Fun Free And Fabulous In Valley Forge

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa.- Visitors won't need an economic stimulus package to have fun in Valley Forge and Montgomery County, Pa. this April, as the area offers an array of free attractions and events. Here are 11 no-cost ideas to help spring them into the season.

Kids, ages 6 to 12, find out what life was like in Washington's Army when they Join the Continental Army at Valley Forge National Historical Park, in King of Prussia, on April 4. The young recruits are issued dummy muskets and taught to drill and march just like soldiers did back in 1777-78.

Exposure to a different kind of history can be found at The Stoogeum on April 11, during an open house at the world's only museum dedicated to the Three Stooges. Nearly 100,000 pieces of memorabilia are showcased in this three-story, state-of-the-art structure featuring interactive displays, an art gallery and an 85-seat theater.

Tours at historic sites Pennypacker Mills, Pottsgrove Manor and Peter Wentz Farmstead are always free, but in April these former homesteads feature great no-cost programs and exhibits as well. Beginning on April 1, Pennypacker Mills, in Schwenksville, unveils the inside world of early candy-making with Something Sweet: The Confectioner's World of 1900.

Costumed interpreters demonstrate 18th century household chores like laundry, cooking and cleaning during Pottsgrove Manor's The Art of Servitude on April 4. At Peter Wentz Farmstead, in Worcester, craftspeople create wool products and demonstrate open-hearth cooking during Sheep Shearing Day on April 25.

Art lovers find plenty to enjoy inside and out at Abington Art Center in Jenkintown and the Berman Museum of Art at Ursinus College in Collegeville. Both have extensive outdoor sculpture collections, like works from J. Seward Johnson, Jr., as well as changing indoor exhibits. Visitors can view the work of local artists at the John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove's Juried Art Show April 18-26 and explore the extensive grounds that inspired Audubon's work.

Briar Bush Nature Center in Abington hosts a free event for the whole family in celebration of Earth Day on April 19. Check-in takes place at the butterfly house, followed by visits to various stations before receiving a free gift to take home. An up-close and personal look at the hawks, deer, rabbits and wolves at Upper Schuylkill Valley Park's wildlife center, in Royersford, happens during the Meet the Animals tour, also on April 19.

Visitors can bring their own four-legged friends to frolic any time at Curtis Arboretum's dog park in Wyncote, featuring more than an acre of fenced-area where dogs can play off-leash.

For more information on free attractions and events and great hotel deals in the Valley Forge area and Montgomery County this Spring, visit www.valleyforge.org/freefun

The Valley Forge Convention and Visitors Bureau, Ltd. is a nonprofit, membership-based sales and marketing organization that aggressively promotes the Valley Forge area and Montgomery County as a convention site and leisure visitor destination by encouraging patronage of its 500-plus member hotels, restaurants, attractions and services. The Bureau's Web site, at www.valleyforge.org, serves visitors, meeting planners, tour operators and residents.