Ace Academic Enrichment Center offers an afterschool program with academic curricula for children in first through sixth grades, covering math, language arts, science, computers, indoor sports, and games, while also emphasizing character development. Pickup from nearby schools is available.

Ace also offers weekly enrichment classes in math, language arts, Spanish, music, art, theater arts, and chess. Visit the website for current schedules. Tutoring in language arts, Spanish, and math is available for students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

The summer program and camps focus on academic enrichment, but also include recreational activities such as basketball, art, theater arts, field trips, and more.

American Robotics Academy offers summer day camps, after-school enrichment programs, classes, birthday parties, scouting activities, and other special events for young people to learn about robotics technology in today's world.

Programs encourage participants to explore, experience, and express themselves through hands-on, interactive robotics activities. Students gain experience with design and problem solving through the use of gears, motors, wheels and axles, pulleys, and remote control devices in order to build simple working robots - and to be inspired to create more complex robotic inventions.

Classes and camps are held at various schools and church facilities throughout the greater Houston area; visit the website for a complete, up-to-date list.

American Robotics Academy offers summer day camps, after-school enrichment programs, classes, birthday parties, scouting activities, and other special events for young people to learn about robotics technology in today's world.

Programs encourage participants to explore, experience, and express themselves through hands-on, interactive robotics activities. Students gain experience with design and problem solving through the use of gears, motors, wheels and axles, pulleys, and remote control devices in order to build simple working robots - and to be inspired to create more complex robotic inventions.

Classes and camps are held at various schools and church facilities throughout the greater Houston area; visit the website for a complete, up-to-date list.

Over five miles of hiking trails wind through several diverse ecosystems, including bayou, prairie, forest, and marshland, in the area's largest nature park.

The Discovery Loop takes visitors past the Bison Enclosure, the Texas Raptors Exhibit, platforms with scenic views of prairie and marshland, a butterfly garden, a pond teeming with turtles, great picnic spots, birdwatching areas, and more. Along the way, the Educational Center houses live snakes, fish, scorpions, and a tarantula, plus a tableful of animal bones and skulls to handle and examine. In back of the Educational Center are clean, large restrooms.

New to Armand Bayou is the John P. McGovern Children's Discovery Area, located behind the Educational Center. Fenced-in and well-shaded, with bench swings, flower gardens, a walking path, and a picnic table, this area is ideal for little ones who might not hold up well on a long nature walk. The Discovery Area also includes a crawl-through alligator, colorful information signs, and a sandbox with buckets and shovels.

Other activities include pontoon boat tours and canoe trips, available by advance reservation.

A re-created 1800s farmhouse includes a house full of antiques, a barn, organic garden, windmill, and a sugarcane press. The farmhouse is open Saturdays and Sundays from 1pm to 4pm for tours and interactive demonstrations.

EcoCamp is a summer day camp for children ages four to 13. Activities include fishing and canoeing, while campers also use the Nature Center as a living laboratory to explore the world around them. Winter camp provides an opportunity for outdoor fun and learning during kids' Winter Break. The Center also hosts Creature Corner classes for preschoolers; call for the latest schedule.

Birthday party packages offer a choice of activities, recommended for kids ages five to 12 years old. Reservations are required at least two weeks in advance.

Bay Area Learning Center has joined with FasTracKids to offer an academic enrichment program for children ages three to seven. This 24-month (two hours per week) course is designed to enrich children's knowledge while also developing their speaking, communication, and leadership skills.

Subject-areas include not only math and writing, but also drama, economics, and various sciences - astronomy, technology, and biology, to name a few.

The Learning Center also offers Spanish lessons, as well as tutoring in math, reading, and writing for ages three and up - including TAKS prep!

Academic summer camps are also available in areas such as science, Spanish, math, and reading.

Let your children's imaginations run wild this summer at Camp Invention, a weeklong day camp offered in elementary schools across the country. Check online for a location near you.

