Club Friday

When you drop your kids off at Club Friday at 7 on Friday nights, they aren’t really on their own. (County recreation staff and volunteers are looking out for them.) But for two hours, they get to feel like they are. Held at five locations around the county—including the Potomac Community Center, the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center in Cabin John and the Jane E. Lawton Community Recreation Center in Chevy Chase—the Montgomery County Recreation program, which started in the early ’90s, gives kids in grades three through six the chance to meet students from other schools while playing sports, watching movies, dancing to music from a DJ and checking out a bunch of other activities. One night there might be a disco party; on another, there’s roller skating. Kids can even bring money for food such as pizza, hotdogs, chips and candy—so they can buy as many Airheads as they want without telling mom and dad.

The fee, which varies by site, is $62 to $100 for the session (they all start in October and end in March, April or May).

apm.activecommunities.com/montgomerycounty (search “Club Friday”)