It's a busy weekend for cool kids' culture in NYC, with five of our top family event picks for March taking place. Radio City's New York Spring Spectacular and the New Victory Theater's moody adaptation of Pinocchio both kick off this weekend, plus the Paper Bag Players perform at the Jewish Museum. Meanwhile, the Irish Arts Center celebrates St. Patrick's Day and the soon-to-close Streit's Matzo Factory's marks its final Passover on the Lower East Side.

These are just a few of the great things going on this weekend. All of our best bets are below. You can find additional options in our Event Calendar.

At long last, the temperatures are rising, the snow is melting and spring is in the air--just in time to get out and enjoy all the fun activities that Westchester has to offer this weekend, including some great outdoor events.

Though St. Patrick’s Day is practically a month-long event around here, things heat up this weekend with several parades, including the Annual White Plains St. Patrick's Day Parade and the Annual Eastchester St. Patrick’s Day Parade. There are also shows that are relevant to the theme, like Caladh Nua: St. Patrick’s Day Celebration, Family Concert for St. Patrick’s Day and Song of the Sea. Plus, as feasting is a big part of holiday celebrations, get your preparations done at Let's Cook Together!

Other highlights this weekend: She Did...and So Can You! A Celebration of Women's History Month, an interactive commemoration and inspiring event; the continuation of maple-sugaring events like Sugarfest and Sugarin' Off; and for sports fans, The East Coast National Baseball Card Show.  

Read on for details and consult our March GoList and Event Calendar to plan every day of the month! 

You don't have to be Irish to appreciate St. Patrick's Day. The green clothes, crafts, decorations and treats will bring out the leprechaun in all of our lads and lasses. There are a ton of events happening this weekend around the March 17th holiday. Some of them are listed below, and check out our posts on Things to do for St. Patrick's Day in Fairfield County and Hartford County. Of course, not everything will revolve around St. Pat's and we've listed those events too.

Hartford will be busy this weekend with the St. Patrick's Day Parade and the Men's AAC Basketball Tournament in town, so plan your trips accordingly.  

Summer will be here before you know it, and our Summer Camp Open House post is a valuable resource for planning ahead. 

There will be rain all day Saturday so please check your venue before heading out to make sure that they haven't postponed or canceled their event.

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Here are some suggestions for the weekend ahead! 

While painting parties are all the rage for ladies' night out, kids can also get in the act (minus the wine, of course). Channel your entire family's inner artists to create a masterpiece worthy of your living room wall. All you need to do it is pick up a paint brush and learn how to paint "happy little trees" and more at these Long Island studios/businesses that offer art lessons for families.

And take a look at our guide for other classes, programs and enrichment activities on Long Island. 

Children's theater generally makes the list of things to do with our little ones, so finding a new theater with appropriate shows for the under 10 crowd is always a treat. The Little Theater, a 49-seat theater in West LA, is a great, low key spot to enjoy kid friendly theater, and a wonderful start for the beginner theater goer.  

Ahhh! Feel that, New Jersey? Those milder temps and the sun shining down have everyone in the mood to get out and about! For a dose of fresh, early spring air, head to Manasquan Environmental Center for their Monarch Butterflies program, take a Winter Weekend Scavenger Hunt at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum or lace up your sneakers for a Family Woodland Hike at NJ Botanical Gardens. And of course, St. Patrick’s Day festivities are in full swing! Check out annual parades in Atlantic City, Morris County and Bergen County. For even more weekend fun, check out the full list of weekend activities in our Event Calendar.

At this time of year we get loads of email from parents looking for guidance in finding the right summer camp for their kids. Of course, our LA Camp Guide is always a great place to find our recommendations for all sorts of camps; and browsing the listings in our camp directory also yields oodles of ideas and opportunities. But sometimes it helps to narrow down, to just look at a few—preferably a few you can look at or talk to in person. Below is a list of open houses offered by some of our camp sponsors in the coming weeks; these are great opportunities to talk to the people who would be spending the day with your kids. Click on a camp name to get more information about the camp's programs.

Every camp-planning season, we here at Mommy Poppins scour the city looking for enriching new summer programs for our been-there, done-that kids. To help you make an informed decision about the new camps on the block, we've rounded up nine of the most promising programs set to debut this summer. Some are brand-new, others are places that are significantly expanding their already awesome offerings.

In addition to these newbies, it's good to check out our best new camp roundups from 2014, 2013 and 2012. Most of those programs are still going on and continue to offer top-notch programming. You can also browse our Summer Camp Guide for additional options or use our Camp Directory to search for programs by interest, age and location.