The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo announced the sad news today that COVID-19 has stopped Rodeo Houston in its tracks for yet another year. The annual staple event on the Houston calendar was at first rescheduled for May, in the hope that by then the beloved community celebration could be safely launched. Sadly, this won't be possible. While a few associated activities are still planning to go forward in a limited way (see below), the rodeo itself is reining it in until 2022.

Jokes are the best. Knock knock jokes, silly jokes, pretty much any joke will make a kid roar. Even the bad ones. Especially the bad ones! But parents run out of jokes to tell kids (even dad jokes) well before kids get sick of hearing them. You know who never runs out of jokes, wordplay, silly answers, and entertaining games? Alexa.

The next time you need a minute to yourself, teach the kids a few things from this list of funny things to ask Alexa, the Amazon virtual assistant that plays on smart speakers. Go ahead and crack open a book you’ve been dying to read or sneak away to watch an episode of Bridgerton. Because Alexa time can equal me time.  

My coffee cups are getting a workout between my insatiable need for coffee, these easy hot chocolate bombs, and our family's newest cooking obsession: mug cakes.

Mug cakes are the perfect, low-mess solution for your sweet tooth and easy enough for tweens and teens to make on their own. There's no hot oven; instead, you can have a personal-sized treat ready to enjoy in mere minutes with the help of your microwave.

Read on for eight easy mug cake recipes to make with kids and find more kitchen inspiration in our Guide to Easy Recipes for Kids.

Ready to add an extra dose of fun to that snow day? If you just got dumped on with a big batch of the white stuff, we have a whole list of snow day games to entice the kids outside and away from their devices.  

With serious snowfall, you can build a snow fort or maze, and with sub-freezing temperatures, kids can try to blow frozen bubbles or make colorful ice gems! Read on for more fun snow activities and outdoor winter activities to be had on even the bleakest of winter days.

Sure, biking, hiking, and other outdoor adventures are abundant in Southern California. But sometimes what parents of cooped up kids really need is an actual activity. One where you don't have to do a lot of organizing or planning, so you can sit back, relax, and keep the kids entertained. Preferably, this magical outing doesn't require a long drive and isn't wildly expensive. Echo Park Lake’s Swan Pedal Boats offer exactly that—a new and unique activity for the entire family to enjoy together where everyone can turn brains off, decompress, and just have a blast.

If this outing makes your family long for more wet and wild fun, check out all the spots in the city where kids can pedal and paddle on the water—from kayaks to water bikes to SUP boards and more.

Summer thrill-seekers take note: Six Flags Great Adventure is adding an epic new ride to its collection for the 2021 season. The record-breaking Jersey Devil Coaster has topped off at the Jackson, New Jersey, park and should be ready for riders during the 2021 season.

The roller coaster is the tallest, longest, and fastest single-rail coaster in the world.

Fans of the polka-dotted art of the legendary Yayoi Kusama take note: The pandemic postponed landmark exhibition of the artist's work at the New York Botanical Garden opens on Saturday, April 10, 2021. The exhibition, Kusama: Cosmic Nature, takes over the 250-acre grounds through Halloween.

And yes, the show features a pair of Kusama’s trademark, immersive infinity rooms.

Read on for the details of Kusama: Cosmic Nature, including info on how to score one of the limited-capacity, timed-entry tickets required to see this massive installation.

What's one item that turns an otherwise ho-hum winter walk into an adventure? Snowshoes! Snowshoes are practical in that they allow kids to walk on top of the snow, allowing families to explore deep woods and other unshoveled trails after a big snowfall, but it only takes an inch or two of the white stuff for there to be a reason to break out this fun footgear. With dedicated winter trails or expansive meadows to tromp through, these spots are tops for snowshoeing near Boston with kids.

For other ways to get children out of the house on cold days, check out our favorite wintertime walks, family-friendly ski areas, and ice skating rinks—all in our Boston Winter Fun Guide.