Kids in the first through sixth grades participate in fun, hands-on activities that enhance their understanding of the arts, sciences, history, and math.

Created by the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation in partnership with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Established in 1979, the Chinese Community Center offers its programs to the community at large. The Center has a child development center for infants and up, as well as afterschool enrichment programs for children in kindergarten through high school. The afterschool program features tutoring, sports and group activities, TAKS prep, and more, while also assisting new immigrant youth in their transition into the community with English enrichment and acculturation workshops.

The Center's Chinese School offers youth language classes, as well as enrichment classes in kung fu, chess, art, and more, for children ages three and up. The Center also hosts the Chinese Youth Society, which is open to children of all nationalities, meeting at the school once a month for a variety of activities, including community outreach and basketball.

The summer program and camp offer academic enrichment with TAKS prep and intensive language sessions, as well as splash days and other activities.

Creative Connections offers fine arts classes for children in dance, drama, art, yoga, creative movement, and motor skills. Classes are available for infants to fifth graders at various venues throughout the greater Houston area. Call or visit the website for current locations and schedules.

Creative Connections also offers day camps and birthday party packages.

Ask about the schedule of free demo classes.

Budding astronomers can sample the George Observatory's magnificent stargazing, right on the Brazos Bend State Park grounds. A satellite facility of the Houston Museum of Natural Science, the Observatory houses the Challenger Learning Center for Space Science Education, which takes participants on simulated space missions, complete with a mission control center and a spacecraft simulator. A meteorite exhibit features fragments of several famous meteorites, including a piece of the Allende, Chihuahua, Mexico meteorite, which fell to Earth in 1969.

There are also three domed telescopes that allow visitors to gain firsthand knowledge of the beautiful and awe-inspiring sights of the night sky. Depending on the time of the month and the season of the year, you can see a variety of phenomena, such as Saturn's rings, cloud belts on Jupiter, a partial or total eclipse of the Moon, a bright meteor or fireball that lights up the ground, or the Milky Way.

The George Observatory is available by reservation on Friday nights for groups of 30 or more. During weekdays, school groups can attend astronomy classes by reservation. These classes feature a special tour of the research telescope and a view through a solar telescope, allowing visitors to see sunspots, flares, and the ever-changing gas prominences of the Sun.

Birthday party packages are available for children ages eight and up.

The Observatory and Challenger Learning Center also conduct summer science camps, in conjunction with the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Camps are held in Fort Bend County.

High Touch-High Tech offers totally hands-on, totally participatory, in-school science "field-trips". Scientists come directly to the classroom for 90 minutes and present real, relevant science in a fun manner. Programs are geared for preschool and elementary school up to 5th grade.

Afterschool programs are conducted monthly at your child's school. They last for 30 minutes and can run from September to May. Like the other programs in High Touch-High Tech's lineup, the students conduct hands-on exercises and receive take home items where applicable.

These programs are designed for whole classes, so would need to be arranged with the teachers.

Summer camps are being held at various sites around the area. Visit the website [www.hightouch-hightech.com] or call [281.448.9919] for this summer's programming schedule and camp structure.

The 155-acre Houston Arboretum offers visitors a place to escape from the hustle and bustle of the city and explore local flora and fauna on five miles of hiking trails through forest, meadow, and wetlands. Its indoor Discovery Room features hands-on exhibits, including a 15-foot learning tree, aquariums with turtles and other aquatic wildlife, games, puzzles, and microscopes. The Discovery Room is open Tue-Sun, from 10am to 4pm.

Birdwatching enthusiasts are sure to enjoy the trails, too, as over 160 species of birds have been observed at the Arboretum in the past twenty years.

The restrooms inside the Nature Center are large and clean, and include changing tables. More restrooms - without changing tables - are available outside, in back of the building.

