Weekend Plans: Artsplosure, Dora, puppets and more

Artsplosure, Raleigh's major downtown arts and crafts festival, is this Saturday and Sunday. You'll find lots of arts, crafts and music, along with activities and performances just for kids. Artsplosure takes up the streets and spaces in and around Moore Square and City Market. And then there is Mirazozo, the 6,000-square-foot inflatable structure that will take over City Plaza from Thursday to Sunday. This will be a big hit with the kids. Click here for more on Mirazozo (note that strollers now are not allowed inside). And click here for some tips if you plan on attending Artsplosure and checking out Mirazozo.

Nickelodeon's Storytime Live!, featuring Dora, The Wonder Pets, Backyardigans and more, will make a stop at Raleigh's Progress Energy Center for Performing Arts this Friday through Sunday. Tickets start around $16 a piece.

Bike to Work Week kicks off with a special event at Marbles Kids Museum from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Friday. It includes a kids bike safety rodeo.

Peter Holsapple, the father of two young kids and best known for his work with the dB's, the Continential Drifters, R.E.M. and Hootie and the Blowfish, entertains your kids at 7 p.m. Friday at The Regulator Bookshop in Durham. He'll be wearing pajamas for this party. You can too.

Learn all about keeping your kids safe from toxins at the Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship on Garrett Road in Durham from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. The event is sponsored by MomsRising in North Carolina and Toxic Free NC.

Kazoom Puppet Theatre will hold a special weekend performance at 2 p.m. Saturday at ComedyWorx on Peace Street in Raleigh right near its intersection with Glenwood Avenue. For years, the theater has been packing in toddlers and preschoolers for their popular puppet shows on Wednesday and Thursday mornings, which feature songs and stories. Ms. Poly and Ms. Ester, the ladies of Kazoom, have offered some afternoon weekday performances in the last month or so and they were a big hit. So now they're looking to add a monthly Saturday performance as well. Tickets are $4. The story this month is "The Little Gingerbread Man."

Tour chicken coops at the Hen-Side the Beltline Tour d'Coop from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. The tour of urban chicken coops spans across neighborhoods inside Raleigh's beltline. Admission is either a non-perishable food item or cash donation for Urban Ministries of Wake County. Kids are welcome. Pets aren't.

Morehead Planetarium and Science Center will host its monthly skywatching session from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday at Jordan Lake State Park. You should have some good views of Venus, Mars and Saturn. Click the link above for directions, information and what to do if it's cloudy. Also, Morehead appears to still have some slots open in its popular summer camps for grades K through 8.

Cary will host the first Friends of Page-Walker Herbfest from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Page-Walker Arts & History Center, 119 Ambassador Loop. The free event includes cooking demonstrations by local Cary restaurants and local vendors. The Page Educational Garden will be open for tours and kids can pot their own flower to take home. Proceeds of the event will benefit the Friends of Page-Walker Hotel's ongoing historic preservation, educational and archival efforts.

Also in Cary, the town will present the last concert of its Spring Sertoma Series at 3 p.m. Sunday. The (and I love the name) Really Terrible Orchestra of the Triangle will perform in the free, live outdoor concert at the Sertoma Amphitheatre at Bond Park, 801 High House Rd. The 60-piece orchestra's performances are described as "bizarre" and often attract people who like a good show, but maybe not a symphonic concert hall. If it rains, the concert will be held on the same date and time but at the Kiwanis Shelter, also in Bond Park. The town's Summer Sertoma Series begins June 5 with a concert by the Triangle Brass Band. Can be a relaxing afternoon with the kids and a picnic.

And the Museum of Life and Science in Durham kicks off a whole week of bears on Sunday. Bear Awareness Week will include daily 2 p.m. programs at the museum's bear exhibit. At 3 p.m. Sunday, the museum will present a screening of the movie "Bear Facts." Pre-registration is requested for the movie. Call 919.220.5429 ext. 313 to sign up.