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player ready...Halloween has come and gone, but it’s not too late for kids to have fun being frightened. Runamuck’s stage adaptation of Philip Pullman’s book “COUNT KARLSTEIN” has what it takes to get the job done. “It’s a melodramatic, Gothic comedy,” says Heath Corson, who directed the play. “All of the emotions are heightened and it’s told in serial style with a cliff-hanger at the end of each scene.” Corson says “it’s not all that scary,” but he says the Demon in the play is “in the opening scene, which starts with a bang, a scream and a clap of thunder. It’s a pretty heart-pounding experience.”
“Count Karlstein,” through Nov. 18, WNEP Theatre, 3209 N. Halsted St., $6; 773-784-8100.
— Nancy Maes
Children will have a way to keep their hands busy at the Fine Art of Fiber Show at the Chicago Botanic Garden. They can learn the techniques of weaving on a loom that is shaped like a sheep. Although the event takes place on Saturday and Sunday, kids have other opportunities to learn a lot in a series of programs called Planting Families that runs through mid-December. Among the many classes for children ages 2-13 are ones in which youngsters can find out about nature’s fall bounty or how to have fun with snow, play games from long ago and learn about the first Thanksgiving feast, or listen to folktales from faraway lands. Fine Art of Fiber Show Children’s Activities, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, free, 847-835-5440; children and family classes, through Dec. 19, $10-$40, 847-835-6950; Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake Cook Rd., Glencoe.
— Nancy Maes
Spend Sunday at the cabin. Spring Valley Nature Sanctuary’s log cabin hosts a “Foodways Demonstration,” featuring hearth cooking and other early-American food preparations, the first Sunday of each month. If you time your visit right, you may get to sample what’s cooking. The log cabin is nestled among the pine trees just a short walk from the Spring Valley Visitors Center. “Foodways Demonstration,” 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Spring Valley Nature Sanctuary, 1111 E. Schaumburg Rd., Schaumburg, free; 847-985-2100.
— Stephanie Price
A delightful children’s book, “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,” comes to life at the Paramount Arts Centre. Best-selling author Judith Viorst, Alexander’s writer-mom, has collaborated with the Kennedy Center’s Imagination Celebration on Tour to create this entertaining musical about Alexander’s bad day, which everyone can laugh at and relate to as well. “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,” 10 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. Nov. 10, Paramount Arts Centre, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora, $7.50; 630-264-7203.
— Stephanie Price
Learn about Native American culture firsthand by making crafts and playing games at Isle a la Cache Museum Sunday. Native American families played games not only for fun, but also to practice the skills needed for successful hunting, group cooperation and survival. Crafts also served a dual purpose as an expression of creativity and for sharpening skills.. The event includes retelling of Native American tales that passed on the tribe’s history and beliefs. Refreshments will be served. The program is sponsored by the Will County Forest Preserve District. Native American Crafts and Games begin at 2 p.m. Sunday at Isle a la Cache Museum, 135th Street east of Illinois Highway 53, Romeoville, $1; 815-886-1467.
— Pat Harper