Glad you clicked on our Grab & Go Kids Planner!

We've assembled a weekly calendar of kid-friendly activities and new places to try out with children.

You're time-pressed enough, so we're happy to do the research and find the best things to do and places to go, both locally and within reasonable striking distance.

Look for the kids’ planner each Wednesday, and help us build the planner with your own suggestions and tips—just add them to the comment box. Even if you disagree with our picks, let us know. We want to hear from you!

FAMILY BEST BETS OF THE WEEK

TOTS & TALES

Where/When:  National Aquarium (14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW ) Friday at 10 a.m.

Why Go: Tots can stop by for storytime, exciting science experiments, fun crafts, and a tour of the aquarium.

Pricing: FREE

FAMILY OPERA: BEAUTYBEAST

Where/When: Thomas Jefferson Community Theatre (125 South Old Glebe Road, Arlington, VA) Saturday at 2 p.m. & 4 p.m.

Why Go: To enhance what is often a first opera experience, children experience how all the elements of opera—singers, musicians, scenery, lighting, and costumes—are combined to bring a story to life on stage.

Pricing: Adults $12; Children (14 and under) $5

MAKE MAIL ART

Where/When: National Postal Museum (2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE ) on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Why Go: Create a postcard using beautiful materials and canceled international postage stamps, then send it on its way from the museum's post office.

Pricing: FREE

TIE AND DYE A TEXTILE

Where/When The Textile Museum (2320 S Street, NW )  Saturday 2-4PM 

Why Go: Kids create their own colorful textiles as they explore a resist-dye technique similar to ikat: tie dyeing. Participants learn various fold and tie techniques to create unique designs on cloth to take home.

Pricing: FREE

FAMILY FESTIVAL 2011: DC COLOR SPLASH 

Where/When: Corcoran Gallery of Art (500 17th Street, NW ) on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Why Go: Families are invited to explore the stupendous stripes, crazy colors, and luminous lights of DC artists featured in the Washington Color and Light exhibition, groove to the beat of local musicians, marvel at magnificent DC tap dancers and performers, and dip their hands into amazing art-making workshops led by local artists.

Pricing: FREE