Stephanie's blog

Do you like festivals? Well good, because there are a bunch of exciting ones this weekend. Vehicle-obsessed kids can get their fix at two Touch-a-Truck fests and animal lovers can hit the Fleece Festival in Prospect Park. Introduce your kids to all kinds of ethnic eats at the Ninth Avenue Food Festival, show off your moves at the New York Dance Parade and rock out to mom bands at the annual Mamapalooza Extravaganza.

Speaking of music, two kiddie rock heavyweights are playing this weekend: Laurie Berkner and Dan Zanes. Other indoor fun includes screenings of the classic French short The Red Balloon and a free performance by the Paper Bag Players.

All of our best bets for the weekend are below. Remember, there are even more options in our Event Calendar and our Spring Fun Guide.

Chelsea is jam-packed with restaurants. Walk down any major avenue and many of its side streets, and you're presented with an overwhelming amount of choices, from bistros to barbecue, diners to doughnuts.

Since Chelsea is a very family-friendly neighborhood, most of the restaurants will accommodate children, especially during the day, but that doesn't mean they're really good for kids. So we continue our series of posts on Chelsea with a roundup of our favorite eateries in the area that are kid-friendly in terms of atmosphere and menus.

Mothers, this weekend should be all about you. So why don't you decide what to do on Saturday and Sunday? (As if you don't do that most of the time anyway.) On Saturday, there are a couple of school festivals, the colorful Hudson River Pageant and a big bash at Grand Central Station in honor of National Train Day. After you finish Mother's Day brunch on Sunday, you can continue celebrating at the New York Botanical Garden's old-fashioned Garden Party or take a flower-filled stroll as part of NYC Wildflower Week.

Our best bets for Mother's Day weekend are below, You can find additional options in our Event Calendar and our Spring Fun Guide. Happy Mother’s Day to all of you from your fellow moms at Mommy Poppins.

It's another weekend of tough activity decisions. There are a slew of spring festivals, street fairs and outdoor fetes, like Hippo Playground's annual Spring Fair, Calhoun's annual Carnival and the NYC Irish Dance Festival, which kicks off this season of Summer on the Hudson. It's also Open House Weekend for the 40 historic NYC sites up to win grants from Partners in Preservation, and many nominees are hosting cool family programming—like Henry Street Settlement's old-school Block Party, Flushing Meadow Corona Park's Rocket Thrower Festival, and live music and hayrides at the Queens County Farm Museum—in the hope of earning your vote.

Since the forecast currently mentions rain, we also highlight plenty of indoor fun like a free Hot Peas 'N Butter concert, the New York Children’s Theater Festival's final musical, The Velveteen Rabbit, Japan's Children's Day at the Japan Society, no-cost bowling at Chelsea Piers' NYC 300 and the free new Ernesto Neto exhibit.

All of our best bets for the weekend are below. You can find additional ideas in our Event Calendar and our Spring Fun Guide.

Chelsea has changed a lot over the past few decades. Back in the '80s, its streets were run-down and desolate, but in the '90s an influx of artists and gay professionals helped kick-start the area's transformation. Today, Chelsea is a mix of the old and the new. Rows of charming historic townhouses and housing developments stand across from luxury high-rises, and veteran residents rub shoulders with families who've moved here for its fantastic amenities. You'll find megastores on the avenues and high-end children's boutiques on the side streets; a slew of kid-friendly restaurants and eclectic art galleries; massive athletics complex Chelsea Piers; NYC landmarks like Chelsea Market and The High Line; and popular indoor and outdoor romping spots like appleseeds play space, Chelsea Waterside Park and Seal Park.

Throughout May we'll be taking an in-depth look at all Chelsea has to offer local and visiting families. Although Chelsea's boundaries are difficult to define, for the purposes of our posts we'll be covering 14th to 30th Streets, Fifth Avenue to the Hudson River. Here are our top 50 things to do with kids in Chelsea, NYC.