Grab & Go Planner: Feb. 23-March 1

Family best bets for the week ahead include cooking, ice-skating and swimming, as well as a couple of more ambitious suggestions like the U-M Museum of Natural History. What do you plan to do with the kids this week and weekend? If you have something to share, add to to the comments.

Young Chef at The Chop Shop

• Why go:  If you want your kids to learn how to make wholesome food, here’s your chance. Kids age 8 and older will learn to make dinner for the whole family. They will prep, make and take home a chicken pot pie and Waldorf salad. There will also be games and cookie decorating.
• Where: The Chop Shop, 2221 Cole St., Birmingham
• When: 1-3 p.m. Thursday
• Cost: $35
• What else: To register, call 248-594-2210

Barnum Park Indoor Ice Rink Open Skate

• Why go: It’s 52 degrees in the ice rink  – which would probably feel pretty good about now.
• Where:
• When: 1:30-3 p.m. Wednesday, 9:30-10:50 a.m. Friday, 1:30-3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
• Cost: Rental skates $3 (limited sizes)
• What else: For more information, call 248-530-1642 or 248-530-1643

Goldfish Swim School Family Swim Hours

• Why go: Practice your swimming or just have fun in the pool. 
• Where: 2388 Cole St.
• When: Noon-1 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 6:30-8 p.m. Friday for family swim
• Cost: $5 per person, no more than $15 per family
• What else:  focuses on babies and toddlers. The club also offers classes for kids 4-35  months old with an adult and 3-5 years old and older by themselves. Semi-private lessons and the opportunity to join a recreational swim team is also available.
• For more information: Call 248-290-3477

'Under the African Sky'

• Why go: If you haven’t seen a Wild Swan Theater performance, you and your kids are in for a treat. Geared to ages 3-9, this is a Black History Month play and is made up of brief, humorous African tales performed through storytelling, acting and drumming. Music, costumes and masks will delight the little ones. Continuous American Sign Language, woven in the middle of the action, will make this performance accessible to deaf and hard-of-hearing children as well as give the performance an added dimension for hearing children.
• Where: Towsley Auditorium, Washtenaw Community College, Ann Arbor
• When: 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. Saturday
• Cost: $12 adults, $8 children and seniors
• What else: For audio-description tours for blind children, wheelchair seating or for tickets, call 734-995-0530

University of Michigan Exhibit Museum of Natural History

• Why go: The Exhibit Museum is a repository of dinosaur bones, dinosaur fossils and dinosaur skeletons, as well as Native American stuffed animals. Also, come gaze at the stars in the museum's planetarium for Sky Tonight, a live star talk.
• Where: 1109 Geddes, Ann Arbor. Park in the structure on Fletcher Street near the Power Center.
• When: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday; noon-5 p.m. Sunday. For Sky Tonight: 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Friday, 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
• Cost: The museum is free; the planetarium shows are $5

• What else: For more information, call 734-764-0478