Indoor activities for kids is a hot topic as the weather gets cooler and the rain continues to fall. Of course, giveaways for some of Atlanta’s hottest shows are big news too. We talked about both yesterday morning on the Field Trips with Sue segment on CBS Better Mornings Atlanta.

Here is a link to the giveaways to Atlanta area shows.(It takes a few minutes to load, so be patient) Be sure to register to win – we’ll be choosing the winners over the next two days. We talked about…

• Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus
• Laughing Pizza Red Carpet Movie Premiere
• Space! at the Center for Puppetry Arts
• MEMPHIS, at the Fox Theatre

Next we talked about indoor activities for kids in Atlanta. Including…

• 2012 Braves Country Caravan – see Field Trips with Sue later today for more information and a link to the schedule
• Stone Summit Climbing Gym
• Imagine It! The Children’s Museum of Atlanta (note the link here goes to a post with Curious George. That was a previous exhibit, starting Feb. 4, it will be Clifford!) - Clifford Exhibit opens on Feb. 4 with a BOGO offer for Fulton County residents on opening day. Don’t forget, the second Tuesday of every month is Target Free Tuesday at the Children’s Museum of Atlanta from 1 – 7 pm.

What: Lunch with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Elephants
When: Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011 at 12 noon
Where: Centennial Olympic Park
Cost: FREE (Bring Your Own Lunch)

It’s supposed to be a beautiful day today, the kind of day for a picnic. However, why just have any old ordinary picnic, why not lunch with elephants. And not just ordinary elephants, but the elephants from the Greatest Show on Earth. The elephants from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® Circus will be enjoying the beautiful weather and a healthy spread at Centennial Olympic Park. The public is invited to join them at noon for a Pachyderm Picnic!

We went to this several years ago and it was a blast! I’ll admit that I actually took my son out of school for lunch and we went down to the park to see the elephants eat. It was probably a lot more educational than his school lunch room. It was fascinating to see the elephants pick up entire watermelons with their trucks and gulp down whole loaves of bread. The kids still remember it.

This year they’ll be noshing on more than 15 loaves of bread, 25 pounds of carrots, 25 heads of lettuce and 10 watermelons! It’s a relaxing afternoon before the opening performance of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® Presents BARNUM 200, where the pachyderm superstars will be joined by more than 150 performers, 10 tigers, 6 miniature horses, 2 llamas, and 5 diamondback pythons! Tickets for the Circus are still available at Ticketmaster. This year you can see the show at Philips Arena downtown Feb. 17 – 21 or at the Arena at Gwinnett Feb. 24 – 27.

Professor Atom Smasher aka Mike the Clown

What: Science of the Circus w/Professor Atom Smasher
Where: Children’s Museum of Atlanta
When: Fri., Jan. 28, 2010 at 2 pm
Cost: Free with Museum Admission. See the Museum Partner Pages for an $8 ticket discount to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus

Everyone is talking about the upcoming Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus coming to town Feb. 17. Field Trips with Sue has a giveaway for tickets to the Ringling Bros. show.

If you can’t wait til February for your Circus fix, head to the Children’s Museum of Atlanta on Friday and visit with Professor Atom Smasher, aka Mike the clown. He’ll entertain young guests with a look at the Science Behind the Circus. The interactive 30 minute show explains how physics plays a part in what you see in the Greatest Show on Earth.

While you’re there, watch the museum put the finishing touches on their latest exhibit set to open on Feb. 5 – From Here to Timbuktu. Children will learn about West African culture, language, and geography through this national traveling exhibit.  They’ll explore the differences of cultures a world away while celebrating some of the similarities that cut across oceans.  The exhibit’s goal is to develop understanding and appreciation of other cultures through discovery and exploration. We’ll bring you more on that soon.

What: Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
Where: Philips Arena and Gwinnett Arena
When: Philips Arena (Feb. 17 – 21) and Gwinnett Arena (Feb. 24 -27)
Costs: Tickets start at $14 Order at www.Ringling.com or Ticketmaster (Win tickets to Opening Night, Feb. 17, 7:30 pm at Philips Arena)
All Access Pre-Show is FREE with a paying ticket

I love the circus. There’s so much going on you never know where to look and I just adore the elephants. This year’s Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is supposed to be one of the best ever – and that’s from performers, not just the publicity folks.

