Frontier-era and 1880s farm life are the focus of Autumn Harvest Festival, noon-5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 2 at Spring Valley Nature Center’s Merkle Cabin and the Volkening Heritage Farm, 201 S. Plum Grove Road, Schaumburg.
There will be cider pressing, blacksmithing and grain threshing demonstrations. Kids will work on craft projects and play 19th century games. Visitors can take wagon rides and listen to live string music on two stages at what the Schaumburg Park District calls Spring Valley’s largest and most popular event.
Costumed interpreters at Volkening Heritage Farm will recreate life in the 1880s when Schaumburg was a rural German farm community.
The cost is $5 per person; $20 per family; free to children 3 and younger. Grilled food, taffy apples, roasted corn and cold beverages will be sold.
Parking will be available at Spring Valley Nature Center, 1111 E. Schaumburg Road, and on Plum Grove Road across from the Heritage Farm.
For details, call (847) 985-2100 or go to www.parkfun.com.
Go even further back
Learn about Dinosaurs and Mammals of Illinois Past, 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 2 at Crabtree Nature Center, 3 Stover Road, Barrington Hills. You’ll discover the habits of creatures that once lived in our state.
For details, call (847) 381-6592 or go to fpdcc.com.
Wait and watch
It time again for the Big Sit, a lazy birders’ field trip, 3 p.m.-sunset, Saturday, Oct. 1 at Stillman Nature Center, 33 W. Penny Road, South Barrington. Participants, ages 10 and older, will sit by the lake and wait for the birds to come to them. The free event is part of the nature center’s OktoBIRDfest.
For details, call (847) 428-6957 or go to www.stillmannc.org.
Highlight of their day
There will be puzzles, group activities and a make-and-take book (while supplies last) at a Highlights Magazine Storytime, 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 1 at Barnes and Noble, Deer Park Town Center, 20600 N. Rand Road. The event celebrates the more than 70 years the magazine has been enjoyed by kids.
For details, call (847) 438-7444 or go to www.barnesandnoble.com.
Force will be with them
Have your kids don their Jedi and related costumes, if they have them, for Star Wars Reads Day, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8 at Indian Trails Public Library, 355 Schoenbeck Road, Wheeling. There will be related crafts, games and snacks at this drop-in event.
For details, call (847) 459-4100 or go to www.indiantrailslibrary.org
