Spring break in the Edmonds School District is April 4-8. My kids are at an age where they definitely require less spring break maintenance but it seemed to sneak up on us this year. Maybe it is because I feel like it is going by faster now that one is in high school or maybe it is because we are excited to sleep in a bit since our oldest is at school long before the next one of us has to be somewhere.

This week can be tricky not only for child care but also for finding fun things to do. I just recently saw a business on 196th (across from Wendy’s) that I hadn’t noticed before (likely because I have been trying to avoid it due to all the construction near Freddy’s) called Gamers Heaven — and it turns out we have a few spots locally for gamers or all kinds. Per their Facebook page “Gamers Heaven is aspiring to give gamers and geeks alike a place they can call their second home.” The page says they also have board games, RPGs, a gaming lounge, and Esports. For more information and hours, which start in the afternoon on weekdays, you can visit GamersHeavenSeattleNorth.square.site.

Around the Table Gamers Pub, which has been on 196th Street at 76th for awhile now, is “an all-ages board game shop and pub, specializing in new and used games and RPGs, a curated and rotating list of craft beers, sodas, ciders and meads as well as a host of Full Tilt Ice Cream.” We have had a birthday party using their back room, met up on non-student days to eat pizza and ice cream with friends, and stocked up on Pokémon cards at Around the Table. One of the bonuses of meeting up at Around the Table when the kids were a bit younger is there was something to do for both ages of siblings and the adults so we could enjoy time with friends. For more group events, information, and hours you can visit ATTGamePub.com

Nomad Games in Perrinville is a store specializing in tabletop games. They carry a selection from Games Workshop, Fantasy Flight, Wizkids, WOTC, CMON and more. Nomad Games also has special in-store events which you can find via their Facebook page.

I can add that I have called each of these locations to see if they have Speed Cubes, which I can best describe as a non-Rubik’s brand Rubik’s cube? My youngest is big into this right now, and I have yet to learn of a place to buy one of these in person. However, Around the Table said they often carry the Rubik’s brand.

Before we get to some local summer camp options, I wanted to share some book recommendations from The Neverending Bookshop in Perrinville. On March 25, Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day, the bookshop shared some book selections on Facebook. The post thanks “TNEBS friend, Elsa (and her parents) for helping us come up with some excellent titles centering and celebrating people with Cerebral Palsy.”

The post explains that cerebral palsy “is the most common childhood motor disability, varying in severity from person to person,” adding that the books listed feature people and characters across that spectrum and invite others to learn more about people living with CP. When I was searching for some holiday presents in the shop, I asked about one of the books in the list — Roll With It, by Jamie Sumner — and owner Annie Carl said it would be great for the talented and clever tween I was shopping for. I checked back and the recipient did enjoy the book. Other titles on the list include I Will Dance, by Nancy Bo Flood, If At Birth You Don’t Succeed, by Zach Amber, and The Pretty One, by Keah Brown. The books featured (you can find a long list in the Facebook post) can be found in-store, via TheNeverendingBookshop.com, or through their Bookshop.org site. You can also place an order by visiting or calling the shop.

This summer. Ballyhoo Theatre is offering two summer programs in Edmonds for musical theatre students. There is a Musical Theatre Performance Workshop from June 27 to July 17 for middle and high school students, which culminates in a performance of A Year With Frog and Toad at the Phoenix Theatre in Edmonds’ Firdale Village. This camp is for students 11 to 18 years old and all auditioning students will be cast in the production. Musical Theatre Performance Intensive runs from June 27 to Aug. 1. This program is for high school- and college-age students to rehearse and perform On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. “The Performance Intensives are designed for advanced students ready to tackle the higher demands and expectations of more challenging material in a pre-professional setting,” the theatre notes. Acceptance for participants 15 to 21 years old is by audition only. You can find more information on these programs at BallyhooTheatre.org under “Education.”

This summer, as expected, the Edmonds Center for the Arts is offering week-long summer arts, culture, and STEAM camps for young people ages 7-14. Camps will be held in person at ECA in the “state-of-the-art theatre, classrooms, and outdoor green spaces.” Students ages 9 to 12 can participate in Crows: Caws and Effect Summer Camp from July 11-15. This STEAM-focused camp will explore how crows and ravens communicate while campers create crow-inspired artwork and “discover these birds’ meanings in cultures from around the globe.” In Once Upon a Time Machine Summer Camp from July 18-22, campers ages 10 to 13 will explore time travel. Students exploring time travel from a variety of perspectives (science, history, literature, and popular culture) will create their very own time machines. Read It, See It, Be It! with Book-It Repertory Theatre Summer Camp is for campers ages 7 to 10 and will be held from Aug. 1-5. My sons did this camp what feels like ages ago and loved it. “Student artists will read and enact a variety of lively picture books, ultimately selecting one to rehearse for a final performance on the last day of camp,” the camp publicity states. The Heroes We Need: Creative Adaptive Performance Ensemble (CAPE) Camp with Dandylyon Drama will be held from Aug. 8-12 and is recommended for students with disabilities in 4th-8th grades. The description notes that this camp “is specifically designed for fourth through eighth graders with intellectual and developmental disabilities, who identify as disabled, and/or who receive special education services at school. If your student is younger or older than this age range, but you know they would love camp, please reach out. We’d be happy to make an exception.” Campers will create and perform a 10-minute play answering ‘Who’s going to save the world?’ For more information and registration on any of these camps, visit EdmondsCenterfortheArts.org.

— By Jennifer Marx

Jen Marx, an Edmonds mom of two boys, is always looking for a fun place to take the kids that makes them tired enough to go to bed on time.