This Weekend: Toy Swap, two giveaways, more trains, and other fun

Courtesy of CTC

The Mommy Poppins Holiday Toy Swap & Drive is this Sunday from 10AM to 1PM at 146 Duane Street and it looks like it's shaping up to be a lot of fun. New children's party catering company, BisKids will be giving out delicious, free homemade goodies.

Also, everyone who comes on Sunday can enter to win a pair of tickets to The Gazillion Bubble Show or a pair of tickets to A Kid's Life. I saw The Gazillion Bubble Show and it was a lot of fun. I think kids of all ages, and adults too, would enjoy this show.

So I hope you will all come. We may get a little weather, but it should be a great time. If you are reading this in your email and care to just hit reply and let me know if you are planning on coming or not that would be great. I want to make sure BisKids brings enough treats for everyone!

What to do after the swap: Make a day of it, the Washington Market Park Christmas Party, just a couple of blocks away, starts at 2PM. Or head over to Church Street School for Music and Art for their fabulous gingerbread house decorating workshops at 2:15.

And more fun stuff going on:
The world's largest snow globe will be in Bryant Park today through Tuesday with real live snow people inside. There will be ice sculpting demos and other events. See the whole schedule at NewYorkology.

And more fun for train lovers:
The Holiday Train Garden opened today in Battery Park City's North Cove. It's open Thursday through Sunday. Get hours and directions here.

Another great thing for transportation lovers little and big. The MTA is rolling out some vintage buses and subways on special MTA routes on Sundays in December. Again, NewYorkology has not only the whole scoop, but some great photos of the vintage trains.

In other news:
Our long time advertiser College Nannies and Tutors is offering a new holiday promotion. Sign up for on-call babysitting or nanny service and there's no placement fee. Support the people who support Mommy Poppins and give them a try. Find their ad in our sidebar and give them a call or email them for more information.

I've been having a lot of fun watching the "Are you sick of Christmas posts?" poll. After being in a dead heat all week, the Christmas post lovers have pulled out ahead. Check it out and cast your vote. You'll find the poll in the sidebar of our site.

And don't forget to enter our Scholastic Store Extreme Makeover Giveaway.

Lastly, there's been quite a hullabaloo in Brooklyn parenting circles about the "Toxic Preschool." Follow the story here, here and here.