If you’re running out of ways to keep your kids entertained, we’ve got some good options this week. Try a drive-thru visit to the Metro Richmond Zoo — complete with a narrated tour — or get them to participate in a cool new public art project, one you may want to join in, too. Then take some time for yourself and check out a free online seminar from ChildSavers, the first in an eight-week series, to hone your parenting skills.
See the Animals
You can’t visit the Metro Richmond Zoo in person currently, but you can do a drive-thru visit with the menagerie for now. The zoo began drive-thru, narrated one-hour tours on May 7. Tours start at 9:30 a.m., and the last car is admitted at 4:30 p.m. Cost is $60 per vehicle, limited to SUVs or smaller. You can get tickets in advance to reserve a time — availability is limited.
—Tharon Giddens, Lifestyle Editor
All in Together
Long before staying at home became more than a personal choice, grown-ups had started coloring again. Filling in lines and shapes with bright colors is a stress reliever at any age, and Hamilton Glass and Matt Lively, the artists behind the public art project “All in Together,” want people to put their crayons to good use. Their website offers downloadable coloring sheets, each representing a small section of a large mural. Once you’ve colored it in, you can upload an image of your creation and it will be joined with others to form the complete picture. Murals of the collaborative works will eventually be displayed in schools and public facilities across the area. “We feel this will have a positive impact on many people in the community and leave a lasting legacy that stamps these days and times through art,” the website reads. Anybody got a blue I can borrow?
—Craig Belcher, Arts & Entertainment Editor
Bacon’s Castle
Explore the architecture, history and material world of Bacon’s Castle, the oldest brick dwelling in North America, on an in-depth virtual tour Thursday, May 14, from 2 to 3 p.m. Join Preservation Virginia’s statewide museum team for a digital discussion and tour of the original Jacobean-style brick wing built by planter-merchant Arthur Allen in 1665. The Surry County plantation home became known as Bacon’s Castle following Bacon’s Rebellion of 1676, when the rebels seized and occupied the house for four months. The house, which has been meticulously researched, restored and furnished by Preservation Virginia, also features a reconstructed 17th-century English formal garden restored by the Garden Club of Virginia. A donation of $10 is suggested to help defray costs.
—Susan Morgan, R•Home Managing Editor
Build Resilience
Resilience is an important quality to cultivate in children, even more so right now with all of the additional challenges and anxieties of the coronavirus pandemic. On Tuesday, May 12, at 11:30 a.m., ChildSavers is offering a free webinar for parents, “What Is Resilience and Why Does It Matter?” to share information on how to teach children to rise above the difficulties in life — from not making the soccer team to losing a loved one or living though a pandemic. This is the first installment in a virtual brown-bag lunch series for parents hosted by therapist Katy Reynolds that will run every Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. through June. Register here.
—Jessica Haddad, Editorial Director
Other Suggestions:
- Send an e-card to a Canterbury Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center resident to brighten their day. The facility has been hit hard by COVID-19, and administrators want residents to feel connected to the community while the facility is on lockdown. Make your own or send a card through an online service. Cards can be sent to canterburycares@canterburyrehab.com.
- Take one of the new virtual classes offered through the Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen. Options range from adventures in mixed media to yoga for kids.
- Learn about Postwar Modernism and Richmond buildings built in the Brutalist style during a free, live online lecture with Historic Richmond on Thursday, May 14, at 6 p.m.
River City Roundup is Richmond magazine's weekly compilation of the best things to see, do and experience in the region, compiled by our editors. Get each week's installment directly in your inbox every Monday and get access to email-only giveaways by subscribing to our e-newsletter.
