Long Island Kids' Activities February 25 and 26: Maple Sugaring Day, Waffle Day, Camellia Weekend, and Alec Baldwin Reads

2/23/12 - By Dara Stewart

You and your family are probably beat from all the winter break fun you had this past week, but this weekend is no time to kick back and relax: There's still so much to do! This weekend will afford us still more opportunities to get out and enjoy this beautiful winter weather we've been having, with lots of outdoor activities. There are also a few events for your budding reader. (Don't forget about Target's Read Across America event celebrating Dr. Seuss's birthday, with readings of The Lorax at all of its local stores.) Believe it or not, it's Maple Sugaring Day and Waffle Day (there's gotta be a way to combine the two!) Also, newsletter subscribers, be on the lookout for a giveaway coming up soon, exclusively for newsletter subscribers. If you haven't subscribed yet, now's the time....

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Saturday

Tall Stories Presents "Twinkle Twonkle"
Long Island Children's Museum
Garden City
1pm
$6 with museum admission ($4 LICM members), $10 theater only  
Join performers from Tall Stories theater in England for a unique show inspired by nursery rhymes and the science of the stars. Stella loves the stars and every evening she gazes at them through her telescope. Her little brother Ryan loves nursery rhymes and one night he wishes on a star. He disappears through her telescope! Come along on their exciting adventure into space. Shows at 1 and 3pm.

Alec Baldwin Reads from Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist
BookHampton
East Hampton
2pm
Free
'Nuff said.

Maple Sugaring Day
Benner's Farm
East Setauket
12pm–4pm
$6 for adults, $5 for seniors and children under 12  
Bundle up with family and friends for this late winter event at Benner’s Farm. All phases of maple sugaring will be demonstrated at the working homestead during this popular day. Visit with the animals, help gather sap in the woods, see how the trees are tapped, what kind they are and how to tell them from the other trees in our Long Island woods. Stand in front of the warm fire where the gallons of sap are boiled down to produce the wonderful sweet syrup we all enjoy. Finally, taste the finished syrup and hot waffles made from scratch. Syrup and maple sugar products will be on sale as available. All proceeds from the day will benefit Homestead Arts Inc.

Saturday and Sunday

Camellia Weekend
Planting Fields Arboretum
Oyster Bay
10am–4pm
Camellia House free; Coe Hall Mansion $5 per person, members and children free
View the blooms of more than 200 camellia shrubs and trees in the greenhouse; in the mansion there will be magic performances, jump-rope workshops, hula-hoops, a hopscotch room, the Alice in Wonderland movie, and a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party with storytellers Jonathan Kruk & Andrew Sadler.  

Beastly Creations
Maritime Explorium
Port Jefferson
1pm–5pm
$5              
​Using real animal tracks as your inspiration, create your own beast to take home.

Sunday

Waffle Day!
Children's Museum of the East End
Bridgehampton
10am
Members $5, nonmembers $17                        
Children will mix the batter, add it to the waffle iron, wait a few minutes, and watch Belgian waffles come out in amazing circus shapes. Fun for kids, delicious for everyone!

Family Adventures: Great Grandma's Kitchen
Connetquot River State Park
Oakdale
1:30–3pm
Adults $4, children $3, children under 3 free
Explore what it was like to work in a late 1800s kitchen with hands-on demonstrations of gadgets like swizzle sticks, cherry stoners, soap savers, fluters, syllabub churns, and self-heating irons.