Children's Classes: "Tadpole Troopers," a pre-school program for ages three to five, is offered monthly during the school year. Participating children enjoy over an hour of stories, games, and crafts, as well as a walking tour to observe wildlife in the forest.
"Naturalist Explorer" classes are designed for children ages five to eight. One Saturday each month during the school year, children learn about natural history and basic ecology through hands-on, engaging activities.
"EcoTrackers" is for ages nine to 12; these Saturday sessions inspire young naturalists to explore their surroundings and deepen their knowledge of the natural world.

Nature Discovery Camps: These week-long sessions provide children ages five to 12 with a close look at natural science and ecology topics. Classes are designed and taught by staff naturalists and include hands-on activities both indoors and out. Camps are offered during spring break, summer, and winter break.

Birthday parties are available to for kids ages four to 10. Members receive priority registration and discounts on classes and parties.

The winner of our 2008 Parents' Picks quest to find the best museum for big kids and teens in Houston, the Houston Museum of Natural Science is ranked as one of the most highly attended museums in the country, housing the Burke Baker Planetarium, Wortham IMAX Theatre, Cockrell Butterfly Center, and four floors of natural science halls and exhibits. The Houston Museum of Natural Science is located in Hermann Park across from Miller Outdoor Theatre. Tickets are sold separately for each of the main Museum areas. Children two years and under are free, but must sit on their parents' laps in the IMAX Theatre.

Ten permanent exhibit areas cover subjects from astronomy, space science, and Native Americans, to paleontology, energy, chemistry, gems and minerals, seashells, and Texas wildlife. Rotating special exhibits round out the Museum's offerings. The Fondren Discovery Place on the first floor is filled with hands-on exhibits that will delight children and adults of all ages.

Admission to the permanent exhibit halls: Adults $9; Seniors and Children ages three to 11 $7; Children ages two and under, free. While this general admission is relatively inexpensive, the cost can become expensive with a full plate of activities.

The Cockrell Butterfly Center is worth a special trip in itself. The exhibit is a three-story glass structure that showcases hundreds of live butterflies in a naturalistic rainforest setting. Visiting the center is an interactive experience: butterflies flutter among - and occasionally land on - visitors strolling the paths or relaxing on benches. The exhibition also houses the Brown Hall of Entomology, which contains several live insects from around the world, as well as interactive displays. Downstairs in the Entomology Hall, a quirky vending machine sells booklets of insect tattoos, packets of edible cricket snacks, and more. A children's room provides a nice quiet spot for parents to sit and for kids to use their imaginations - on hand are books, puzzles, games, tables and chairs, soft benches, insect puppets, and a giant beehive for kids to crawl through and clamber upon.

Cockrell Butterfly Center admission: Adults $8; Seniors and Children ages three to 11, $6.

The Burke Baker Planetarium allows visitors to experience the wonders of space while still on earth. Recently renovated, the planetarium offers the world's most technologically advanced and realistic views of space and the universe. Get the feeling that you are traveling in space when high-resolution video technology projects images of planets, stars, meteors, solar systems, and entire galaxies on the domed surface. The planetarium is also used to train Space Shuttle astronauts in starfield identification.

Planetarium admission: Adults $6; Seniors and Children ages three to 11, $5.

Ranked as one of the world's premier IMAX theaters, the 394-seat Wortham IMAX Theatre features the finest motion picture system available. IMAX films provide an exceptional educational experience by letting the viewer "feel" like a part of the action on screen.

Wortham IMAX Theatre admission: Adults $10; Seniors and Children ages three to 11, $8.

The Museum has a second Challenger Learning Center at its George Observatory, located 55 miles south of Houston in Brazos Bend State Park.

Birthday parties are also available at the Museum. For questions or to reserve a party: call 713.639.4782 or email Birthdays@hmns.org.

