15+ Family Things to Do Around Murfreesboro This Week
Rutherford County libraries are having a genuinely excellent week, and nearly everything below is free. Add a hummingbird festival, a farm day built around diggers, and an art fair on a historic lawn, and there is more here than most families can get to.
One planning note first: all Rutherford County library branches are closed Saturday 5 through Monday 7 September for Labor Day. The library programming clusters at the start and end of the week, and the weekend belongs to the outdoor events.
Thursday 3 September
1. Baby Time at Smyrna — free
10:00 a.m., Smyrna Public Library. Stories, rhymes, singing and sensory play for babies 0 to 24 months. Doors close about ten minutes after the start, so do not stroll in at 10:15.
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2. Tales to Tails: read to a therapy dog — free
3:00 p.m., Smyrna Public Library. Ten-minute slots to read aloud to Bella, a certified therapy dog. If you have a child who reads fine at home and freezes in front of people, this is the one. Reserve a slot in advance — call 615-459-4884.
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3. Super Gross Science — free
3:15 p.m., Smyrna Public Library. Real science, delivered via the revolting end of the subject, for elementary-age kids. Forty-five minutes.
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4. Tinker TEC: Horned Toads — free
3:30 p.m., Technology Engagement Center. A nonfiction picture book plus a matching experiment, for ages 5 to 8. Half an hour, which is exactly right.
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5. Homeschool Learning Pods: anatomy dissection lab
3:00 p.m., Discovery Center at Murfree Spring. A cow-eye dissection for homeschool students. Cost varies by pod — check with the Discovery Center.
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Friday 4 September
6. Homeschool creative writing for tweens — free
1:00 p.m. A real writing class for ages 8 to 12. First Fridays teach a skill, third Fridays are for sharing what you wrote. This is a first Friday, so it is a good place to start.
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7. Lego Club at the TEC — free
3:00 p.m., Technology Engagement Center. Ninety minutes, bricks provided, new building challenge every month.
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8. Teen Comic Club at Smyrna — free
3:30 p.m., Smyrna Public Library. For 13 to 18 year olds who read comics and manga and would like to talk about it with people their own age.
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Saturday 5 September
9. Hummingbird Festival at the Wilderness Station — free
8:00 a.m., Wilderness Station at Barfield Crescent Park. Early start on purpose — that is when the birds are working. Banding demonstrations are the draw, and getting that close to a hummingbird is something children remember.
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10. Kids Fun Construction Festival at Lucky Ladd Farms
9:00 a.m., Lucky Ladd Farms, Eagleville. Real machines, plus the farm's usual attractions. Ticketed. For any child currently obsessed with diggers, this is the weekend's headline act.
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11. Fall Art and Craft Fair at Oaklands Mansion
10:00 a.m., Oaklands Mansion. $5 admission. Makers on the lawn of a historic house, with room for kids to move between the tents.
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Tuesday 8 September
12. Music and Movement at Smyrna — free
10:00 a.m. Rhythm sticks, shakers and simple rhymes. The right first library program for a toddler who cannot yet sit still for a story.
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13. Tiny TEC: color mixing — free
11:30 a.m., Technology Engagement Center. A picture book and a STEAM craft for ages 2 to 4.
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14. Sight Word Snack Attack — free
3:30 p.m., Smyrna Public Library. Book bingo, sight-word games, and a snack for every child. Pre-K through 3rd grade, thirty minutes, straight after school.
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Wednesday 9 September
15. Program in the Park: outdoor story time — free
3:15 p.m., in the park at Smyrna. A story, a nature craft, and the Storybook Trail afterwards. All ages. September is the right month for this one.
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16. Sandbox creative club — free
3:30 p.m. Two hours of open studio for ages 10 to 17. Bring whatever you are making. Note that library renovations are underway — confirm the room on the day.
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17. Pajama Story Time at Smyrna — free
6:00 p.m. Stories, games and crafts, in pajamas, all ages. One of the few library programs a working parent can actually reach without taking the afternoon off.
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The short version
If you can only do one thing: Saturday morning at the Wilderness Station for the hummingbirds, because it is free and the banding demonstrations do not come around often. If you have a reluctant reader: book the Thursday therapy-dog slot now, before it fills.
Just added for the weekend
Three more landed on the calendar after this list first published.
- The Boro Art Crawl — Friday, 5 to 8 p.m. around the downtown Square. First Friday of the month, free to walk, and explicitly kid-friendly: children's activities in the mix along with food trucks and information booths. You set your own pace and leave when someone has had enough, which is the whole advantage over a ticketed evening.
- Rancherita y Mercadito: Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration — Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. at Lane Agri-Park Community Center. A vendor marketplace all afternoon, live music from Grupo Nieve 3 to 5 p.m., and complimentary pupusas with a ticket. Tickets are free and children 12 and under are covered outright. Reserve ahead so the organizers can plan the food.
- Turtle Talk at the Discovery Center — Friday, 3 to 4 p.m. A short hands-on animal program for young learners, included with general admission. If a Discovery Center afternoon was already the plan, timing your visit around it costs nothing extra.
One planning note: every Rutherford County library branch is closed Saturday through Monday for Labor Day, so anything library-based needs to happen Friday.
More on the family events calendar.
