Cascadia Art Museum, 190 Sunset Ave. S. in Edmonds, is featuring a FREE Family Art Workshop on Saturday, Feb. 11 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.. Stories of the Heart, led by Mary Peterson, allows participants to create their own “ARTfull” pieces using Frisket Film, bleeding tissue paper, markers and colored pencils. Peterson, who is a mixed media artist, co-founded Art for All and is an art enrichment programs instructor for students in the Edmonds School District life skills program. You can find more information and RSVP for this event here.

Sno-Isle Libraries is offering “The Valentine’s Edition” of their online Family Trivia coming up next week. There is plenty of space available to join on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. to answer questions about the holiday, plus “candy, cards, and all things Valentine.” All “sweethearts” are welcome to participate but Sno-Isle says that the event is designed with young people in mind and suggests a youth participant on each team. For registration for trivia and more information on both events, you can visit Sno-Isle.org.

An email came from Edmonds Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Services this month titled “February RecZone.” I certainly wished I’d opened it earlier because while the email is full of fun options in Edmonds, including art, exercise and TWO camps during spring break, the bad news is the Evening Owl Prowl is not only FULL but has 8 people on the waitlist. Those already on the list will be led by a Discovery Programs naturalist and volunteer guide from the Pilchuck Audubon Society, AND joined by owl prowlers 6 years and up! I know I’ve been on my phone too much because all of my initial reactions to this were in gif or emoji form. Hopefully, the popularity of this event will mean we can expect another one soon. To keep an eye on events like this or to sign up for the newsletter I got, you can visit the Parks and Rec page on EdmondsWA.gov.

While we’re mentioning the outdoors, The Snohomish County Conservation is holding its 6th Annual Youth Art Contest. Artists from Pre-K to 12th grade who are students or residents of Snohomish County or Camano Island can enter the contest where the theme this year is “Aquatic Macroinvertebrates (a.k.a. water bugs!)” Winners will be announced and featured on their website in March and there will be three winners in each of the 5 age groups and one People’s Choice award voted on by the community and attendees of their Annual Plant Sale on March 4 and 5. Feb. 17 is the cutoff for entries and all of the rules and options for submissions can be found at snohomishcd.org/art-contest. As a bit of a PS to this, when my youngest and I attended Orca Recovery Day in 2021 they gave everyone a free plant and our Nodding Onion not only flowered but is alive and well in our yard, and all I did was plant it and label it!

It is quite the transition to go from nature to nature art to art to hockey, but here we go! Something I appreciate about sports is the low pressure try-it-out gear. Boy and Girls Clubs do a great job with this where kids can play and compete without it taking over the schedule or high pressure competition taking the fun out of it. I also appreciate the option to try a sport for free, especially one with so much equipment. Seattle Junior Hockey, by way of USA Hockey, is holding another Try Hockey for Free Day Saturday, Feb. 25 at 8:30 a.m. SJHA invites you to “bring a friend, bring a family member and, we’ll provide the skates, sticks and FUN!”

My oldest, who has played since he was 4, did one of these events and when a nice young woman taught him how to stand up on the ice after he fell, which he certainly did, the rest was history. It was also a very cost-effective way to find out that my youngest was not having it at the same age. You can find more information and registration at www.sjha.com/thff.

— By Jennifer Marx

Jen Marx, an Edmonds mom of two boys, is always looking for a fun place to take the kids that makes them tired enough to go to bed on time.