12+ Family Things to Do Around Murfreesboro This Week
Rutherford County has one of the busiest family weeks of the fall on deck. There is a full musical running four nights, the pumpkin patch opens, and both the Wilderness Station and Cannonsburgh are running hands-on programs almost every morning. Here is the Thursday-through-Wednesday rundown.
Thursday, Sept. 10
1. Creature Connection: Rabbipult Reactions
An afternoon animal program at the Discovery Center at 3 p.m., included with admission. Short, hands-on, and pitched right at elementary-age curiosity. Details.
2. Downtown After Five
Shops around the Square stay open until 8 p.m. with dining and live entertainment. It is a stroll, not a sit-down event, which makes it easy with a toddler in a wagon — and the evening parking downtown has no time limit. Details.
3. All Access Night: The Science of Everyday Things
The Discovery Center opens up at 6 p.m. for an evening session built for families who cannot make a daytime visit. Included with admission. Details.
The big one: The Little Mermaid, Jr.
4. Four performances, Thursday through Sunday — $10
The homeschool production runs at the Washington Theatre at Patterson Park at 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with a 2 p.m. Sunday matinee. Ten dollars a seat for a full musical is about as good as family theatre pricing gets, and the matinee is the right call for younger kids. Thursday · Friday · Saturday · Sunday matinee.
Weekend
5. Cannonsburgh Crafts: Autumn Leaves and Scarecrows — Saturday, $5
A 9 a.m. craft morning in the pioneer village. Five dollars, and the kids come home with something they made rather than something you bought. Details.
Monday through Wednesday
6. SPARK! Leap, Hop, Croak: An Amphibian Adventure — Monday
A 9 a.m. early-learner program at the Discovery Center. Frogs, essentially, which is a reliable winner. Details.
7. Home School Science: Forests, Trees and Decomposition — Monday and Tuesday, $5
Two mornings at the Wilderness Station at Barfield Crescent Park, 10 a.m. both days. Actual field science in an actual forest — dress for dirt. Monday · Tuesday.
8. Toddler Adventures: Tinkering with Tools — Tuesday, $5
Cannonsburgh at 10 a.m., built for the under-five set. Real tools, supervised, and a very happy two-year-old at the end of it. Details.
9. Tiny TEC: Animal Sounds, ages 2 to 4 — Tuesday (free)
Free, 11:30 a.m., and aimed squarely at the age group that is hardest to program for. Worth putting on the calendar. Details.
10. Lucky Ladd Farms Fall Harvest Festival opens — Wednesday
Pumpkin patch, corn maze and the rest of the fall setup. Ticketed, and worth going on a weekday if you would rather not queue — the weekend crowds arrive quickly once the season is underway. Details and tickets.
11. Homeschool Days: Kitchen Gadgets — Wednesday, $5
Cannonsburgh at 10 a.m., working with the sort of kitchen tools that ran a household before electricity. Genuinely interesting, even for the adults. Details.
12. Archery for Beginners at Barfield Crescent Park — Wednesday, $10
A 3:30 p.m. beginner session at the Wilderness Station with equipment provided. A good one for a kid who has aged out of playgrounds and wants something that feels a little more grown up. Details.
Just added for the weekend
The county library system's weekend slate went up after Wednesday, and it is all free. There is more for tweens and teens here than usual, which is the age group that normally gets nothing.
13. Turtle Talk at the Discovery Center — Friday, 3 p.m.
The Discovery Center at Murfree Spring runs this weekly children's hour entirely around turtles, rotating the activities each week — demonstrations one time, crafts and discovery play the next — so it holds up for a kid who wants to keep coming back. Details.
14. Tween Maker Club at the Technology Engagement Center — Friday, free
Shoelaces and a pile of colorful shoe charms, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Minerva Drive. Ages 8 and up, free, and an hour is exactly long enough for a maker project that has to actually get finished. Details.
15. Tween/Teen Gaming Club at Linebaugh — Friday, free
Video games, board games, trading cards and tabletop RPGs at Linebaugh on West Vine, 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Ages 10 to 17. If the alternative is a screen at home, this is the same activity with other kids in the room. Details.
16. Pokémon Club at the Technology Engagement Center — Saturday, free
Trading Card Game play at 10 a.m., open to all ages and all skill levels. Bring your own deck or borrow one of theirs, which matters if your kid has a shoebox of cards and no idea how the game works. Details.
17. Tangles and Tiaras: a father-daughter hair workshop — Saturday, free
Linebaugh teams up with a local hair studio for two hours of basic haircare and a few styles a dad can realistically manage on a Tuesday morning before school. Free, 1 to 3 p.m., registration required through the library. The most unusual thing on the county calendar this weekend. Details.
18. Teen Anime and Manga Club at Linebaugh — Saturday, free
Two hours on Saturday afternoon talking about whatever the group is currently reading and watching. Low pressure, free, and a reliable way for a teenager to find other teenagers with the same shelf. Details.
19. Back to School Crafternoon at Smyrna — Saturday, free
A craft hour at Smyrna Public Library on Enon Springs Road West at 2 p.m. Free, no registration, open to the public — so you can decide at noon that this is what the afternoon is now. Details.
Running something around Murfreesboro or Rutherford County? Send it our way and we will get it on the calendar.
