Ice cream is the new cupcake. It seems like there are a million places selling high-end, artisan produced frozen specialties around nowadays.  But seriously, is that any sort of ice cream for a kid?  They don’t care if it the cream is steeped with Tahitian vanilla beans or if it was hand spun that morning and they are going to find the contemporary flavor combinations just plain weird.  All kids really care about is cold, sweet and NOW!

Of course, being in New York City, you don’t want to go to just any old chain store ice cream place and luckily you don’t have to.  There are lots of places to get ice cream in New York City that are a step above the ordinary, every day chain with delicious ice cream that can be the highlight of your child’s day (or maybe even their whole summer!) Read on to find our favorite ice cream experiences to cool down your NYC kid.

Are the hot and sweaty trips to the beach, playground and pool getting to you yet? Is it time to look for some entertaining and enriching indoor activities for the kids? Well, if you haven’t seen the inside of a New York City museum since May, you may want to check out one these four exhibits that have recently been unveiled that the kids will just love – and maybe you will too.  Read on for the scoop.

We've asked our readers to share their awesome outings with us this summer. We'll be posting the best ones on the blog and one lucky winner will win a Flip Video Camera. Find out more details in our Summer Fun Activity Guide.
Read this submission by Bernadette Rivera and Chazz Rivera about their fun day playing in the fountain Washington Square Park.

Yup, it’s hot – scorching hot. But that is still no reason to skip out on the city this weekend. There is a ton of cool, free and fun stuff going on all around town, like car-free Weekend Walks, canoeing and nature programs in the parks, interesting science presentations, and I can’t forget the live music, magic and animal shows.  Or how about trying out a tour of the Little Red Lighthouse, a family friendly performance of the Rochester City Ballet or the special educational workshops for tweens with The Public Theater?

My son and I stopped by to add our brick to the Lego Big Apple last week at the grand opening of the Lego store in Rock Center and it was really fun. There is another NYC Lego store opening this weekend in the Queens Center Mall. Don’t miss it.  Or try a new park or playground this weekend.  We recently wrote about the new playground in Brooklyn Bridge Park, great picnicking spots around town and where to go fishing with kids.

If you are still looking for something to do this weekend be sure to try the recently improved search function on the events calendar. You can drill right down to the perfect event in or out of New York City for your family.

Read on to plan a great weekend and hope you can keep cool!

Take the kids fishing this summer without setting foot out of the city.  If you don’t have a rod, reel, tackle or bait, don’t worry, there are plenty of organizations that provide everything needed to drop in a line.  Kids under the age of 16 don’t even need a license in New York State (Moms and Dads do, so make sure you get one if you want to try your hand.)  Plus this month, Macy’s is joining in on the fishing fun by playing host to their annual, week-long fishing contest for kids with prizes and everything!  New York City is an anglers paradise, our rivers, lakes and beaches are teeming with fish. All you need to start out is to know where the fishing spots are located, and a little patience.

The new Pier 6 playground opened up on Pier 6 of Brooklyn Bridge Park, at the base of Atlantic Avenue. This is at the opposite end of the future Brooklyn Bridge Park from Pier 1, which opened in the Spring, and features the much-anticipated “destination playground” that was promised as part of the park’s construction.  We've visited to give you a preview of what you can expect at Brooklyn's latest addition.

We keep pretty busy here with our daily posts on all the cool stuff to do with your kids in the city, but I usually have one or two projects I'm working on in the background to make the site better. This week I'm announcing two that I've been working on for longer than I care to admit, our new Preschool Guide and our new and improved events calendar search function. I hope both these new functions will be big improvements to the site.

Summertime in New York City is perfect for picnicking.  Our city has so many parks and unique open spaces plus really cool warm weather only events that are just screaming out for an al fresco meal.  You don’t need to have an elaborate picnic basket or a ton of fancy stuff, just some food and a place to sit. Sometimes it is a bonafide “lets go on a picnic” picnic and other times if it just a lunchbox with sandwiches at the ready for hunger pangs.  And kids just love it!  My son always wants to picnic because of “all the beautiful views and sights.” Plus think of all the added stress (not to mention salt, fat and sugar) you can cut out of your life by bringing your own meal.

Read on to find out where we love to picnic and some of our favorite events to pack a spread for.

You read our post about free outdoor summer time movies for kids and families, but there are also some regular indoor movies in theaters that kids can see for free (or for a few measly bucks).  On a hot day you and your young ones can head inside for some air-conditioned entertainment. Sweet relief for you, and a fun outing for the kids. And did we mention the price?

Happy 4^th of July! The highlight this weekend no matter where you are is of course - fireworks. In New York City there is the huge annual fireworks spectacular courtesy of Macy’s and if you plan on taking it in make sure to read our post on where to get the best view of the show.  We also have the scoop on the best fireworks displays on Long Island and in New Jersey.  

If you are staying in town this weekend, don’t fret, you don’t need a backyard or beach house to have a lot of fun, there are festive, patriotic and Americana events going on all around town. Dan Zanes is performing a concert in Battery Park where the audience can join in on the big brass parade finale (bring your own horn!) There are fireworks and live music from the Staten Island Philharmonic on Staten Island and an ecologically correct sand castle contest in Coney Island. While you are out on Coney Island don’t forget to check out the other annual 4^th of July event – the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest.

This is also the first weekend of July which means many area museums are offering free admissions and special programming during select times. And for many of us it is a three day weekend so you may be looking for something to do on Monday, check out our Summer Fun Guide or  100 Free Things to do this Summer for some awesome ideas.   

Happy 4^th of July!  Have a great one.