The Museum also conducts summer science camps - both on site and at its satellite facilities, the George Observatory in Fort Bend County and the X-ploration Station located in The Woodlands Mall.

iD Tech Camp is a week-long, day and overnight program for kids ages seven to 17. Campers build robots, create video games, design websites with Flash, film digital movies, and learn programming. Special teen programs include iD Gaming Academy, iD Film Academy, and a Study Abroad program in Spain.

Imagination Campus offers childcare and preschool for kids ages six weeks to five years old, as well as an after school program for first- through fifth-graders.

Summer camp is also available. From figuring out the mechanics of spaceship engineering using recycled materials to creating food for a spy academy graduation ceremony, participants in the Summer Mission Series are given the necessary tools to question, learn, and invent through arts, sciences, creativity, and natural play. Each session is based on a theme.

Jesse H. Jones Park features 300 acres of natural parkland with a variety of micro-habitats, including natural white sand beaches along Spring Creek, with large numbers of native species of flora and fauna. Over six miles of paved, all-weather, handicapped-accessible (and stroller-friendly) hiking trails are available.

The Nature Center features displays, dioramas, mounted specimens, and a state-of-the-art audiovisual system. A permanent exhibit of live snakes of Harris County and an observation beehive are also featured. Interactive programs are conducted on the weekends.

The Redbud Hill Homestead is a re-creation of an 1830s-era Texas settler homestead, and is open for self-guided tours on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons.

The picnic area features 26 picnic tables, including four handicapped-accessible tables, with accompanying barbecue grills. A playground, located in the picnic area, features handicapped-accessible equipment and a separate toddler play area.

Staff-guided pontoon boat tours and canoe trips along Spring Creek are offered periodically from September to May. Advance reservations are required for these trips and are taken beginning 10 days prior to the trip date.

Fishing is permitted only along the banks of Spring Creek, not in the cypress ponds.

Summer Nature Camp is for children ages five to 12.

Lango offers language instruction in Spanish and Mandarin for kids ages one to nine, using music, games, art, and stories. Visit the website for a current schedule and list of locations. Prices run about $8-$10 per class, depending on the program.

Summer camps are also available.

Mad Science is on a mission to get kids excited about science through hands-on fun and activities.

Mad Science offers birthday parties for groups of any size, ideal for children ages five to 12. A Mad Scientist comes to your house and presents a 45-minute show, complete with science experiments that appeal to kids' penchant for goo, pop, and fizz. A variety of 15-minute "finales" are available for an extra charge, featuring dry ice, a laser show, a sound machine, or a rocket launch.

Prices for a basic party are $175 for up to 15 children, $195 (16-25 children), $215 (26-35 children), or $235 (36-45 children). Fifteen-minute finales are $25 each, with a maximum of two.

For children ages eight to 12, Rocket Building Parties are $200 for fewer than nine kids, or $24.95 per child for nine kids or more.

Other options, for an additional charge, include a cotton candy machine, goody bags, party favors, t-shirts, invitations, and decorations.

Mad Science also offers summer camps at multiple locations throughout the Houston area. Camps run weekly from Jun through Aug, including full-day camps for children ages six to 12, and half-day camps for ages three to five. Registration and other information are available online.

Mad Science suggests booking four to six weeks in advance to make sure you get your choice of dates, times, and finales.

The winner of our 2008 Parents' Picks quest to find the best enviro-friendly place in Houston, the Nature Discovery Center is housed in the old Henshaw home, nestled in Russ Pitman Park, a four-acre rural retreat in the midst of the city of Bellaire.

The Center's Discovery Rooms are upstairs, but if you need assistance, the staff are happy to help. These two rooms are full of intriguing exhibits and hands-on activities. Discovery boxes entice youngsters to explore a crystal cave with a magnifying glass, compare animal teeth to their own, explore life in a log, or reconstruct a turtle skeleton. Children can also see frogs, turtles, a tarantula, hissing cockroaches, a freshwater aquarium, and a snake. Puzzles, loads of books, drawing supplies, and a microscope are also on hand.

