My twin sister is coming to town for a visit this weekend, so as behooves the good host/entertainer, I’ve been paying a bit more attention to the upcoming D.C. events calendar than I normally would.
A couple cool goings-on to check out this weekend–well, i guess the second is actually kind of “hot”–whether a local yokel or visiting tourist:
Kids Euro Festival
The embassies of the 27 member states of the European Union are hosting the second annual Euro Kids Festival, October 15 – November 10. Twin and I plan to channel our inner children for Saturday’s Pippi Longstocking performance at the House of Sweden. Can you guess why we have a particular fascination with this storybook character? If you guessed it’s because she’s a an adventurous, world-traveling, animal-loving, candy-consuming redhead–you’d be about right.
Kids outside the District can learn about Europe and the “Euro” currency with online games at the Euro Kids’ Corner.
For some big-kid edutainment, my sister and I will head to the Solar
Decathlon taking place on the National Mall. Sponsored by the U.S.
Department of Energy, the event is a competition-slash-showcase
challenging university students around the world to build
energy-efficient homes. The teams literally construct solar-powered
dwellings right on the Mall for all the public to ogle–and enlighten themselves (pun intended).
Daily workshops educate visitors about the benefits of solar power and
the small-to-large investments we each can take to build a more
sustainable world.
The Solar Decathlon is a competition for college students, but solar
energy is exciting for students of all ages! Check out the web
resources for kids and teachers.
Sarah Jane for My Wonderful World
Solar Decathlon photo credit: Stefano Paltera/U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon
Students of Team California celebrate (spoiler alert!)