Things to Do in Westport

Since 1997, ice skaters have gracefully glided beneath clear skies atop the shiny surface of the outdoor Westport PAL Rink at Longshore. Every night when the sun goes down, overhead lights flicker on around the boards to accommodate late-night triple axels and hockey games delayed by puck strikes. The rink’s instructors are each certified by the United States Figure Skating Association and offer group and private instruction in figure skating, hockey, or basic technique.

The consortium of professional instructors at Fred Astaire Dance Studio, which was cofounded by the legendary toe tapper himself, shepherds students of all ages and skill levels through lessons that span the style spectrum. Low-pressure private sessions allow enthusiastic teachers to fine-tune individual students' techniques and form, using their expert eyes and mechanical dancing shoes preprogrammed to do the Charleston. Patrons can learn how to cavort through classic waltz and fox-trot romps or swivel through the modern steps of salsa, swing, or samba. For dancers hoping to hoof it up in a social setting, the group practice parties provide a one-night extravaganza of instruction, demonstrations, and amateur firewalking.

After the birth of his third son, Jerry Petrini opened his own family fun center. Within 20 years, the space expanded into what My Three Sons Family Fun Center is today: a 22,000-square-foot family entertainment center that now employs his three sons and daughter. There, local youngsters descend from the two-level soft-play gym for a ride on the real working train below, fire 16 pedestal-mounted air cannons at targets in the black-lit balladium arena, and pursue opponents through the laser-tag arena flooded with fog imported from London. The mining expedition's thousands of balls in a wall-length trough conceal bounty that grants guests entry into the cave treasure room, where kids open chests growing on trees to obtain the redemption tickets inside. More than 100 games and video simulators dispense additional tickets for prizes, and the center's in-house pizzeria revitalizes visitors with slices of its old family recipe made from scratch.

At Kids U, upbeat instructors camouflage learning as playtime. They invite youngsters and parents into a kid-size gym that jump starts imagination with vibrant colors and a multitiered PlayQuad. The 17-foot playground spans 2,000 square feet of indoor space, where children explore tunnels and soar in swings. At classes, teachers inject freestyle play with structure while still allowing for creativity. The small, laid-back sessions cover subjects that range from gymnastics to cooking and building with LEGOs, all while interweaving themes such as teamwork and motor skills. The instructors pioneer similar subjects in three-hour day camps, molded around the Summer Olympics. Kids U's parties combine the fun center's two signature styles of recreation—freestyle fun in the PlayQuad and ordered activities—according to chosen themes, which, like concepts kicked around for the White House Correspondents' dinner, include Rock Star and Pajama Party.