Father’s Day. Dads also get a free round of golf on the putting course. Learn more at this link.
8) All Weekend: Amateur Radio Field Day at Home Depot / Yulee
During an international amateur radio field day, Nassau County’s Amateur Radio Emergency Services Organization will “set up shop” Saturday and Sunday in the Home Depot parking lot. They will be operating amateur radio station W4NAS, makig contacts throughout the world through this treasured –and now old-fashioned- means of communications. Visitors are welcome to stop by or contact Bud Sinor at bud@k3off.com for more information.
9) Now through Sunday, June 15-18:Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp Games/ Jacksonville
Jacksonville’s newly-renamed Minor League Baseball twill be in action this week with several home games. Learn more about the games and how to get tickets at jaxshrimp.com. Friday nights are fireworks after the game, Sundays kids run the bases. Game times against the Blue Wahoos are:
- 7:05 p.m. today and Friday
- 6:05 p.m. Saturday
- 3:05 p.m. Sunday
10) Daily May 27 to Sept. 10: Dinosaurs in Motion at the MOSH / Jacksonville
Dinosaur lovers, get ready! You’re going to love the Dinosaurs in Motion exhibit on display at Jacksonville’s Museum of Science and History now through Sept. 10, 2017. The interactive exhibit includes 14 majestic life-sized metal dinosaurs that actually move. These dinosaur sculptures were inspired by real fossils. This interactive STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Mathematics) exhibition will virtually bring the dinos your kids have been learning about to life. Learn more at themosh.org. You can also view our review of Jacksonville’s MOSH here.
PLUS: Don’t forget
6 p.m. Friday: Amelia Island Museum of History Ghost Tour / Fernandina Beach
Guests on this tour will learn Amelia Island ghost stories as they tiptoe through dark streets and walk in the footsteps of a bygone era as the past comes alive through the skillful storytelling of your guide. This tour begins at 6 PM every Friday and lasts approximately one hour. Meet your guide in the cemetery behind St. Peters Episcopal church located at 801 Atlantic Avenue. Tickets may be purchased at the Museum for $10.00/adults and $5.00/students or before the tour from the guide with check or cash only. Open to all ages. Contact Thea Seagraves | thea@ameliamuseum.org | 904-261-7378, x. 105.
Various times daily: Campground Critters Show at the Zoo / Jacksonville
Join Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens for its all-new rescue animal show featuring dogs and cats, ducks and macaws, and a few surprise animals. The show lasts about 20 minutes and features a meet-and-greet with human and animal stars after the show. Tickets are $3 for members and $4 for non-members. Campground Critters is included on Value Tickets and Member Value bands. Show is weather permitting. Offered 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m.daily with an additional 4:30 p.m. show on weekends. Read our review of Jacksonville Zoo here.
Don’t forget this is just a roundup of our top 10 local family-friendly events. There are many more events listed in our special events calendar. Thanks for reading! ~ Mamamelia
Do you know about an event that should be on Mamamelia’s calendar? Tell us about it! This website is managed by busy moms on a bare-bones budget, so it’s a huge help when folks drop us a note about an event when it’s not already on the calendar. If you hear about a great local family-friendly event, send us an email at info@mamamelia.com, message us on Facebook or use the “Submit an Event” link on the website to make sure it gets added to the calendar.
A special thank you to all of the sponsors who help keep Mamamelia going! Please consider using these great local businesses, including:
- Two Sisters Travel Agency: Whether you’re planning the trip of a lifetime or a quick family getaway, Ginger Joiner can help you find the deals and details that will make it spectacular.
- Surf Asylum: This fantastic Amelia Island-based business empowers boys and girls to learn to surf and understand water safety, as the two must go hand-in-hand. Offerings include lessons, summer camp, birthday parties and more!
- Krisit Garber, Licensed Realtor, Berkshire Hathaway Homesource Chaplin Williams Realty. Call 904-335-7512 or visit kristi.chaplinwilliams.com to talk about your real estate needs in the Fernandina Beach area.
