Things to Do in Marietta

Picasso's Corner's imaginative artists offer step-by-step instruction to guide students of all skill levels as they craft 16"x20" paintings. Classes, running either two hours Tuesday-Wednesday or three hours Thursday-Saturday, are scheduled at 7 p.m. and include all necessary materials such as acrylic paint, brushes, high-powered paintball guns, easels, aprons, and canvases. Patrons may use provided bottle openers and cups during class to enjoy self-supplied beer, wine, and snacks. The Funky Paintbrush's three-hour open-studio sessions offer a more independent painting session devoid of step-by-step instruction and performance-enhancing hugs.

Beneath vividly colored rafters, a climbable children's playground blooms with pirate ships, a maze of bridges, and inflatable bounce rooms to inspire kinetic play and stoke little ones' imaginative fires. DACKids' safety crew keeps a responsible eye on the kiddie revelry, monitoring the Pirates Cove play park dressed in full, seaworthy costume. Under their responsible gaze, kids shuffle across the sandy floor of the Giant Octopus's lair or maneuver over rope ladders, fire foam-ball cannons, and waggle flags perched atop wooden forts.

The DACK Pirate Cove accommodates birthday celebrations with packages that allow wee ones to explore and burn off steam for 90-minutes before retiring to a private room, where partygoers revel in food and festivities while parents connect to the in-house WiFi to research how pirates doled out justice for sneaking second helpings of cake.

Hidden just east of Cobb Parkway, a complex of low, slate-blue warehouses shelters a community of textile workers, sculptors, and graphic designers intent on refining their art. Beads by Design's shop and atelier contributes to this creative wellspring, and today the Southern Flames—a society of glass-bead makers—gather there for their monthly meetings. The shop opened in 1998, displaying a wealth of Japanese Delica seed beads, fire-polished and pressed glass beads, pearls, gemstones, and glittering Swarovski crystals under the high, exposed-metal roof. Visitors can pick up notions or tools, or stick around for jewelry-making classes. These begin with the basics of knotting wire rings and stringing necklaces and expand into the creation of broad, beaded cuffs inspired by Ndebele jewelry and macramé techniques for braiding copper wire. To give students complete creative control of their work, instructors provide propane torches attached to work tables, and safely teach how to fabricate glass beads and intimidate nay-saying critics.

In 1976, busy California mother Joan Barnes wanted nothing more than to find a play place where she and her kids could enjoy age-appropriate, educational activities. Finding none, she developed her own innovative play environment within a developmental-based program structure now known as Gymboree Play & Music. Today, kids tumble and learn in more than 650 locations in 33 countries around the world, engaging in open play and classes designed to build cognitive and motor skills. As parents participate in their child’s development, their child learns to paint, play music, and interact socially outside of preschool knitting circles.

Game - Time - Sports' family of coaches have dedicated their time and energy to developing effective exercise habits in kids starting at a young age. Hosting summer camps and programs, they seek to develop motor skills within kids while incorporating sports. With programs designed for children aged 18 months to 10 years, each level is named after the goal it's trying to achieve, such as Introduce, Develop, and Refine. Every staff member is NAYS-, first aid-, and CPR-certified, ensuring that children and CPR mannequins can play safely. The staff also provides aftercare for $10 a day.

Biplane Rides Over Atlanta, Inc.'s practiced pilots leap into the air in fully restored antique aircraft to grant passengers a glimpse of natural and manmade majesties from above. In the open-air cockpit of a classic antique biplane, adventurers can taste the whipping winds of high altitudes over Downtown Atlanta, glimpsing Turner Field, the Georgia Dome, and Centennial Olympic Park, where the Farmer's Almanacs of previous eras are put out to pasture. Alternately, they can surmount the igneous crown of Stone Mountain and soar above the Mississippi riverboats that dot the surrounding lakes, or gently flit over the cityscape bathed in a golden aura during a romantic sunset flight.