One of the Discovery Rooms contains larger exhibits that change once or twice a year. These larger exhibits cover a variety of topics with hands-on activities, displays, and specimens to examine. You may find this room transformed into a rainforest, a prairie, the Sargasso Sea, or some other habitat - or you may find that the room invites kids to dig deep into the earth to discover geology in the GeoZone.

The Center has three restrooms, including one with a changing table upstairs. Several covered picnic tables in back of the house make for a peaceful spot to eat among the birds and squirrels.

Storytime with crafts, for children ages two to five, is held every Wednesday at 4pm. Nature classes invite kids ages three to 10 to learn about a variety of topics.

Summer camps are available for children ages five and up, and summer classes are available for children ages three to five with their parents or grandparents.

The Nature Discovery Center also offers birthday party options, including a presentation with live animals, that can be done either at the Center or other locations.

The surroundings at Russ Pitman Park include picnic tables, a tree-shaded playground, nature trails, birdwatching, a fish pond, and a host of small critters such as squirrels, frogs, and turtles.

Robot Discovery Camp offers kids the opportunity to learn about robotics, programming, teamwork, and robot design in two separate, one-week sessions.

The EARLY Robotics program (Engineering and Robotics Learned Young) introduces kids ages seven to 11 to engineering principles by using LEGO Simple Machine kits to build robots and realistic motorized machines.

The LEGO NXT Robotics program teaches kids ages 10 to 14 about "going green" with alternative energy, energy audits, and renewable energy. Participants create and program robots that help a community rethink its energy consumption, and take part in a friendly competition designed to inspire campers to implement energy-conserving changes in their own environments.

Budding scientists ages six to 11 can join Sea Campus Kids for a marine science day program on the campus of Texas A&M-Galveston. Hands-on and feet-in-the-water activities include wading through a salt-water marsh, visiting a turtle hatchery, and dissecting a fish. Courses are held weekly.

Older kids (ages 10 to 18) can stay in college dorms for a week-long overnight Sea Camp. Instructors are faculty members and graduate students from the University, teaching campers about marine biology, ecology, and other scientific matters. Recreational activities include pizza parties and beach cookouts.

At Johnson Space Center/NASA, Space Center Houston allows families to relive the achievements of the NASA space program and witness history in the making. This one-of-a-kind experience, found only in Houston, is the perfect destination for tourists or locals seeking something different.

Everything in the visitors' center facility is realistic. Space Center's creators kept in close contact with NASA to ensure the most accurate experience. Each attraction is self-guided, so families can spend as much or as little time in each area as they want.

The main entry room, the Space Center Plaza, hosts traveling exhibits and has a full-size Space Shuttle Mock-up which offers a close-up look at the middeck and flight deck of the orbiter, from control consoles to sleeping quarters.

At Mission Status Center, knowledgeable Mission Briefing Officers provide up-to-the-minute information about space flight and training activities. During missions, Mission Status Center shares communication between Johnson Space Center's Mission Control and the astronauts orbiting on board the shuttle.

The Feel of Space offers hands-on experiences; here, kids can land the shuttle or retrieve a satellite through computer simulation.

In the Destiny Theater, the film On Human Destiny brings great moments of space exploration to the big screen. Then, families can walk through the history of the manned space program, starting with a model of the Goddard Rocket. Three capsules actually flown in space are on display.

The Space Center Theater seats more than 500 guests and features a giant, five-story screen to show astronauts training in the 25-minute film To Be An Astronaut.

Tram tours take visitors behind the scenes at Johnson Space Center and are led by knowledgeable guides. The tours visit various sites, including the X-38 Assembly Building and the Shuttle Mock-up Facility. Tour length varies depending on building availability but ranges from 60 to 90 minutes.

Kids Space Place was created for children of all ages who have always dreamed of experiencing the same things astronauts do in space. Interactive exhibits and themed areas allow kids to explore and experiment with walking on the moon, commanding the space shuttle, and living on the space station.

