Washington Heights

Ever since my son started elementary school, I find that there just isn't enough free time for us to enjoy all of the great things New York City has to offer. That's why we love holiday break. We never leave town—instead, we fill our schedule with awesome museum outings, live stage shows, cool movies and magical holiday experiences. Call me crazy, but we even brave the crowds at the New York Botanic Garden's Holiday Train Show, the Rockefeller Center tree and the department store holiday windows.

If you're looking for entertaining and enriching things to do with your kids over holiday break in New York City, we have lots of ideas—more than 35 of them in fact, many free or inexpensive. You can find even more seasonal activities in our Holiday Fun Guide.

Due to Hurricane Sandy, most parades on Wednesday, October 31 have been canceled, even the huge annual Village Halloween Parade. A few are still going on, but some we can't confirm. If in doubt, assume it has been canceled!

Everybody loves a parade, which means we're all absolutely smitten with Halloween parades. While we think every family should take the kids to the big Greenwich Village Halloween Parade at least once, it can be pretty scary. It's always insanely crowded and loud, and many of the costumes are risqué, gory or in poor taste (which we happen to love, but we realize not every parent feels that way).

If you're ready to watch it, the parade starts at 7pm on October 31 and winds its way up Sixth Avenue from Spring Street to 16th Street. (Plan to arrive much earlier though if you want to snag a good viewing spot.) But if your family isn't up for the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade just yet, there are plenty of smaller, kid-friendly NYC neighborhood parades, and many are part of larger fun-filled Halloween festivals. We've rounded up 19 of these community-driven Halloween processions for families to watch or march in, and most of them are FREE. If you don't live in a great trick-or-treating area, these parades are also a wonderful way to hunt for candy in another community. And check out our Halloween Fun Guide for even more seasonal fun.

For my family, back to school means back to being scheduled. And while I've been known to gripe about my son being overscheduled, I realize he's got it pretty good when it comes to after-school classes. There are just so many awesome and enriching extracurricular programs for New York City kids these days, it's tough to choose just one (or two or three). Plus fabulous new classes pop up every year.

That's why we're highlighting seven brand-new after-school programs for NYC kids that sound exceptionally cool. We're not talking about your usual athletics and arts offerings. At these seven super-creative specialty spots, kids can build their own robots, explore genetics, design a runway collection, make their own animated flicks and enjoy more educational hands-on fun.