The show features 130 performers from six continents^, almost 100,000 pounds of performing pachyderms, cowboys, pirates, and mermaids. It’s a super-sized spectacle so massive you just can’t miss it!

Try on costumes at the All-Access Pre-Show

Make sure you arrive early. One hour before showtime is the All Access Pre-show, which is FREE with your ticket. The pre-show allows guests to go down on the floor and experience the circus by trying on costumes, interacting with the clowns and seeing some of the acts and animals up close. The pre-show can be crowded, so get there early and know what to expect. The ring by the curtain is the most crowded and is where the animals come out, but there are lots of fun things to do on the other side. Here’s a video I took a few years ago of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus All Access Pre-Show, so you can see what it’s like.

How You Can Win Tickets
Subscribe to Field Trips with Sue by email (and be sure to follow-up and verify your subscription by clicking the link that comes to you via email. You aren’t subscribed until you click that link)
Leave a comment: Let me know you’d like to win by leaving a comment below.
Like Field Trips with Sue on Facebook: Post something on the wall about the Circus
Follow @suerodman on Twitter: Tweet – See Ringling Bros. Circus @PhilipsArena or @GwinnettArena. @suerodman has a giveaway on Field Trips w/Sue
Email: Invite two friends to subscribe to Field Trips with Sue and join our Facebook community. cc: sue(at)fieldtripswithsue.com on the emails.

What: Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
When: Discount available through Dec. 26
Where: Show is Feb. 17-21 at Philips Arena and Feb. 24-27 at the Gwinnett Arena
Cost: $15 for Tickets under $60 using code ZXD

The February 2011 Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus show FUNundrum! is one of the biggest and best ever. This is according to performers in last year’s show, not just the PR department (or their Atlanta publicist, yours truly).

Pre-order your tickets through Dec. 26 using the coupon code ZXD and tickets are just $15, plus ticketmaster fees (available for tickets priced below $60.) Insert the code at the beginning, not at checkout. There is a blank next to the fields for number and price. When I did it, the price came up as $19 each, but that’s because Ticketmaster adds in their ridiculous fees.

I’m told this is the best ticket discount that will be available, so don’t wait thinking you’ll find a better deal. Plus, it’s a great gift if you know a child who has more toys than they know what to do with (probably every child you know). You can go online and print out a certificate with your child’s name on it and wrap it up with a clown nose or a circus book like If I Ran the Circus (Classic Seuss). If you don’t want to buy the book, borrow it from the library. If you already have it, just wrap up the book you have.

FUNundrum! has more than 130 performers from six continents, almost 100,000 pounds of performing pachyderms, cowboys, pirates, and mermaids. I have a special affinity for this year’s ringmaster Jonathan Lee Iverson. He was the ringmaster when we took my oldest to his first circus. He loved it so much, we bought the VHS tape (yes, wayyy back when they had VHS). Since I had a newborn at the time, we watched the video when I fed the baby. I can still sing lines from the song “Welcome to the World of the Circus” 13 years later.

What: Freebies from the Ringling Bros. Barnum Bailey Circus
Where: Philips Arena
When: Feb. 12 – 21
Cost: Tickets are $14 – $130

My favorite part of the Circus, in addition to the elephants, is the All Access Preshow. One hour before the show, ticket holders are invited to a FREE preshow. Go down on the floor, try on real costumes, clown around with the clowns and get your picture taken, view acts and animals up close.

To avoid crowds, get there as soon as they’ll allow you in. The ring closest to backstage is generally where they bring the animals and the elephants. It’s also the most crowded, so if you don’t care about seeing animals, go to the other rings. If all you want is to get close to an elephant, get there early and stake out your spot.

If you’ve recently had a baby, Ringling Bros. has a baby present for you. Baby’s First Circus is a program that gives children 12 months and younger a voucher for a free circus ticket. Children under two don’t need a ticket for the show, but the voucher is good anytime, there is no expiration date, so send away for it and then use it when you child can remember what’s going on. Your child must be under 12 months old to receive the voucher, so don’t wait. It takes 12 – 14 weeks to get the voucher, so you won’t be able to use it for an older child to see this year’s show.