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. 

Things to Do in Chicago This Weekend: Irish Fests, Jurassic Quest, Train Show

Experience what it was like to be among living, breathing dinosaurs at Jurassic Quest. Photo courtesy of the event

St. Patrick's Day celebrations kick off in earnest this weekend around Chicago, with parades with Irish dancing and music in Lemont and Elmhurst. (If you don't love swimming through beer and crowds, neighborhood celebrations like these are a kid-friendly alternative to the main parade downtown.) Dinosaurs have taken over the Dulles Expo & Conference Center as part of Jurassic Quest, and on Saturday families can enjoy the 65th Annual Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast in Naperville.

Kids can color eggs for Persian New Year at a Persian Nowruz Celebration featuring music and dance performances, and at the DuPage County Fairgrounds kids can see the world's largest monthly train exhibit, with more than 550 tables of model trains to see and buy.

The Morton Arboretum has confirmed that their enchanted Troll Hunt will continue through this summer—since their gentle giants have weathered this rough winter so well. (Better than most of us, anyway.)

Looking for more family fun in Chicago? Look no further than our constantly-updating event calendar, and our indoor winter fun bucket list for Chicago kids.

16 Popular Preschool Summer Camps in NYC

The Park Slope Day Camp offers experiences that are challenging, inspiring, and fun!

Finding an engaging and enriching summer camp that's right for your kid always takes a bit of work. Finding one that's a good fit for your first-time, preschool-age camper can be downright nerve-racking. You want their initial camp experience to be fun, safe, and memorable, but not over-stimulating or overwhelming. With so many high-quality camps for NYC preschoolers, it's hard to figure out which one to choose.

That's why we turned to the experts: our friends at the American Camp Association of New York and New Jersey. They've selected a handful of excellent New York City preschool summer camps offering a well-rounded summer experience filled with games, arts, sports, socializing, and plenty of outdoor time. Through the years, we've added more kid-tested, parent-approved picks of our own. Best of all, many of these preschool summer camps grow with your child, accepting kids in elementary school and beyond.

Keep in mind: Every camp has its own philosophy and program, so check out the website, call the director, and, if possible, attend an open house to get all the information you need before registering. Check out our Summer Camp Guide for more ideas, or these Brooklyn and Queens preschool summer camps for more outer-borough options.

Thing To Do in NJ this Weekend: St. Paddy's Parades, Dr. Seuss, Finding Neverland

The Rumson St. Patrick's Day Parade is one of many happening this weekend in NJ. Photo courtesy of the parade

Whip up some green eggs and ham, don your green wardrobe, and spend this March weekend celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday and St. Patrick's Day throughout NJ.

Wish Dr. Seuss a happy 116th at events like Dr. Seuss Family Fun Day, Seussology, and Dr. Seuss' Birthday Party. St. Patrick's Day celebration take place throughout the state, with events in Ramsey, Seaside Heights, Rumson and Woodbridge.

There are also several great family shows happening this weekend, including Finding Neverland, MasterChef Junior Live, and Milk & Cookies: Princeton Symphony Orchestra.  

Find even more weekend options in our Winter Fun Guide, including our roundup of great winter day trips for NJ families, among them a visit to Insectropolis, New Jersey's "Bugseum." And look to our March GoList and event calendar for a complete listing of happenings this weekend and beyond.

Great Summer Camps for Preschoolers in and around Boston

Catch butterflies and make friends with nature in Lincoln. Photo courtesy of Drumlin Farm Camp

Summer camp can be an awesome way to introduce preschool-aged kids to a school-like setting. They're old enough to want (and need) some mental and social stimulation during those long summer days, but not so mature that you can plant them at any old camp and trust they'll make do. The good news is that Boston and the surrounding Massachusetts 'burbs offer lots of great summer day camps to suit the many different types of preschoolers out there—from sporty to outdoorsy to tech-y!

We have the scoop on art camps, science camps, theater camps, and farm camps, too. Find more great summer camp options for your Massachusetts kids in our Boston Camp Guide and camp directory, which is searchable by interest, age, or location.

Babysitting Classes for Long Island Kids

Students hone their babysitting skills at the American Red Cross babysitting class. Photo courtesy of American Red Cross;

When children are ready to start earning extra pocket money, babysitting can be a great first job. There are numerous babysitting classes available for Long Island kids to become trustworthy and reliable babysitters. To better prepare for the responsibility of looking after little ones, tweens and teens can take classes to learn babysitting business skills, CPR and First Aid as well as childcare skills from potty training to creative play. Babysitters will feel more confident and competent and parents will feel more at ease leaving their little ones in the care of a well-trained sitter. Whether you’re the parent of a teenager who’s ready to start babysitting or you want to suggest that your current babysitter enhance their skills, here is a roundup of babysitting courses on Long Island for kids.   

If you’re looking for other children’s classes offered on Long Island, check out Mommy Poppins’ Guide to Classes for Long Island Kids. And if you need drop-in childcare and babysitting services, you won’t want to miss Mommy Poppins’ Drop-In Childcare and Babysitting Services for Parents on Long Island.

20+ STEM Summer Camps for New Jersey Kids

Play-Well Summer Camp offers LEGO-Inspired camps for kids in grades K-8.

When you think "summer camp," you might picture canoeing on a lake, playing capture the flag, and eating s'mores by a campfire. But camp can also be about coding, constructing robots, and building with Lego. We've rounded up more than 20 New Jersey STEM camps that promise a summer of fun for budding scientists, engineers, and computer programmers. Find more New Jersey summer camps in our Camp Guide and Full Directory of Listings

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