Starting Monday, Lyric’s 13th annual Opera in the Neighborhoods program will kick off once again, bringing kiddie-friendly opera directly to young students throughout the Chicagoland area. This year’s program will present a version of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, staging approximately 30 performances at different local schools and auditoriums through the beginning of November. We were glad to learn that Lyric’s education department doesn’t think that squirmy schoolchildren can be expected to sit through a long,......

The new American Girl Place store opened Wednesday at Watertower Place, positioned to cash in on its proximity to mall traffic. Five store entrances lead shoppers into a space that is 30 percent larger, newly festooned with a doll T-shirt design shop, personal shopping rooms and a “streetscape” of doll service shops (shoppes?) like an ear piercing store and a beauty salon. Already the largest of the retailer’s flagship stores, Chicago’s American Girl Place has......

This Thursday, Harold Washington Library will participate in Jumpstart’s Read for the Record, an event aiming to break a world record for the largest shared reading experience by encouraging children across the country to read the same book with an adult on the same day. The official campaign book is children’s classic Corduroy, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. The campaign centers on making early education a national priority; with a focus on......

Newberry Library’s free fall exhibition, “Artifacts of Childhood: 700 Years of Children's Books,” meant to showcase and explore the relevance of children’s literature, will be the library’s first exhibition in two decades to focus solely on this theme. 65 of Newberry’s most “important and beautiful” children’s books will be displayed, including 500-year-old Italian and French first illustrated editions of Aesop's Fables and a rare 1865 first edition of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Oh......

A new study released today found that 97 percent of Illinois parents don't know the state's child safety restraint laws, and 67 percent said "most parents with a young child do not have a clear understanding of how to correctly install and/or use child safety seats." For the record, Illinois law says kids in the car need to be in a "child restraint"—a car seat or booster seat—until they're 8 years old. Car crashes are......

We enjoy any excuse for a party but when lesions and scabs are involved we can't help but be a bit repulsed. Chickenpox parties are growing in popularity as parents who don't want to vaccinate their kids try instead to get their children infected early in life when the effects are typically more mild. These parents may also be skeptical of the chickenpox vaccine for medical reasons or have religious reasons against vaccinating their children.......

We were just informed of another local connection to National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month: the Chili’s at 2 E Ontario St. is participating in the restaurant chain’s fifth annual Create-A-Pepper campaign, running now through the end of September. Chili’s has pledged to raise $50 million over a 10-year period for St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital. The campaign will culminate with an all-day event on Monday, September 29, when Chili’s will donate 100% of the profits......

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and there are a few local events coming up in support of pediatric cancer awareness. If you can't attend any of the below events, but still want to help with the fight against leukemia -- the most common cancer among children and teens -- consider making a bone marrow donation or registering to become a donor at the National Bone Marrow Registry. September 5 – Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer......

The Bronzeville Children’s Museum is growing so much it's relocated to a bigger space. The only children’s museum in the country devoted to African-American history, it has outgrown its former space in a shopping mall in Evergreen Park, re-opening yesterday at its new location at 9301 S. Stony Island Ave. in the far South Side. The new building has nearly ten times the space as the old museum, and room for three times as many......

The three-year-old boy who was swept into Lake Michigan in April when wind blew his stroller into the water has made a full, and doctors say miraculous, recovery. Lazar Ognjenovic's grandfather, who also fell in the water, is fine, too. Doctors say after weeks in the hospital and months of rehab, the little boy is doing great, plus he's picked up English as his second language. [Trib, S-T]......

A new school has opened in Chicago’s Medical District. The Easter Seals Therapeutic School and Center for Autism Research, a $32 million project, is specifically designed to meet the special needs of students with autism, emotional behavior disorders and severe learning disabilities. The school will also double as a research facility; classrooms are equipped with unobtrusive viewing centers, and scientists will be studying the causes of and developing successful intervention techniques for the disorder. This......

Harry Potter fans from around the world will be converging on the Hilton Chicago Hotel this weekend for Terminus, a five-day conference revolving around all that is "wizard". Attendees can expect “academic presentations and lectures, educational workshops, a Quidditch tournament, a bon voyage ball, and certainly, lively discussion about Harry Potter.” Other planned events: a pre-conference Wrock (wizard rock) concert, featuring over 30 wizarding bands over three stages, and the chance to attend the wedding......

The Autism Awareness Kids Baseball Program, a summer baseball league taking place on Sunday mornings in Humboldt Park, is Chicago’s first sports program for children with autism. The league was conceived by Alex Cruz, who was reluctant to place his autistic son in a competitive environment where he might be teased or ignored. Local families came together to help make the idea a reality, and now with the support of former White Sox infielder Alex......

Apparently finding a summer job is not as easy as it used to be. Kids looking for part-time employment are facing a shrinking job market, and it's already difficult to land a job without experience or job history. And on July 1, the state will increase its minimum wage from $7.50 to $7.75, possibly increasing the squeeze on the number of available jobs. But work is still out there, and the non-profit Youth Job Center......

Kids are always stirring up trouble in the kitchen, but this weekend they can make a mess of the pots and pans at someone else’s place. Whole Foods, which will be hosting cooking classes for kids and adults all summer at the Farm House in Lincoln Park Zoo, is holding a special children’s program on Saturday that features berries as the main ingredient. The instructor is Chef Melissa Graham of Purple Asparagus, a local non-profit......

