Among my favorite things to do in Portland, Maine, is to simply walk the cobblestone streets of the Old Port district, stopping into the boutiques for shopping and grabbing a coffee for a stroll along the waterfront. As a kid growing up in Maine, my family biked Back Cove, sledded down the Eastern Prom, and ice skated at Deering Oaks; as a teen, I went into "the city" for live music, the fantastic Portland restaurants, and the many art museums and festivals.

Portland, Maine, is a pretty port city less than two hours from Boston with a strong progressive bent, some might even call it a hippie streak. Now, as a tourist, I love returning with my own kids. It's home to a top-notch children's museum, crammed full of pretty parks and outdoor activities, culture, jaw-dropping coastal beauty, and truly great food. It's easy to day trip from Portland to the ski mountains in the winter, or to a stunning Maine beach in the summer. 

Just as families are preparing to send kids back to school, the highly-contagious Delta variant is driving COVID-19 cases back up. Parents everywhere are wondering what these soaring numbers mean for their vaccinated and unvaccinated kids and how to keep them safe.

Coding, or the act of telling a computer what you want it to do, is exploding in popularity. While it may seem like a complicated endeavor, many local venues now offer coding classes for kids on Long Island.

Learning coding skills is a win-win for families. Kids can use their creativity and the latest tech to create their own video games. Parents can appreciate the STEM skills they're building, plus life skills like problem-solving that come from breaking down complex problems into smaller tasks. We've found eight local orgs that offer coding classes for kids, with a mix of virtual and in-person classes.

Find more enrichment activities in our guide to Classes and Activities for Long Island Kids.

Once our kids reach a certain age, it can often feel like we are spectators in their lives—shuttling them to and from school and extracurriculars, watching from the sidelines as they play sports., etc. But when kids are babies, toddlers, and preschoolers, most of their activities consist of Mommy & Me classes. These classes for kids and grown-ups are not only fun, but also a great way to bond with your little one during such a fleeting time in their lives.

Check out our list of great Mommy & Me classes near DC, from music and movement classes to swimming lessons and yoga. Bonus: We've also included cooking Mommy & Me classes for older children, which provide a rare opportunity for parents to bond with their big kids!

For more great kids classes, check out our Guide to Classes for Kids Near DC.

Whether you’ve been eager to introduce your little one to ballet or hip hop, or your ballerina or hip hop star is eager to hit the stage, there are plenty of options for dance classes in Westchester.

We’ve rounded up a number of dance classes in Westchester that offer both ballet and hip hop classes for toddler ages and older. Also cool? While all of these classes have in-person options, some provide private, at-home, or pod classes for families, along with several that have virtual classes, too. Plus, a number of the studios, including New York Performing Arts Center and Steffi Nossen, offer adaptive classes for kids with special needs.

For even more great kids' classes, check out our Westchester classes guide, and be sure to sign up for our newsletters to stay in-the-know on what’s new.

Focus, discipline, athleticism, confidence, and respect are the skills taught in karate and martial arts classes for kids. You can find a variety of different martial arts classes for kids in New Jersey, including karate, taekwondo, kung fu, jiujitsu, judo, aikido, and more disciplines.

Regardless of the style of martial arts classes you choose for your child, it's important to find a studio with instructors who understand how to work with kids. Many encourage children to attend classes two times per week to properly progress, and most have mixed-age and mixed-level classes, which are great for families with multiple children. Here are our top picks for family-friendly karate and martial arts classes for kids. Find more enrichment options in our guide to Classes and Activities for New Jersey Kids.

When out-of-towners ask me how I have managed to stay sane with three kids in Manhattan, my answer is always easy: Central Park. It's been our family playground for more than a decade. My son's first steps were taken there, and every day of elementary school in our house has started with a trek across the urban oasis. Our afternoons just don't feel quite right without a stop at the East 110th Street Playground, where my daughter finally conquered the monkey bars.

Central Park is our family's collective happy place, thanks in large part to its diverse array of playgrounds, which always keep us coming back for more (sanity-saving) playtime. In the spirit of our posts ranking the playgrounds in Prospect Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park, and Riverside Park, we present our top playground picks for Central Park. Find more places to play in our Guide to NYC's Top Playgrounds.

If your little one adores technology, peel them away from their Playstation and get them into a coding class! Coding is the wave of the future, and that beloved screen time can lead to a career when kids learn valuable coding skills at a young age. These coding classes for kids near Los Angeles allow beginner through advanced coders to use their creativity and problem-solving skills to build apps, video games, and more. Popular games like Minecraft and Roblox are often integrated into these coding classes.

While we've found a handful of in-person coding classes in Los Angeles, many great online coding classes for kids are available for kids to take at home. You can also check out these free coding programs for kids. And for kids who want to get physical with sports classes or dance classes, check out our guide to all the Best Kids' Classes and Activities in Los Angeles.