Your Weekend: The Best Family Fun in Honolulu for April 15-21, 2021

Play in a new community-created interactive art project for free, try bumper cars at a new indoor playground, watch a gentle lesson about racism and more.

April 15, 2021

Christi Young,

The Chinese Courtyard (seen here prior to 2020) will be the site of the final installment of the museum’s six-part Joyful Return exhibit. Photo: Courtesy of Honolulu Museum of Art

Joyful Return and Family Sunday

Honolulu Museum of Art’s newest exhibit is one some of you may be very familiar with. Joyful Return is a series of outdoor pop-up installations created with submissions from the community, including many keiki. The first two to open, Return and Restore, will showcase photographs people took of their favorite memories at the museum, images and storytelling moments in the Central Courtyard for “Return,” and messages of hope drawn on fabric banners will be the center of the “Restore” at the sculpture terrace. The opening comes just in time for Family Sunday, which includes free admission for all residents and downloadable activity sheets online. The theme for April is Shangri-La, which celebrates an idyllic place and highlights the art from Shangri La, Museum of Islamic Art, Culture and Design. On honolulumuseum.org, you can find a scavenger hunt to use in the galleries when you visit, along with instructions for DIY tile rubbings and eight-point star tiles. Don’t forget to stop into the museum shop (we’re always surprised by the finds inside) and that you can order from the café online and pick up your prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, tomato, cucumber, baby arugula and pesto flatbread on the way out.

All ages
Admission is free Sunday, April 18 and on Fridays, 4 to 9 p.m. Otherwise, it is $10 for Hawaiʻi residents and military, kids 18 years and younger are free.
10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday
900 S. Beretania St.
(808) 532-8700
honolulumuseum.org, @honolulumuseum

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Opening: Kids City Adventure

If you’re a fan of Kids City in Kapolei, your fun just grew by 30,000 square feet. Thursday, April 15, a new indoor play space quietly opened in the old Bed, Bath and Beyond space at Ward Village. In addition to the ball pit with interactive video screen that was a big hit with our kid testers in Kapolei, the new Kids City Adventure also has a multi-trampoline room (we counted six), bumper cars, an American Ninja Warrior station along with other play areas. Want to try it on us? We’re giving away tickets for an evening playdate next week. Enter to win by noon, Monday April 19!

We tried it in a sneak peek yesterday. Watch for our tips and review later this week on honolulufamily.com.

For kids 10 months to 13 years
Ranging from $22 for two hours of play to $45 for five hours. Parents admission is a flat rate of $5
Opening Thursday, April 15. Regular hours will be 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
1200 Ala Moana Blvd.
(808) 888-2700
kidscityhawaii.com, @kidscityhawaii

Photo: Courtesy of Honolulu Theatre for Youth

The HI Way: “Stronger Together”

Season three of Honolulu Theatre for Youth’s TV show is about to hit the airwaves and the first episode reflects the topical nature the local writers and acting crew have brought to audiences for the past year. The episode, titled “Stronger Together” was created in response to the incidents targeting Asian Americans on the Mainland. We haven’t yet seen the preview, but we know the HTY team will address the challenging topic in its signature empathetic, engaging way.

Free
Airs on April 20 on and is free online at htyweb.org
htyweb.org, @honolulutheatreforyouth

Reserve: Mother’s Day Party at the Hawaiʻi Children’s Discovery Center

The party won’t be until May, but you know that the in-person events at one of our favorite centers sells out quickly. In fact, time slots for Mother’s Day are already gone, but when we checked Wednesday night, there were still spaces for Saturday. The even includes an hour of activities followed by an hour of play in the center.