Illinois Metro East

While the Edwardsville Children’s Museum’s doors have been closed for more than a year due to COVID-19, its team has been hard at work creating brand new exhibits to wow visitors and introducing new safeguards to protect them.

On Saturday, June 26, ECM will begin welcoming families back with four must-see exhibits.

In March, more than 100 volunteers from the Edwardsville community planted 100 trees to get the Edwardsville Children’s Museum Micro Forest off the ground. On April 22, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., ECM will plant a second round of trees in celebration of Earth Day, and your family is invited to join the effort.

Wonderlight's Christmas in St. Louis is a dazzling display of Christmas lights synchronized to traditional and newer, rocking music, played through your car stereo. At this drive-through experience, you'll see shooting stars, floating snowflakes, dancing candy canes and lollipops, giant Christmas trees and five enchanting tunnels of lights. 

Take your kids to Movie Nights with Santa and celebrate the holidays in a safe way! See Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, A Charlie Brown Christmas and Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer on the big screen at the Skyview Drive In in Belleville. 

Enjoy Halloween costume parades and Halloween scavenger hunts on October 30 and 31 at Eckert Farms in Belleville. 

Visit Eckert Farms and meet Barron, a 2,000 pound Clydesdale! Visitors can meet Barron, pet him and grab a selfie with this gentle giant. Cost is $5 per person.

Animal rescue doesn't stop in the face of a global pandemic, and the Metro East Humane Society (MEHS) is offering a way for families to have fun and support animals in need at the same time. Camp MEHS on September 5 will feature a take home "camp" kit for families, including t-shirts and bandanas to tie dye, crafts, s'mores kits, Chef's Shoppe popcorn, Annie's Bow Wow Cups, smoothies from Source Juicery, Four Muddy Paws goodies for your four-legged friends, beverages for adults and kids, and more.