Kids and family events in Dallas-Fort Worth, December 17-23

Celebrate the holidays with books, movies, and lots and lots of Santas.

It's the last week before Christmas -- if ever there was a time to do something holiday-related, it is now. That said, we'll see if we can find you a few non-holiday offerings.

Thursday is Free Third Thursday at the Trinity River Audubon Center in Dallas. The monthly offering allows anyone free admission to the center for guided hikes, arts and crafts, and possible animal encounters. Sounds like a fun time, if the weather doesn't freeze your toukas off.

Richardson City Hall is hosting Santa's Village every evening from Thursday through Sunday. Attendees can explore the various dwellings, including Mrs. Claus's bakery, the reindeer shed, and an ornament factory. Just don't take the reindeer into the bakery or the factory -- things could get messy.

Katie and the Magic Umbrella

Former CBS11 meteorologist Kristine Kahanek is set to release her second children's book, Katie and the Magic Umbrella: On Snowflake Trail, and will be signing copies at Legacy Books in Plano. Since she's a weather expert, you gotta think she knows her way around snowflakes and umbrellas, right?

The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History is hosting their third and final Pajama Party on Saturday morning. Kids can come in their pajamas to enjoy hot chocolate and various other activities before a 10 a.m. screening of Disney's A Christmas Carol on the museum's IMAX screen.

Bryant Haertlein

Sara Hickman

Austin singer-songwriter Sara Hickman will bring her brand of indie folk rock to Poor David's Pub in Dallas on Saturday for a Kids Christmas Show. Just make sure to show up for the 3 p.m. show and not the 8:30 one -- you never know if things will get a little blue after dark.

Finally, since Christmas break starts on Monday, December 21 for most kids, you can celebrate the Twelve Days of Winter Break at Carrollton Libraries. There's one event happening every day at different libraries from Sunday, December 20 through Wednesday, December 23, and then Saturday, December 26 through Thursday, December 31.

Know of any kids and family events we should have mentioned? Tell us about them in the comments section below.