Skate in the new year at the Steinberg Skating Rink in Forest Park, the oldest and largest outdoor ice skating rink in the Midwest.
On New Year's Eve, the rink will hold a special skating party for all ages featuring party favors, noisemakers and more than 27,000 feet of frozen fun! There will even be a countdown to midnight. Skate admission is $7, and skate rental is $5. The celebration happens all day (beginning at 10 a.m.) and closes a half hour after the countdown.
More information: steinbergskatingrink.com
Celebrating the history, culture, and people of Japan, the Japanese Festival at the Missouri Botanical Garden is one of the largest and oldest festivals of its kind in the United States. Your family can enjoy guided walking tours, bonsai, cooking, martial arts and origami demonstrations, sumo wrestling, and special activities for kids.
Kids can work on existing gym skills, learn new skills or just play around during Open Gym at Miss Kelly's Gym in Creve Coeur.
Wagon rides, live entertainment, great festival foods, a petting zoo and much more make this an apple pickin' good time for the whole family. There will be pony rides, a children's carnival, opportunities to feed goats and other farm animals, caramel apples, funnel cakes and more.
See the Zoo's California sea lions perform acrobatic and athletic feats, including Olympic-style dives on a high-diving platform, flipper walks, frisbee tosses and plenty of surprises. While on stage with the sea lions, the Zoo's trainers explain sea lion behavior and positive-reinforcement training, in addition to the need for conserving the sea lion's ocean habitat.
LEGO Club at the St. Louis County Library is a free opportunity for kids to gather and have fun building with LEGO bricks. LEGOs are provided.