Weekend Plans: Chinese Lantern Festival to close, MLK events, women's basketball

Happy weekend! Here’s what’s happening on the family fun front. As always, check WRAL.com’s Out & About calendar for more ideas.

Snow and sleet got in the way of these events last weekend, so I’ll share them again … In Durham, the Museum of Life and Science has recently opened its new Sound Garden, an outdoor, do-it-yourself musical exhibit. For young children, its popular Frozen Over exhibit, with all kinds of winter-themed fun is back through the end of the month.

The Chinese Lantern Festival wraps up its run at Booth Amphitheatre in Cary. It closes Sunday.

It’s also the final weekend for the N.C. Museum of Art’s Rolling Sculpture exhibit, which closes Sunday.

But downtown Raleigh’s outdoor ice rink on City Plaza is still open - through Jan. 29.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is Monday. We have several events this weekend and Monday to mark the day and honor the Civil Rights leader.

Transactors Improv: For Families! is 6 p.m., Saturday, at The ArtsCenter in Carrboro. The show was canceled last weekend because of the weather. Tickets are $10 and $6 for kids. These shows are especially fun for grade schooler kids and up. Performers take suggestions from the audience and act out hilarious skits.

Durham Parents for Change will host a Social Justice Storytime at 10 a.m., Saturday, at the Durham Main Library. The theme will be immigration rights. The event includes a book and activity. It’s designed for kids ages 0 to 6, but all are welcome.

Morehead Planetarium and Science Center will host a Teen Science Cafe starting at 5:30 p.m., Friday, at the center in Chapel Hill. During the event, Tony Rice, NASA Solar System Ambassador and WRAL contributor, will share updates on missions to Jupiter, Saturn, Mars and more. Pizza served at 5:30 p.m. The program starts at 6 p.m. It’s free.

And N.C. State and Duke’s women’s basketball teams play at 3 p.m., Sunday, at Reynolds Coliseum on NC State’s campus. Tickets start at just $5 for kids. These are a lot of fun and there’s sure to be a big crowd with two local teams.

And an addition: A run club that starts at Oak City Brewing in Knightdale will host an 11:30 a.m. run on Saturday that's designed for families. Ben McDonald, the organizer, tells me that they get lots of strollers and families that come out to run or walk with the group. The brewery has a large field next to it and it's also right across the street from Knightdale Station Park, which Go Ask Mom readers know is one of my favorite parks around here. In other words, there's plenty of things for kids to do while the parents socialize. The run club's Facebook page has details.