Long Island Kids Guide

This weekend is technically the last weekend we have before the Holidays are officially upon us. Next week at this time, you may be hitting your favorite super store or shopping mall scouting out the best deals (or maybe not). And yet, the more we parents get caught up in the pace and commercialism of the Holidays, so do our kids. So this weekend, grab the kids and check out some of the coolest ways to appreciate and celebrate the History of the Holidays, Long Island Style. 

From one Holiday to the next, chances are your weekend is going to include some sort of Thanksgiving discussion. Less than two weeks away, this weekend might be a great time to visit one of Long Island's local poultry farms and get up close with a real live turkey, but if you're not quite ready to forge into Thanksgiving mode, there are plenty of other cool things happening out and about Long Island this weekend: 

We've written about Fall Farms, Pumpkin Farms, Pick Your Own Apple Farms, Spring and Summer Berry Farms, and even Christmas Tree Farms out here on Long Island. But what about the Turkey? Whether you just want to pay homage to your Thanksgiving feast or pick up a fresh, local or even organic turkey, Long Island has many poultry farms where you can get up close (or snap a photo from far away) with Thanksgiving's most popular mascot. Stop by and say hi, or for you serious locavores, pick up a fresh local turkey to eat and save yourself a trip to the frozen foods isle. Here are some of the local farms to check out:

Now that Halloween is behind us, I can feel a subliminal pressure mounting about the coming Holiday Season. The toy commercials are ramping up, the Toys R Us big book of presents as I call it arrived last Sunday, and I even spotted some tinsel being strewn, but I'm not gonna tell you where. At any rate, in case you hadn't heard, there is one less weekend between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, meaning once Thanksgiving hits (which is just a few short weeks away), we are pretty much going to be in turbo Holiday mode until January 1st. Take advantage of the calm before the storm this weekend, and check out some of the cool family events going on across the Island:

With all the hullabaloo about Halloween lately, you might have missed another great happening here on Long Island-It's Long Island Restaurant Week. And, aside from giving you an excuse to get out and sample the local flavors and specialties, the restaurants participating are also giving you a chance to save some money. Over 200 venues are taking part in the celebration, and all are offering a 24.95 prix fixe menu. It's your chance to enjoy high end dining at lower end prices.

With Halloween falling on a Saturday, chances are your weekend plans include a day of Holiday festivities and a day of relaxation on Sunday. Or maybe you're looking for ways to stay out of the house and away from all the Halloween candy on Sunday. Whether you're looking for ways to get the most out of Halloween this weekend, or ways to get moving on from it, we've rounded up some of the best on and off the beaten path activities for you on Long Island this weekend:
 

When I was a kid, my fondest memories of Halloween were those I spent trick or treating, where our neighborhood was chock full of kids filling the sidewalks of tree-lined streets that were blocked off from auto-traffic. We’d come home with garbage bags full of candy, open it up and have our parents inspect it, select a few, and put the rest away (my mom told us it was going into the freezer to stay “fresh, and that we could eat a piece of candy a day until next Halloween”- a statement I recently confirmed was a falsehood after years of wondering why we needed more candy in our Easter baskets).

With one weekend left until Halloween, there are lots of great events going on to celebrate. And, before the weather turns cold, there are also some really nice Fall outdoor events for families to check out this weekend. There is still time to go pumpkin picking, and if you're looking for great farms, check out our pumpkin picking post. Or, we recently shared great Halloween events and the best kid friendly Haunted Houses on the island as well. So whether you're looking for more ways to get your "wear" out of those costumes or just looking for ways to get out, we've rounded up some of the best events on Long Island for families this weekend: