This Saturday, come ring in the Year of the Pig at the Asian American Cultural Center in Austin, Texas! This free family-friendly celebration will include music, dance performances, martial arts demonstrations, food, a Lion Dance, and more.

The AACC is located at 11713 Jollyville Road, and the celebration will last from 10am to 3pm on Saturday, February 10th. See www.asianamericancc.com for the program schedule.

It's almost spring, and windy days are here! Take your kids out to enjoy the sunshine and fly a kite. Don't have a kite? Help the kids make one with objects you already have around the house.

Materials:
- for the kite: plastic trash bag, paper grocery bag, or a sheet of paper
- for supports: drinking straws, sticks, bamboo, lightweight wooden dowels, or chopsticks
- markers/crayons to decorate the kite (optional, but fun!)
- tape
- paper hole punch
- paper clip
- string (at least 7 feet)

Directions:
1. Cut your trash bag or paper into a shape that looks like this: (Click the picture for a larger version you can print out as a template.)

2. Cut your supports to be the same height as the kite. Tape the supports onto the kite where the red dotted lines are.

3. Put a few pieces of tape on each side of the kite where the green rectangles are.

4. Use the hole punch to punch a hole through the kite (and tape) where the blue circles are.

5. Cut off a piece of string (if your kite is about 10" wide and 8" tall, the string should be about 3 feet long).

6. Tie one end of the string to the kite through one hole; then tie the other end through the other hole.

7. Clip a paper clip to the center of the string.

8. Tie a long piece of string (at least 4 feet long) to the bottom of the paper clip.

9. Decorate your kite if you'd like.

10. You're ready to fly!

If you're in Austin, take your new kite out to Zilker Park this Sunday, March 4th, for the 79th annual Zilker Kite Festival. It's a blast even if you don't fly anything, and it's completely free! Kids can build their own kites at the festival, and there are loads of contests to enter and watch, including Smallest Kite, Largest Kite, and Most Unusual Kite.

Spring is here, and that means giant herds of kids will be running around outside with baskets, trying to find hidden eggs. Doing the hiding? Stock up on fun treats to fill their plastic eggs. Candy attracts ants and bees, and many children are allergic to milk, nuts, and/or dyes in candy. This year, skip the sweets and try filling eggs with some of the following treasures:

- stickers
- bouncy balls
- friendship bracelets
- finger puppets
- sparkly or polished rocks
- temporary tattoos
- matchbox cars
- packages of seeds to plant
- mini bottles of bubbles (like the ones for wedding favors)
- erasers in fun shapes
- hair barrettes
- legos
- kid-sized soaps
- coins
- small art or hobby supplies for older children (beads, thread, jars of paint)
- inexpensive jewelry
- coupons or movie tickets

If you're in Austin and are looking for some local egg hunts, there are quite a few going on this week. Check the City of Austin's Parks & Recreation website for specific details.