Come decorate a canvas bag, try your hand in the recycling relay, catch a free movie, and more at Family Weekend, Saturday and Sunday, April 20 and 21, at the University of Iowa Pentacrest Museums. Both the Museum of Natural History and Old Capitol Museum will offer a variety of free, public programs for visitors of all ages all weekend long.

Saturday, April 20, visitors to the Museum of Natural History will be able to learn about ways they can help take care of our planet at home and away every day. Decorate your own canvas shopping bag to help reduce the need for disposable paper and plastic bags, get ideas for how to reuse everyday materials to make cool art projects, turn daily chores into fun games with recycling relays, and more. All activities are sponsored in part by the UI Office of Sustainability.

Also at the Museum of Natural History, “Cuentos en el Museo” (Spanish Storytime) will feature a reading of Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax in Spanish at 11 a.m. in the Biosphere Discovery Hub as part of the weekend’s Earth Month related activities.

Don “The Fossil Guy” Johnson will present “Dinosaurs Growing Up!” at 2 p.m. in Macbride Auditorium. How fast did dinosaurs grow? When did they reach full size and how long did they live? This program will focus on answering these questions with a focus on duck-billed dinosaurs and large-bodied tyrannosaurs. See and touch genuine fossil bones, teeth, and claws.

Saturday at the Old Capitol Museum, participants can enjoy historic crafts, historic games and on-going exhibits from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. A historical interpreter will be donning an authentic Civil War Union soldiers outfit and will be available to answer questions in the current exhibit, “Gone to See the Elephant: The Civil War through the Eyes of Iowa Soldiers.“ Special crafts will include making an authentic Civil War Haversack and Housewife, writing with quill pens, and making berry ink.

Historic games are provided by the Johnson County Historical Society.

From 3 to 5 p.m. at Old Capitol, a special game-tournament will challenge visitors with contemporary games. Participants will be given a punch-card to complete, and those finishing each card will be able to enter a special prize drawing. Games will include Trivial Pursuit, Clue, Agricola, Monopoly, a special version of Old Capitol Jeopardy, and more.

Sunday, April 21, the Museum of Natural History continues Saturday’s day-long activities in addition to a free showing of The Lorax in Macbride Auditorium at 2 p.m. The imaginative world of Dr. Seuss comes to life like never before in this visually spectacular adventure.

At 4 p.m. the Museum of Natural History’s Storytime Adventures will feature “Forest Animals,” including forest animals that range from jaguars to owls, wolves to woodpeckers. Explore the complex world of forest animals through stories and hands-on activities to do at the museum and at home. Stories are geared to elementary-aged students.

Sunday, from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. the Old Capitol Museum will show the renowned film, Gone with the Wind, with light refreshments. Based on Margaret Mitchell's novel of the same name, the movie won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actress for Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara.

Visitors can also view the current temporary exhibits at both museums. The Old Capitol Museum will feature “Gone to See the Elephant: The Civil War through the Eyes of Iowa Soldiers,” and collaborative exhibits “2013 Herky Graduation Tour,” and “Iowa’s Ice Age Giants.” The Museum of Natural History, UI Paleontology Repository, and UI Department of Geosciences are co-sponsors and collaborators for the “Iowa’s Ice Age Giants” exhibit.

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all UI-sponsored events. For museum hours and more information or accommodations to attend any of these events, contact the Old Capitol Museum at 319-335-0548 or www.uiowa.edu/oldcap, and the UI Museum of Natural History at 319-335-0606 or www.uiowa.edu/mnh/.