Cool Events for Kids This Weekend: Beetlemania, St. Ann and Tom Sawyer

It's weekend planning time, and it's gonna be a scorcher. We've got a nice variety of indoor, air-conditioned activities and outdoor festivals to soak up the sun. Pack up the family and head up to Hoboken for the 101^st annual St. Ann's Feast for some great Italian food and live entertainment, or check out the Somerset Valley Players as they put on a performance of the Mark Twain classic Tom Sawyer.

There's a journal craft for kids at Lakeshore Learning in East Brunswick, and there's all kinds of adventures at the Environmental Education Center in Basking Ridge. And up in Morristown on Sunday, there's the brilliant Beetlemania event at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum, where beetles the bugs and Beatles the band finally meet for a day of science and music. How fun does that sound?

So now that we've given you some ideas, the ball's in your court now. Gather the family together and go have some fun this weekend!

As always, be sure to tell us if you think we forgot something. And if you know of an event that deserves a mention in this planner in the future, be sure to add it to the calendar!

• Tom Sawyer on Stage at Somerset Valley Playhouse; 689 Amwell Rd., Hillsborough; 908-369-7469; Price: $12; Sunday, 2 PM

The classic story of Tom Sawyer, Huck, and Becky and all their mischief on the banks of the Mississippi comes to the Somerset Valley Playhouse this weekend (and continues through the next two weekends as well, if you can't make it out just yet!). Enjoy Mark Twain's renowned story of a simpler time and classic Americana with the family, while supporting local theater at the same time.

• Crafts for Kids: My Jazzy Journal at Lakeshore Learning; 275 Route 18, East Brunswick; 732-967-8585; Price: FREE; Saturday, 11 AM-3 PM

Lakeshore Learning in East Brunswick holds kid's craft days for free every Saturday. This week's neat project: a journal that your kids can design and create themselves. The crafting for this particular item goes well beyond just Saturday afternoon, however, because the journal they take home this weekend can be used for writing, drawing, collecting – whatever your little one desires. A great way to get some constructive craft-making in and a great place for your child to be creative in the weeks to come.

• Mad Scientists Club: Rockets and Aquatic Adventures at the Environmental Education Center; 190 Lord Stirling Rd., Basking Ridge; 908-766-2489; Price: $12 (Mad Scientists), $9 (Aquatic Adventures); Friday 10:30-Noon (Mad Scientists), Saturday 10:30-Noon (Aquatic Adventures)

Two great programs at the Environmental Education Center in Basking Ridge this weekend. The first, Mad Scientists Club: Rockets, allows children ages seven through nine to enjoy some hands-on learning about, well, rockets. The second, Aquatic Adventures, allows kids of all ages (parents, you too!) to hop into the pond and check out the EEC's “swamp” tanks. Be prepared to get a little muddy during the second one – but with the heat that's coming our way, a dip might not be a bad idea!

• St. Ann's Italian Festival at St. Ann's Church; 7^th Street between Adams and Monroe Sts.; 201-659-1114; Price: FREE; Friday, 6-11 PM, Saturday & Sunday 1-11 PM

The annual St. Ann's Feast returns to Hoboken this week, kicking off Thursday evening. Perhaps the second biggest Italian festival on the east coast (behind only the world-famous San Genaro Festival in Little Italy), this one draws thousands of people into the Mile Square City. Food and entertainment vendors will be set up across four or five city blocks around the church on Jefferson Street in Hoboken, featuring zeppolies (of course!), pastries, Italian cooking, games, live music, and more. A great way to celebrate Italian heritage if you are Italian, or wish you were if you're not!

• Beetlemania at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum; 353 East Hanover Ave., Morristown; 973-326-7601; Price: $5 per child, $10 per adult. Family 4-pack available for $25; Sunday, 1-5 PM

It's hard to resist a clever event like the Frelinghuysen's Beetlemania. For one, kids can learn all about fab four of the beetles world – the ladybug, the darkling, the Asian long-horned, and the dung beetle - at a variety of outdoor, interactive science centers. Then, at four, the whole family and kick back and enjoy a concert of music by the OTHER fab four, as the Robert Murdock Band performs the hits of the Beatles. The only question is, which beetle corresponds to which Beatle? My money's on George as the darkling.