Parent with Child

The Book Buddies Shelter Pet Program lets kids to adore animals make a real difference in the lives of shelter pets.

As part of the Book Buddies Shelter Pet Program with the Humane Society of Missouri, kids ages 6-12 are trained to read to shelter pets. Reading to the shelter dogs helps to bring comfort them and reduces anxiety. It also makes the pet more adoptable. Reading helps shy dogs learn to relax around people and teaches high energy dogs and calm behavior is desirable.

Your little ones are invited to attend a festive dining event with Frozen's Anna and Elsa. Join in the merriment with lunch, singing, dancing and a keepsake photo with the queen and princess!

This event takes place at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Jan. 23, 24, 30 and 31, and on Feb. 6, 7, 13 and 14.

Cost is $22.50 per person. At Eckert Farms in Belleville.

Learn more and register at eckerts.com

Celebrate aerospace technology at the new, highly interactive special exhibition at the Saint Louis Science Center: Above and Beyond. This special exhibition will immerse you in flight and space travel, with simulations that allow visitors to design and test-fly a supersonic jet, experience flight as a bird, and ride in a space elevator. 

Above and Beyond takes you faster, farther and higher for a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It's produced by Evergreen Exhibitions in association with Boeing, in collaboration with NASA and the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.

Kick off the new year by taking part in a free Stroller Strides class at a new indoor location. The one-hour class will feature co-teaching from three Stroller Strides instructors, and be filled with music for mom interlaced with songs for kiddos.

The morning kicks off at 9:30 a.m. with a "Women Who Rock"-themed Stroller Strides class, followed by giveaways, prizes, refreshments and more than an hour of playtime for children 12 months to age 7 on Vetta's indoor playground of giant inflatables!

Give a hand to puppeteer Daniel Romano and his Blaque Berry Puppets as he brings his puppets to life during workshops and performances at The Magic House.

Romano is a puppeteer, storyteller, teacher and folklorist. His Blaque Berry Puppet Theater performs original stories as well as African, Irish and frontier tales at schools, libraries, fairs and festivals across the St. Louis region. Romano is on the artists' roster for Springboard, a St. Louis-based art education agency.

The LUME Institute invites parents with children from birth through age 8 to a series of free parent workshops focusing on developing parenting skills and learning about child development.

The Parent Cafe sessions are opportunities to build relationships with other parents and hear from child development experts on the following topics:

Jan. 14: A Vision for Me

Feb. 11: Building Our Families

March 10: Empowering Community

Learn about the beats in music and how different rhythms create different music styles with classical favorites. Hear your favorites, such as Tchaikovsky's Waltz from Sleeping Beauty, Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King, selections from beethoven's Fifth and Ninth symphonies and more.

3 p.m. at Powell Hall. Part of the 2015-2016 series of Family Concerts by the St. Louis Symphony.