The Little Loop Newsletter by Clovie

Every Tuesday, Clovie's founder shares her top 5 picks for kids activities in Montgomery County and DC Northwest (plus the preamble you didn't ask for).

Hello!

It's the 13th edition of The Little Loop Newsletter by Clovie. This community is growing bigger each week, thank you!

I'm writing this Monday night, and of course the Giants are playing (not well, if I may add). A fellow Giants wife messaged me after last week's Little Loop that kickoff means she also gets the bedtime handoff. I knew Clovie would help us find each other. To all the football spouses out there, let's stick together until February (or January if you're a Giants household, oops).

I know you've been on the edge of your seats waiting for the potty training and toddler bed update. Potty training: A. What, like it's hard? Toddler bed transition: D-, needs improvement. Our son now goes to bed and lets us know we'll see him "in the middle of the night," expecting an open spot in Mommy and Daddy's bed. So far he's had a 100% success rate. My littlest also turned 11 months old and is starting to walk! I can't handle the cuteness.

The Little Loop TLDR: It's the final weekend of Sept before spooky season. Train Day in Gaithersburg, the Wheaton Arts Parade, and a free family bike fest in Rockville, plus a brand-new dinosaur exhibit at the National Children's Museum in DC and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom on stage in Bethesda.

Growing Clovie

We just launched Circle Moms on Clovie! A mom had reached out looking for more to do with her newborn. So if you're in the newborn days and craving a village, that fourth-trimester support is now one tap away in the Clovie directory.

And a favorite this week: meeting a Clovie parent in the wild! I met a mom at a birthday party who said she'd been following Clovie since she moved from Boston to Maryland in August, using it to find her footing in the parenting community here. Helping new families who land here with no village yet is one of the exact reasons I started Clovie.

Just Show Up
​No tickets, no plan. Just go.

​Train Day (Gaithersburg Community Museum, Gaithersburg)​
​Sat Sept 26 · 11:30am to 3:30pm · Free​
The museum's season finale, and a train lover's dream (like my son). Climb up to the 1918 steam engine (an adult along for kids under 14, and it's a ladder), watch the Local Live Loco Steamers run their models, make a train craft, and catch real freight and Amtrak trains rumbling past. Free parking out front.

​Wheaton Arts Parade & Festival (Downtown Wheaton, Marian Fryer Town Plaza)​
​Sun Sept 27 · 10am to 5pm · Free​
The one weekend a year Wheaton fills its streets with art you can walk alongside. The parade starts at 10am with 20+ handmade pieces pushed, pulled, and worn down Georgia Avenue, then comes an art market, three stages of music, and food. For kids: a free Kids' Zone with face painting, balloon twisting, chalk art, and a community mural. Wheaton Metro, free Sunday parking.

​Montgomery County Family Bike Festival (The Square at Rockville Town Center)​
​Sun Sept 27 · 1pm to 4pm · Free​
A whole-family bike day for every age and skill level. MoCo's second family bike fest brings a balance bike parade, bike decorating, ebike and cargo test rides on the protected lanes, bike story time and games, and free kids helmets and lights while they last. Rockville Bike Hub does on-site safety checks.

On the Calendar
​Times and dates worth planning around.

​Dinosaurs: Land of Fire and Ice (National Children's Museum, Downtown DC)​
​Opens Sat Sept 26 · through Jan 10 · 9:30am to 4:30pm · $18.95, under 1 free · timed entry​
New this weekend: a dinosaur exhibit built for little explorers. Kids travel back to the Cretaceous through prehistoric habitats, meet large climbable dinosaurs, and dig into hands-on, whole-body play. Best for ages 3 to 10. Included with general admission, timed entry, so grab a slot ahead of the opening crowd.

5. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom: The Musical (Imagination Stage, Bethesda)​
​Runs Wed Sept 23 to Sun Oct 18 · Weekend shows Sat 1pm, Sun 10am & 1pm · Ages 3 to 9 · Tickets from $16​
The beloved board book as a musical: puppets, dancing, and letters racing up the coconut tree. A great first-theatre pick for the little ones. Tickets are selling fast with not many seats left, but Saturday and Sunday are still open this weekend. Infants under 1 free lap pass, ages 1 to 2 a $5 lap pass, age 3+ a ticket.

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Find the best kids classes, camps, and party entertainment in Montgomery County & DC at cloviekids.com. Follow us on Instagram @clovie.kids.

P.S. Run a local kids business? List it free at cloviekids.com/join, or email hello@cloviekids.com to explore partnership opportunities.

Less Planning. More Playing.

Carole
Founder, Clovie