Holidays

Three Kings Day, also known as Epiphany, is the last official day of the Christmas Season—or the 12th day of Christmas, as the song goes—commemorating the three Magi coming to visit baby Jesus. There are many multicultural celebrations in New York City that celebrate Three Kings Day with traditional hispanic festivities from a parade in East Harlem to making and decorating Three kings Bread in the Mexican tradition at The Children's Museum of Manhattan.

Check out all our Three Kings Day Parade and Celebrations finds in NYC: Read more »

In the South they visit friends and eat Hoppin' Johns on January 1st . In New York on New Year's Day we try to get out of the house with an activity that parents can enjoy as much as the kids. Lots of things are closed, but there's still lots of fun stuff to do. Here are some ideas of what to do with kids in New York on New Year's Day 2009.

What will be open on New Year's Day in NYC: Read more »

Whether your kids are old enough to stay up till midnight or not, there's lots of fun ways to celebrate New Year's Eve with the entire family this year. We've rounded up some of the most promising ways to ring in 2009 with the family both for kids that are old enough to stay up until midnight and a daytime party for littler children who are not. Plus some tips on finding last minute babysitters for New Year's Eve.

For older kids that can stay up: Read more »

Every year I find myself googling the same information - how do I make sure that my Christmas tree ends up being made into mulch and not heaped in the landfill. In fact, I usually start the season by googling around trying to decide how guilty I should feel about having a Christmas tree at all and is there some other alternative that would be cool, environmental and not make my children feel like I'd killed Santa Claus.

I am happy to announce that after years of debating this whole issue I have finally come to a concrete conclusion. So here is my Definitive Guide to a Greener Christmas Tree Experience from the question of getting the tree to the question of getting rid of it: Read more »

What to do on Christmas Day. It's one of the basic philosophical tenets of Judaism. For centuries, the answer for New York Jews has been Chinese food and a movie, but for those with less orthodox standards, there are now many other options. Whether you don't celebrate Christmas or you are just looking for something to do once all the presents are unwrapped, the packaging pried off, the forgotten batteries swapped out of other electronic devices and installed, and the kids realize that no one toy can ever truly satisfy them—we've rounded up the best activities to do on Christmas Day in New York. Read more »

Just because there is a little ice on the sidewalk, doesn't mean you and the kids need to risk cabin fever over the Christmas break. Ditch the reruns of Drank & Josh, make some hot chocolate to go, and brave the winter elements for these worth-wearing-four-layers-for activities to keep your Christmas Vacation days full of fun.

Do you have set Christmas Eve traditions or do you wing it each year? Our family wings it, but luckily there are lots of great options for Christmas Eve activities so you can do something different each year. Or, any one of these Christmas Eve events could become your new family tradition for years to come. Whatever else we do, we always read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, have hot chocolate and open one gift. What do you like to do in New York on Christmas Eve? Share it in the comments.

Here's the top ten Christmas Eve activities on my list:

  Read more »

Big Apple Circus

This Holiday Season there's a particularly good crop of Holiday shows that every family can enjoy. Seeing a show can add that extra sparkle to your holidays. Here's a round-up of the best Holiday Shows: Read more »

Earlier in the week we wrote about some of the outrageous Christmas light displays on houses around NYC. But, here are some places to see more traditional Holiday Light Shows: Read more »

Santa and technology are not two things that immediately seem to go together. Santa has been the ultimate luddite; 1500 years old and he never even upgraded to a motorized vehicle, for pete's sake. But this year Santa is getting his geek on with some fun hi-tech tools and social media solutions that bring the jolly old elf to life for kids.

Check out how technology has upgraded Santa Claus this year: Read more »