Summer and Spring Break day camp programs are available for children ages four to 14. Call 281.244.2148 for registration information.

Writers in the Schools hosts Summer Creative Writing Workshops, which offer a supportive environment where children engage in writing stories, poetry, essays, and plays, as well as simply reading for pleasure. Through these activities, children can discover the joy in writing, the intrigue of language, and the confidence of authorship. Sibling discounts are available.

Writers in the Schools hosts Summer Creative Writing Workshops, which offer a supportive environment where children engage in writing stories, poetry, essays, and plays, as well as simply reading for pleasure. Through these activities, children can discover the joy in writing, the intrigue of language, and the confidence of authorship. Sibling discounts are available.

Writers in the Schools hosts Summer Creative Writing Workshops, which offer a supportive environment where children engage in writing stories, poetry, essays, and plays, as well as simply reading for pleasure. Through these activities, children can discover the joy in writing, the intrigue of language, and the confidence of authorship. Sibling discounts are available.

The Health Museum - aka the John P. McGovern Museum of Health and Medical Science - is Houston's only interactive science center and a member institution of the world-renowned Texas Medical Center.

Interactivity begins in the grand entry hall, filled with hands-on brain teasers that appeal to all the senses.

The main exhibit is the Jim Hickox Amazing Body Pavilion, a voyage through a Texas-sized human body. The Pavilion includes giant models of human organs and dozens of hands-on exhibits and science stations. Visitors of all ages may explore how each system of the body works and how to stay healthy.

Visitors can also see live organ dissections and other science shows in the McGovern Theater. Outside is a small garden with a fountain, and this too is hands-on - the kids are invited to touch the plants.

Summer Discovery, The Health Museum's hands-on, minds-on summer camp program, is for kids ages eight to 13. The Museum also hosts a spring break camp.

Admission is free on Thursday afternoons, 2pm-7pm.

The mission of The New School in the Heights is to provide an alternative educational experience for children in kindergarten through ninth grade with good or superior intelligence whose social-emotional delays interfere with success in school and life.

The school also hosts an "Arts in the Afternoon" afterschool program, which is open to children from other schools as well. The program is for children in grades four through nine.

The school's Super Cyber Summer Adventure focuses on web design, digital photography, computer
graphics, and other computer skills, while also developing kids' social skills.

The Woodlands Xploration Station is a satellite educational facility of the Houston Museum of Natural Science. In addition to the dinosaur specimens and other exhibits, Xploration Station also offers weekday classes, summer camps, storytimes, craft days, birthday parties, and more.

The John C. Freeman Weather Museum at the Weather Research Center presents an opportunity to learn about the many different aspects of weather, including science, history, and safety.

One of the Museum's interactive exhibits is the Weather Studio, in which kids can create their own weather broadcasts from hurricanes, floods, or blizzards; DVDs of the broadcast can be purchased for $10. Meteorologists and museum staff are also on hand to perform experiments demonstrating how Mother Nature works.

Birthday party packages include a 30-minute weather lab, museum admission for up to 10 kids and 10 adults, a party room with a host, party favors, and more. The cost is $175.

The Weather Museum also offers various summer camps for children ages five to 17.

The Museum's website features detailed information for families to prepare a hurricane survival kit, including a shopping list for basic supplies, evacuation plans, and more.

Founded by alumni of Rice University, Wonder-Space offers year-round academic programs for kindergartners through adults. Programs include one-on-one tutoring, test preparation, homework help in small groups, and more.

Wonder-Space also offers a computer and technology summer camp.

Yorkshire Academy offers academic programs for children 18 months old through fifth grade, including before- and after-school care. Summer programs are filled with enrichment, athletic, and educational activities.

Yorkshire also offers a variety of afterschool extracurricular programs, including music lessons. All classes are open to the community as well as to the Academy's students and their families.