New Jersey Kids Guide

It’s almost Turkey Time!  This weekend, get an early start on Thanksgiving festivities by experiencing an 1836 Thanksgiving celebration at an historic village and learning more about the Lenape Native Americans.  In keeping with the season, enjoy a smorgasbord of fun craft workshops, including candle and ornament making, decoupage candle holder making, recycled crafts, mini-furniture making, and even a workshop on how to build an owl house.

Enough worrying about holiday pageants, shopping, parties and what-the-heck-am-I-going-to-do-with-my-kid-over-break. Get into the holiday spirit with a live performance in celebration of the season!  New Jersey's theaters bring you everything from ballet performances of the Nutcracker and theatrical productions of “A Christmas Carol” to Chanukah concerts and Kwanzaa fests.

There is lots of fun to be had this weekend both indoors and out!  Celebrate New Jersey's Lenape Indians both with indoor crafts at the Morris Museum or an outdoor hike at Morris Great Swamp.  Lovers of the outdoors and nature may be tempted to squeeze in a last nature walk, learn how to go bird watching, brave the cold for an evening around the campfire, take in a train show at the gardens, or enjoy a live animal presentation of reptiles.  Prefer your animals cuddly and inanimate? Grab your teddy bear and head to an indoor teddy bear picnic and celebration!

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, the time is right to get kids thinking about how thankful they are for what they have... and teaching them to give back to the community.  The younger the kids, the harder it seems to find meaningful, hands-on volunteer opportunities.  Here are some ideas to put a little more meaning (and some fun!) into your kids’ volunteering....

Winter may be just around the corner, but it isn't time to give up fun outdoor activities just yet!  This weekend, kids can head outdoors and get up close with all kinds of animals: watch wild ducks, learn all about horses, or attend an outdoor animal storytime.  They can also travel back in time at a historical farm and explore sausage and bacon making, or learn how to turn apples into cider.  Too chilly for you? Look for a good time indoors with a free theater series with campfire stories, a Mo Willem’s show at SOPAC, or family fun at the Newark Museum.

Why is it that we experience countless kids’ birthday parties each year, but when it comes to our own child’s big day, we’re suddenly clueless about what to do?  Never fear, we’re bringing the best of the birthday parties to you!  Here we’ve assembled a list of indoor party spaces perfect for almost every theme and size you’d need, and based on personal recommendations.  We’ll follow this with another guide to birthday party companies that travel to your home, and as we near Spring, another list of great outdoor party places.  Keep an eye out for occasional additional lists as we gather more recommendations, and please, if you’ve had a great kids’ party experience, share it with us!

Happy Halloween!  There is plenty to do this weekend besides trick or treating!   There are last minute costume making sessions, live bat presentations, and old fashioned Halloween celebrations.  Once Halloween is over, there is still reason to celebrate with the Day of the Dead, a "retired jack-o-lantern" sail, laser shows, and a fabulous craft festival.
 

Can you imagine telling your kids to throw on their fairy costumes and run around the neighborhood, in the dark, without you, ringing strangers’ doorbells and asking for candy?  Ahhh...the good old days. But while door-to-door trick-or-treating seems to be quickly becoming a tradition of the past, Halloween remains a children’s holiday to be enjoyed with great gusto–so grab those costumes, get out there and celebrate the ghoulish fest with a slew of October 31st events sure to raise everyone’s spirits!