April Vacation Event Mega-Roundup
OH HEY, APRIL VACATION! We’ve assembled a massive roundup of events to carry you from the start to finish of the vacation break! The first section includes recurring events (ordered by time window), then we break it out by date (ordered alphabetically by town). Enjoy! Also, I wanted to let you know about two things that are happening on April 28 to benefit the amazing Boston Children’s Hospital (where Violet receives her allergy care!). If you need a haircut, book an appointment April 28th at salon participating in the Boston Children’s Hospital’s HAIRraising cut-a-thon and the salon will donate funds to Boston Children’s Hospital’s amazing Heart Center! And if you love yoga, register to participate in (or donate to) Yoga Reaches Out, which will benefit Boston Children’s Hospital’s Wellness Program.
Recurring Events
Through April 14: The Revere Spring Carnival features rides, games, food, and a petting zoo (Revere)
April 14-21: Make Egyptian accessories, inscribe clay tablets, decode hieroglyphics, and more to explore arts from the ancient Near East (Cambridge)
April 15-19: Go wild with a week of special vacation activities at the Franklin Park Zoo or Stone Zoo (Boston, Stoneham)
April 15-20: Tinytropolis returns to the Discovery Musuems so children can design, build, and explore a mini-city constructed completely out of cardboard and creativity (Acton)
April 16-19: It’s Earth Week at the Mary Baker Eddy Library Mapparium, which means interactive workshops and fun activities (Boston)
April 16-19: Make art, enjoy performances, go on a family walk, listen to spellbinding stories, and enjoy a variety of vacation week drop-in activities at the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston)
April 16-19: Stop by the John Cabot House Drop In Crafts program to make magic wands and masquerade masks (Beverly)
April 16-20: Patriot Place provides a plethora of free programs for April Vacation, including a mini Olympic Games, art-making, Earth Day activities, game parties, and more (Foxborough)
April 17-19: Explore the deCordova and participate in free art-making programs (Lincoln)
April 17-21: From storytelling to music, to puppets and puppies, different activities pop up each day during the Boston Children’s Museum April Vacation Week (Boston)
Through April 21: The Peabody Museum hosts a plethora of interactive programs for April Vacation Week like hieroglyph rubbings and scavenger hunts (Cambridge)
Through April 21: The Cambridge Science Festival offers more than 200 free events, from science comedy and trivia to live podcasts, the Science Carnival, Robot Zoo, and more (Cambridge, Various Locations)
Through April 21: Stop by the Children’s Museum of Easton for vacation week programs like live animal experiences, fun with FrankenSTEAM, airbrush tattoos, special guests, and more (North Easton)
Selected days through April 21: Bass Pro Shops offer free Easter craft activities (Foxborough)
Weekends, now through April 21: Be sure to visit with the sanctuary animals when you join in the Annual Easter Egg Hunt at Winslow Farm Animal Sanctuary (Norton)
Through April 29: The Big Apple Circus comes to town (Peabody)
Through May 4: Explore the world of Comics, Heroes, Myths, and Tales at the Boston Children’s Museum (Boston)
Through May 5: Discover the weird and wonderful world of animal “superpowers” at the Museum of Science temporary exhibit Nature’s Superheroes: Life at the Limits (Boston)
Through May 12: Take part in a Spring Bunny Quest while searching for signs of spring (Walpole)
Weekend of April 13-14
Once again, it’s time for CraftBoston and its 90 local and national craft artists (Boston)
Boston Marathon Fan Fest features live music, returning champions, activity stations, and a race weekend clinic (Boston)
Puppet Showplace Theater stages a performance of The Pied Piper of Hamelin (Brookline)
Head to the Concord Museum for Patriot’s Day Weekend Fun and watch re-enactments, listen to gallery talks, make pocket portraits, write with a quill and ink, and enjoy dances, music, art-making, and lots of activities (Concord)
Check out the New England Folk Festival for dance, music, crafts, and food from all over the world (Mansfield)
Uncover Vernal Pool Mysteries and visit with the creatures who live in them like frogs, salamanders, and fairy shrimp (Milton)
Enjoy ice cream, scenic hayrides with the Easter Bunny, and an egg hunt at the Westview Farms Creamery (Monson)
Saturday, April 13
Mil’s Trills creates joyful, interactive musical shows that empower young audiences with collaborative songwriting and more (Beverly)
The Museum of Science Boston Marathon Days explores the science of what it takes to train for a long distance race through interpretations with museum staff, guest speakers, and human biology related exhibits (Boston)
The Swan Boats return to the Boston Public Garden for the season (Boston)
Play-test 32 physically interactive electronic games focused on the themes of paleontology, time travel, superheroes, and mystery animal rescue at Northeastern Fun Labs (Boston)
Kids can create civic art projects, exchange ideas about making the world more inclusive, and work together to design a playground that is welcoming to all during Count Me In: A Special Democracy Day Just for Kids (Boston)
Meet the artist and explore the interplay of Wind, Waves, and Light when this kinetic sculpture exhibit opens (Boylston)
Hang with the Easter Bunny, find prize eggs, and more at the Old Colony YMCA Easter Egg Hunt (Brockton)
Catch Fantastic Mr. Fox on a big screen (Brookline)
Hunt for 5,000 eggs decorated to look like forest creatures that are hidden throughout 86 acres of trails, plus find prize eggs, the Easter Bunny, food, face painting, live animals, and more when the Capen Hill Nature Sanctuary hosts its annual Great Egg Hunt (Charlton)
Lawn games, Easter relays, an Easter egg hunt, and more await at Farm Pond Park (Framingham)
Take advantage of free admission for families at the Cape Ann Museum (Gloucester)
Enjoy a hearty breakfast and welcome the Easter Bunny’s arrival by fire truck at Maple Corner Farm before hunting for eggs in the field next to the sugarhouse (Granville)
Meet the cows, take in a cow tale, and take a tour of the milking barn at Appleton Farms (Ipswich)
Make bread and butter from scratch (Ipswich)
Attend this Galileo Star Party for a fun, educational performance to learn about astronomy, then head outside for a fire circle and s’mores (Lincoln)
The Wachusett Meadow Sheep & Wool Festival showcases shearing demonstrations, activities for kids like felting, finger knitting, weaving, and sewing, plus a StoryWalk, local crafters, and refreshments (Princeton)
KERPLUNK! is a create-your-own-adventure show where the audience calls all the shots, from the name of the show to the decisions that characters make (Somerville)
Bring a basket and dress for the weather for this Easter Egg Hunt and visit with the Easter Bunny (Sterling)
Join the Easter Bunny for an Easter egg hunt tea party, egg decorating, story time, and dancing (Swampscott)
Take in Laika, a puppet play about the first ever animal to orbit the earth (Waltham)
Find hot dogs, snacks, bounce houses, face painting, crafts, games, and of course, thousands of candy-filled eggs at the Westborough Family Fun Day and Easter Egg Hunt (Westborough)
Find and decorate real eggs that are hidden throughout the McCue Garden Center (Woburn)
Sunday, April 14
King Arthur and the Magic of Merlin brings classic tales to life through dance (Andover)
Grind the flour, knead the dough, and bake the matzah in a stone oven at this Model Matzah Bakery event for kids (Boston)
Enjoy an interactive, musical storytime led by musicians from New England Conservatory (Boston)
Take a family-friendly tour of the Full Craft Museum and enjoy creative hands-on gallery activities (Brockton)
Get ready for Passover by painting a Matza Plate or Cup of Elijah (Canton)
Meet the minister who sparked a revolution, his grandson who inspired the Transcendental Movement, and the artists, musicians, and scientists who called the Old Manse home during this Home to Two Revolutions Tour (Concord)
Decorate eggs at the Eliot School of Fine & Applied Arts, then hunt for toy- and candy-filled plastic eggs on the Loring Greenough House lawn (Jamaica Plain)
Don’t miss this Patriots Day Handbell Concert (Lexington)
Take a free tennis lesson, no equipment needed (Roxbury)
Hear a creative telling of the Passover story, then visit Investigation Stations to create innovative Passover-related science experiments (Sharon)
Experience the ancient art of "Shmura Matzah" baking as you bake your own Matzah, enjoy Passover arts and crafts, participate in a model seder, and meet Moses and Pharoah (Sudbury)
Monday, April 15
Cheer for the runners at the Boston Marathon (Boston)
Young chefs can learn to bake cupcakes with Chef Cleo (Boston)
Stop by this year’s Patriots Day Parade (Boston)
Celebrate Marathon Monday by striding through this children’s marathon challenge course (Boston)
Take part in The Muppet Movie Singalong (Cambridge)
The Concord Parade begins in town center and travels to North Bridge for a battle reenactment of “the shot heard ‘round the world” (Concord)
Head outside for a Fruitlands Scavenger Hunt Challenge (Harvard)
Support local youth organizations during a Sunrise Youth Parade (Lexington)
Enjoy crafts, stories, and seed planting, then head out to hunt for eggs during an Egg-cellent Garden Adventure at Stevens-Coolidge Place (North Andover)
Head to this intergenerational Model Matzah Bakery and learn to make deceptively simple crackers from scratch (Stoughton)
Listen to the peal of bells, the stirring beat of drums, and the thrilling call of the fife as the Sturbridge Militia musters in the countryside at Old Sturbridge Village (Sturbridge)
