45+ Things We Can't Wait To Do This Spring in New Jersey

The blooms will be gorgeous this spring for the 2020 Essex County Cherry Blossom Festival. Photo by Rose Gordon Sala

Springtime is just a few chilly weeks away. Get ready to ditch the winter coats and boots in preparation for playgroundsfarm fun, and outdoor fairs and festivals. Some of our favorite Garden State events take place in spring, including the Essex County Cherry Blossom Festival, the New Jersey Renaissance Faire, and the Wildwoods International Kite Festival.

We're also looking forward to New Jersey's numerous egg hunts and Easter celebrations, not to mention the many great family performances coming to NJ stages this spring, including Laurie Berkner, a Llama LLama musical, and Disney on Ice.

 

Read on for more than 45 super spring events for New Jersey families, plus check out our Spring Fun Guide for a full roster of seasonal fun.

Head Lice Removal Services and Salons in New York City

Lice Clinics of America provide the safest, most effective urgent care head-lice treatments that work.

If your family finds itself in a lousy situation, you'll likely want to pull your hair out, as well as your child's. While there are plenty of kid-friendly salons scattered around the boroughs, lice removal requires a different kind of expert help. There are several lice removal services in New York City that remove lice and nits from your child's hair or your own.

Beware: These services don't come cheap. For specific pricing info, contact each company directly. All provide chemical-free treatments, with unrelenting combing and expert nit-picking, and some guarantee one-time treatment results. Here is a rundown of lice removal services in NYC and beyond, along with some (unfortunate!) personal testimonials.

Temecula's Kid-friendly Wineries May Be the Perfect SoCal Family Getaway

Enjoy a horse drawn carriage ride in Temecula. Photo courtesy of Visit Temecula Valley

Going wine tasting with kids in tow seems counterintuitive. How can you fully savor each red, white, and rosé, if you’re pulled in a thousand directions by your toddler? How can you go to a winery if children are not even allowed inside? It turns out that there are some kid-friendly wineries out there (hurray!), where being a wine enthusiast and a parent is totally feasible and enjoyable, too. Some of them are conveniently located just two hours away from LA in sunny Temecula Valley, Southern California’s Wine Country.

Looking for more fabulous SoCal wineries? Check out our list of The Best Family-Friendly Vineyards and Wineries Near Los Angeles.

North America's Largest Indoor Water Park Opens Near NYC This March

The world's first DreamWorks Animation-themed water park opens this month at American Dream!

Get your bathing suits ready: The highly anticipated DreamWorks Animation Water Park is set to open March 19 at the American Dream entertainment and retail complex in Rutherford, New Jersey. Billed as North America's largest indoor water park, American Dream's newest family attraction clocks in at just over 370,000 square feet—more than 100,000 square feet larger than the previous record-holder, Kalahari Resorts and Conventions in the Poconos. 

The massive indoor water park will feature 40 water slides, as well as the world's largest indoor wave pool, a lazy river, interactive play structures, two surf riders, and lots more—all featuring favorite characters from DreamWorks animated films including Kung Fu Panda, MadagascarShrek, and How To Train Your Dragon.

Originally slated to open in November 2019, the water park will join a growing roster of American Dream's indoor attractions, including Nickelodeon Universe Theme Park, Big SNOW ski and snow park, an ice skating rink, and a candy department store. Its opening is being touted as a preview, and a limited number of tickets are currently available. 

Things To Do in Westchester this Weekend: Laurie Berkner, St. Patrick's Parades, Purim

Celebrate Purim at the Westchester Jewish Center on Sunday. Photo courtesy of the Westchester Jewish Center

With St. Patrick’s Day a week away, it’s not too early to don your green and kick up your heels. Among the numerous parades happening in Westchester and the Hudson Valley this weekend is one of the largest in the state: the Annual Northern Westchester-Putnam St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

Maple sugaring is still in peak season, as are the events that celebrate it, one of our favorites being the annual Maple Sugaring Party. And while most of the Purim hullaballoo falls mid-week, there are a couple of fun celebrations this weekend, including the Purim Carnival. If you're looking for live entertainment, there are a couple of hot-ticket alerts, one of which is a FREE performance by the Paper Bag Players. Also FREE is the Ecology Club for Families with Special Needs, and there are plenty more freebies in store for the weekend.

Read on for further details and additional options—then head to our Event Calendar for yet more. Also refer to our March GoList for our top picks for the rest of the month, and our don't forget about our roundup of fun activities to finish out the winter!

Essex Market With Kids: Specialty Shops, International Eats and Treats

The colorful, fragrant spices at Essex Olive and Spice are hard to miss.

A visit to the Lower East Side can feel like taking a step back in time. Walk the right route, and you're greeted with narrow, tenement-lined streets that haven't changed much since this area was a bustling center of immigrant life. Take a different route, though, and you see gleaming new boutique buildings and high-price businesses peddling shiny wares. Change, as they say, is constant. And though one neighborhood mainstay—the Essex Market—has undergone some significant changes of its own, it has stayed true to the neighborhood its called home for more than 130 years.

The Essex Market, rebuilt in a modern building that opened last spring, is just a stone's throw away from its old location. Enter, and you're walking into a mini version of the neighborhood. Rows and rows of stalls honor the area's past and the long-time merchants with deep roots there. So, whether you're spending a day exploring the Lower East Side or searching for a specialty item or a tasty meal, the Essex Market is worth a visit.

Read on for all you can see, do, and taste at this New York City gem.

Things To Do on Long Island This Weekend with Kids: St. Patrick's Day Parades, Irish Festival, Model Train Open House

Come see the highest jumping dog in the world along and her amazing canine cohorts in Mutt Gone Nuts. Photo courtesy of the event

Daylight saving time starts this Sunday (3/8),  so don't forget to set your clocks forward by an hour to get to all the great events happening on Long Island this weekend on time! Visit The Long Island Explorium and explore how light can be filtered with a fun experiment. View a 4,000-square-foot model railroad layout and watch the engines roar at the TMB Model Train Club open house

The Hofstra Irish Festival will celebrate the Irish gifts of music, food and culture to America. Canines and comedy collide in a smash hit performance Mutts Gone Nuts that's leaving audiences everywhere howling for more on the Landmark on Main Street stage.

Start planning for St. Patrick's Day with our roundup of events across Long Island. 

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