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Teaching kids to keep their heads

A A A Comments Thursday, Mar 20 2003

Teaching kids to keep their heads
If you've ever watched kids sailing up and down skate ramps, you know that, against all evidence, they believe nothing could get through their hard little skulls to damage their gray matter. Otherwise, why would anyone ever try a McTwist? At the Children's Museum of Houston's Brain Awareness Week, kids will use egg cartons, Styrofoam and cotton to create helmets for eggs. Then, the fun part: testing them out. That'll teach them to wear a helmet. Kids will also learn about the different sizes and shapes of all kinds of brains -- from human to snake. Organizers originally planned to have a cow's brain on display for the kids to touch, but that's been canceled. What a shame. Anyone with half a brain knows the kids would've lined up to see the real thing. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 22. 1500 Binz. For information, call 713-522-1138 or visit www.cmhouston.org. $5. -- Cathy Matusow

Courtesy of Moody Gardens

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A Place to Dump 'Em
At the Bayou City Art Festival, your typical adult will guzzle a few sun beers, browse the artists' booths and somehow wind up with a crappy bootleg tape of a reggae band. But kids get a chance to actually create something. Artist Ron Beller will lord over the Creative Zone, an area with kids' activities including spin art, hat painting, mask making and more obscure kid crafts such as airbrush painting and "paper marbling." Even if you don't purchase a piece of art, your kid may walk home with a personal masterpiece. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, March 21, through Sunday, March 23. Memorial Park, 6501 Memorial Drive. For information, call 713-521-0133. $7 for adults; free for kids 12 and under. -- Troy Schulze

No Hands
Parents who remember the gruesome shark attack that left a severed human hand bobbing in the water in the movie Jaws 3-D can take comfort: The new 3-D IMAX film Ocean Wonderland won't traumatize kids. Produced with the collaboration of the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Wildlife Fund, the film is part of an effort to preserve coral reef ecosystems around the world -- not scare the willies out of you. It captures the turtles, eagle rays, coral and, yes, sharks of Australia's Great Barrier Reef and the Bahamas in impressive 3-D detail. But without the body parts. 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. daily; and 6 p.m. Saturdays. 1 Hope Boulevard, Galveston. For information, call 1-800-582-4673. $7.95. -- Troy Schulze