Tuesday, April 16
Embark on a virtual reality tour of space, build rockets and model satellites, hear from experts in the field, launch a high altitude weather balloon, and code microcontrollers (Cambridge)
Discover what life was like for a child living long ago by enjoying Colonial Adventures for Kids (Duxbury)
Sing and dance along when Sunny Train performs (Foxboro)
Stop by Jungle Jim’s Harry Potter Hogwarts Academy Training to learn magic, play Quidditch, and more (Jamaica Plain)
Go on a Revolutionary Scavenger Hunt (Lexington)
Learn all about owls (Lincoln)
Wednesday, April 17
Hang out in the Leventhal Map Center to play map games, explore puzzles, and participate in hands-on activities throughout the day (Boston)
A Woodland Cinderella opens at Puppet Showplace Theater (Brookline)
Take in a new multimedia Earth Month art exhibit addressing the theme “Embracing Diversity in a Climate of Change” (Concord)
Mike the Bubble Man performs (Dracut)
Attend this Kids’ Reenactment of the Battle of Lexington (Lexington)
Thursday, April 18
Make magic wands and masquerade masks at this drop-in crafts program (Beverly)
Take a kids cooking class and learn to make Veggie Pot Pies (Boston)
Enjoy Peter Rabbit Tales at Puppet Showplace Theater (Brookline)
Learn about Twenty Years of Science with the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, then enjoy telescopic observation at the Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysics Observatory Night (Cambridge)
Meet a Scientist and explore what research reveals about life and our planet (Cambridge)
Team up with the Bug Brigade, because it’s time for a bug hunt scavenger hunt through Stevens-Coolidge Place (North Andover)
Friday, April 19
Join this annual Public Community Passover Seder (Arlington)
Head out for an Easter Egg Hunt around Christopher Columbus Park (Boston)
Take a telescopic peek at the stars, planets, Moon, and other astronomical phenomena at the Museum of Science Astronomy After Hours program (Boston)
Stop by Storytime at the Curious George Store (Cambridge)
Learn about the little folk of the woodlands, hear stories of their mischief, explore their woodland, build fairy houses, then make and take home a fairy wand when Fruitlands once again hosts a Fairy Festival (Harvard)
Hand-baked matzah, fine wines, singing, and a festive holiday dinner make these Passover Community Seders memorable (Natick)
Enjoy half-off admission and lots of fun activities and entertainment when the EcoTarium hosts an Earth Day Festival (Worcester)
Saturday, April 20
Critter Day gives kids the chance to get up close with exotic and familiar animals (Boston)
Explore Loud and Quiet Sounds through experiential art-making activities at this month’s MFA Playdate (Boston)
This Passover Program for Families with Young Children features a special musical program with Wayne Potash, a Matzah brei cookoff, and more (Boston)
Elmo teams up with Abby and magician extraordinaire Justin as they learn the “power of yet,” the lesson of perseverance no matter what stands between you and your dream, for Sesame Street Live: Make Your Magic (Boston)
Take a look at lunar rock and soil samples, explore historical objects that aided NASA’s Apollo missions, and more to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first humans landing on the moon (Cambridge)
Rideout Playground plays host to three different eggs hunts for kids of various ages, plus games, crafts, the Easter Bunny, refreshments, and more (Concord)
Go fly a kite at the Fruitlands Earth Day Kite Festival (Harvard)
Head to Barnes and Noble for bunnies and stories (Framingham)
Appleton Farms invites families to go on an “Egg-cellent” Easter Adventure, including a special Easter Egg Quest, a chance to try your hand at candling eggs, face painting, treats, games, and baby bunnies, sheep, and goats (Ipswich)
Join this Earth Day Beach Cleanup (Ipswich)
It’s crafting and egg hunts tailored for kids of all ages at the FARM Institute (Martha’s Vineyard)
The Winslow Nature Trail holds hidden Easter treasures just waiting to be found by little hands (Norton)
This Community Easter Egg Hunt features a DJ, crafts, games, and more (Norwell)
Take part in a parent/child egg toss, bunny hop races, egg hunting, crafts, and other activities at Healy Field (Roslindale)
Stone Zoo hosts its annual Bunny Bonanzoo event with crafts, games, music, bunny encounters, and more (Stoneham)
Sunday, April 21
This free Easter Egg Hunt also offers a petting zoo, bouncy house, and more (Boston)
Hunt for eggs and take a ride on the carousel when Paragon Carousel hosts its annual Easter Egg Dash (Boston)
Go on the Hunt for History, taking on a variety of scavenger hunts at the USS Constitution (Charlestown)
Take a free tennis lesson, no equipment necessary (Roxbury)