Central Park's Zoo has revved up it's educational offerings for families, youth and even adults for Fall 2010. They have expanded their toddler series and created exciting new programs for families and big kids. You can make treats for the animals, enjoy some fall and winter fun, meet some of the staff at the zoo and get an inside peek at what they do and a lot more.  Plus they have a new winter zoo camp for kids.  My son has done a ton of programs at the Central Park Zoo, even a few summers of camp, and the programs here are great --organized, interesting, well thought out and fun.  They usually fill up fast but the Curator of Education assured us that there was still room in every program.  So don’t wait too long.

Kids today get to do way better stuff than I ever did when I was a child.  When I was a kid after school programs consisted of sports or scouts with maybe a piano lesson thrown in for good measure, a far cry from the opportunities available to my son.  Unique and enriching classes abound in New York City.  Rugby, veterinary school and stand up comedy are just a few of the classes available nowadays and what is even better – they are all starting soon and still have room.  How lucky are our kids?  

Cooking with your child is a great way to spend some quality time together. The hands-on exploration of cooking is not just a great sensory experience, but can also help to get junior interested in what he eats, and might just tempt him out of his hot dog and applesauce comfort zone into the wilds of more exotic flavors. Plus, it's fun. Family cooking activities abound this fall, and we've found some great parent-child cooking workshops and classes for you. Here are a few options.

This evening my 7 year old unloaded the dishwasher, swept the kitchen floor, made his bed, picked up his toys, and expressed gratitude in the form of a polite "Thank you for making dinner." I kid you not...and I'm not trying to impress you with my uber mothering either. In fact, this is the first time he ever did some of those things.

The magic behind this household chore windfall was a new app I installed on my iPhone and my son's iPod Touch,

If the only concerts you’ve seen recently involved singing dogs, dinosaurs or puppets, maybe it’s time to check out a cool music festival that you will enjoy as much as your kids will. On September 11^th, the 3^rd Annual Hastings-on-the-Hudson “Take Me To The River” Grassroots Festival hits Draper Park in Westchester. It is an all day event and in addition to the musical grooves celebrating local and nationally acclaimed blues, folk, jazz and alternative musicians, it is also a festival showcasing an array of art, various art installations, and art activities for the kids. And you don’t need a car to get there.

It's back to school time and so we are thinking about all those little details of preparing for the school year. Making healthy school lunches and snacks is a big one. We asked the moms of Mommy Poppins what their best tips for easy healthy snack options and school lunch recipes were and they came up with a bunch of really original school lunch box ideas, as well as some old standbys.

Read on to find out what we're putting in our kids' lunch boxes for school lunch and snacks:

We've asked our readers to share their awesome outings with us this summer. We'll be posting the best ones on the blog and one lucky winner will win a Flip Video Camera. Find out more details in our Summer Fun Activity Guide. Summer is coming to a close and so is the contest. We will accept submissions until Labor Day and then announce a winner the following week. So send in your story. We want to know about your awesome day.

Read this submission by Susan Atkinson about her fun day on Goveror's Island.

All aquariums have tropical fish, penguins and some sort of seal or sea lion, but what they don’t have are the amazing touch tanks offered at the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, New Jersey.  Nearly every exhibit has a touchable component (think sharks and jellyfish) plus they have two hippos on exhibit!

Hopefully you read our post Six Thrill-Seeking Adventures for Kids in New Jersey, especially the part about swimming with the sharks at this very aquarium.  We checked out the whole aquarium (well, not the swimming with sharks bit) last month and are certainly glad we did – it is totally worth the trip. You can trust me I have been to every aquarium in the northeast with my 5 year old sea creature–obsessed son!

The Adventure Aquarium is a great day or weekend trip for us aquarium-challenged NYers and what is more – you can get there without a car.  

Looking for something to do this Labor Day weekend? Read on for more on this great destination, what else you can do nearby and how to get there.

How can it be Labor Day weekend already? Seems like we were writing about what to do for Memorial Day Weekend! There is still time to wring the last few drops out of summer before back to school become a reality. There is plenty of fun to be had in The Big Apple and beyond – arts and crafts, a celebration of the new Cat in the Hat cartoon, storytimes, a huge parade and even a unicycle festival.

It is the first weekend of September which means there are a bunch of museum freebies to take advantage of – The Children’s Museum of Manhattan, The Brooklyn Museum and The Queens Museum are among them.  Plus as a Labor Day gift Cooper Hewitt is offering free admission all weekend, too.

I am actually looking forward to back to school. By the end of summer I am usually exhausted from running around for eight weeks and long for a return to a less hectic routine.  If you are planning your child's re-entry to the school year you may be thinking of after school activities like soccer, free after school classes, or programs for special needs kids.  And don’t miss our newly revamped and updated After School Classes Guide to find the best for your little scholar.

Read on to plan a great Labor Day Weekend.  We hope it is a great one.

Is summer really over? Do we have to trade beach towels for backpacks already? I'm reluctantly gearing up, shifting my focus from planning days in the sun to planning afterschool activities, lunches, and routines.

I've spent the last week or so updating our Classes Guide so you should find lots of great information about all kinds of classes for kids in there from Mommy and Me to preschooler classes to classes for big kids. We have a bunch more posts about cool classes coming up in September so keep an eye out for some ideas for what's new and cool in classes this Fall.