Terri Bollinger, the principal at Ridge Central Elementary School in Chicago Ridge, promised back in October that she would kiss a cow if her students read over 10,000 books by the end of the school year. Naturally, then, her students managed to tally a total of 11,014 books read, and she found herself actually kissing a cow yesterday afternoon. The cow, named Stella, is owned by Bollinger’s cousin. Huh. We have two distinct memories from......

Oh, Charlie Trotter’s. It is so choice. But recently, diners at Trotter’s were not only sophisticated foodies, but the kids from Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, who were enjoying a signature eight-course meal, compliments of the house. Meals like these are part of Trotter’s Excellence Program, in existence now for almost 10 years. On most weeknights, small groups from area high schools, or groups like those from Mercy Home, are ushered by special invitation......

Remember the thrill of warming up the car for your parents before you were old enough to drive? It's exciting just to sit behind the wheel, cranking the heat and cursing the cold. You know. Unless you get carjacked. A 12-year-old was warming up his mom's car on the 3100 block of W Flournoy this morning when a 15-year-old allegedly pointed a pistol at him and demanded the car. Two hours later, police found the......

Everyone knows Bratz dolls cause cancer of the AIDS. But Jammin' Jenna dolls, a slightly softer-seeming knock-off from Ty, are also poisonous. Her vinyl shoes contain an amount of lead that's illegal in Illinois, but Ty refuses to recall the toys, saying they'll stop selling new dolls to Illinois distributors but won't pull the dolls already on shelves. We guess we're not that surprised by a business wanting to sell its (dangerous) wares. But the......

Chic-a-go-go Host Mia Park ...

Lots of Chicagoans haven't been to the Field Museum since elementary school. But guess what? It's just as fun now as it was then. And we were able to accomplish a life goal: Get all the mold-a-rama dinosaur toys from the food court. As we made our way from machine to machine, burning our hands on our newly-formed toys, a group of kids on a field trip started following us. "Are you getting the......

At first glance, we thought the story of the mom who left her kid in the mall to "teach him a lesson" was a classic case of parents misunderstanding what punishment is — like when a kid is sent to his room full of video games, TV and other toys for a time out. That was before we realized that she actually left the mall, and that the child was just 6 years old.......

For many, going out New Year's Eve can be like going to junior prom over and over again; it's lots of fussy build-up with little payoff, leaving you with nasty hangovers, tacky swag, and, possibly, an awkward goodbye come morning. If swanky soirées aren't your thing, head to The Old Town School of Folk Music for The Punch Brothers for a refreshing alternative. This group of lanky, indie folk boys is lead by Chris Thile,......

Tomorrow Liar's Club is hosting the Fourth Annual Toy Drive To benefit the Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital Pediatric Playroom. They are hoping to provide toys and supplies to the KidsRehab program at the hospital. The folks at Liar's Club told us, "KidsRehab works with children who have sustained serious injury and need extensive physical, occupational and psychological rehabilitation." They need a whole bunch of stuff for the kids in the program (look after the jump for......

Today we continue our series of letting you know about the New Year's Eve packages being offered by local restaurants so that you have enough information to make a decision and not wait until the last minute to grab a table. In case you missed yesterday's installment, we've linked to it here for your review. Vegetarians rejoice! Green Zebra will offer an all vegetarian, 5 course tasting menu priced at $75 per person, with an......

Kids in Peoria built a gigantic Lego menorah, using the big Duplo version of the blocks. We know we're assholes for having our first reaction be "Duplos don't count!" Which is why we need more good things on the list... John Kass is way, way ahead in this "celebrity" ornament auction. His beer can chicken thing is already at $435, but everyone else's piece of crap ornaments--seriously, a little effort, people--are only around $100......

The Holiday season is in full swing in NYC, with holiday lights in Brooklyn, a giant snow globe in Bryan Park and Chanukah specials for ham. One citizen decided to go vigilante on annoying car alarms, a murder suspect used a fake Asian accent on the stand and a video of a man being beaten up by teenage girls on a subway shocked the city. And we interviewed soon-to-be-leaving-Gawker editor Choire Sicha, who said,......

What do you get when you combine an elaborate set design, rock and roll magicians, acoustic custom poetry, and a melange of feel-good local bands? A whole lotta awesome, that's what. Tomorrow night, newly created local label Comptroller Records debuts its new bimonthly showcase, nay, REVUE, at Ronny's, proving it represents more than just a collection of local musical acts. The show promises to include a debut set by the Spectacles, raw tracks from the......

Anything snarky that we come up with regarding the use of music in the Democratic Presidential campaigns just pales in comparison to the cold, hard facts: Hillary Clinton's theme was a Celine Dion song and has recently been replaced by a Big Head Todd and the Monsters tune, and Barack Obama's fundraising events feature performances by some of the most relevant and buzzworthy artists out there. Tonight's Change Rocks concert at the Riv brings......

If you were born before 1985, when you hear the phrase "Kids in the Hall," you probably think of the semi-popular 80's T.V. show. So last week when we got a press release about Kidz in the Hall, we just thought some wacky kids just couldn't spell. We were wrong! Kidz in the Hall is a local rap group who were lucky enough to have their song "Work to Do" chosen as a theme song......