Winter bearable at Highland Park event

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Kids can come out of hibernation Saturday when Heller Nature Center in Highland Park hosts its second annual Nature Discovery Day.

Updated: February 3, 2012 10:14PM

Bears hibernate during cold months but people shouldn’t. “We know in the winter a lot of people stay indoors,” said Jessica Soto, a naturalist at Heller Nature Center, 2821 Ridge Road, Highland Park. That’s why the nature center is hosting its second annual Nature Discovery Day, 10 a.m.-noon Saturday, Feb. 4. “It’s to get people outdoors to explore nature and have fun with their family, and also to highlight our spring programs at Heller,” Soto said.

There will be sledding, cross-country skiing and a campfire for roasting marshmallows. Families can warm up indoors by working on a craft project, listening to a storyteller or looking at the exhibits.

The major craft project will be creating a “search and find,” Soto said. “It’s like a scavenger hunt sheet. The kids have to search for things on their paper.”

The event is free and you don’t have to register.

Call (847) 433-6901 or visit www.pdhp.org.

Bright-eyed benefit

No one will snooze when Justin Roberts and the Not Ready for Naptime Players present a family concert to benefit Kohl Children’s Museum of Greater Chicago, 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 11 at Christian Heritage Academy, 315 Waukegan Road, Northfield. Tickets are $15 per person in advance, $18 at the door.

Call (847) 832-6600 or visit www.kohlchildrensmuseum.org.

Island getaway

Hawaiian shirts, grass skirts and sandals are perfectly proper attire at the Daddy Daughter Luau, 5-7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25 at the Lake Bluff Park District’s Recreation Center Gym, 355 W. Washington Ave. There will be dancing, limbo contests and dinner for girls ages 4-11 with their dads. Cost is $26 per couple, $8 per additional daughter.

Call (847) 234-4150 or visit www.lakebluffparks.org.

Make a joyful noise

Kids will create Northwest Coast rattles at the next Kids Craft Mornings at the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian, 11 a.m.-noon Saturday, Feb. 4 and 12:30-1:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 5 at 3001 Central St., Evanston. The workshop is free with museum admission.

Call (847) 475-1030 or visit www.mitchellmuseum.org.

Peruse prehistoric plants

Walk through the Chicago Botanic Garden greenhouses with your 4-to-10-year-old and learn which plants prefer hot, dry places and which shared the planet with dinosaurs at Deserts & Dinosaurs, 9:30-11 a.m. or 1-2:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25 at 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe. You’ll leave with a desert plant and a prehistoric one. Cost is $22 per nonmember child; discounts for members.

Call (847) 835-6801 or visit www.chicagobotanic.org.