This Week: Spring Break Is Here, NYC Day Trips, Easter Egg Decorating, Great Family Theater shows in NYC

4/10/14 - By Raven Snook

These days, the only things my daughter wants to talk about are spring break and Easter fun. But every NYC public school parent I know can't stop talking about all of the huge education-related things that have gone down this week, from the many protests against high-stakes testing throughout the city; to the New York State Education Department's decision to cancel its agreement to share students' private data with inBloom; to the NYC Department of Education amending its grade promotion policy for third to eighth graders so that passing the ELA and Math Assessments is no longer the main criteria for moving up. (That last one is still pending the approval of the Panel on Educational Policy.)

Clearly we public school families have a lot to digest, although I doubt we'll want to spend too much time on all that over spring break when there are so many awesome things to do. My daughter and I are planning a staycastion packed with museums, theater, egg decorating and leisurely afternoons in the park. But lots of our friends are hoping to get out of the city for a day trip or two. Awesome tri-state area getaways to consider include this weekend's annual Sheep-to-Shawl Festival at Philipsburg Manor in Westchester, laser tag fun on Long Island and New Jersey's iPlay America indoor amusement park and arcade. Checking our regional sites is always a great way to spark your destination inspiration.

Whatever you end up doing with your time off, we wish you and your family lots of memorable adventures! Here's what else we covered on the NYC site this week:

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We started the week with a list of the top 50 things to do with kids in NYC over spring break so you won't have to hear the words, "I'm bored" for the next week and a half.

One of our spring break picks: the American Natural History Museum's brand-new exhibit about the flying pterosaurs. We went to see the installation and there are a lot of cool interactive elements.

One of NYC's biggest annual events, the Tribeca Film Festival, kicks off next week and we've got the scoop on all the FREE programming for kids, including outdoor movie screenings and the super-popular Tribeca Family Street Fair.

Speaking of Tribeca, we went to check out Brooklyn Robot Foundry's awesome new Manhattan studio on Canal Street, where kids can build custom mechanical creatures out of everyday items.

Astoria, Queens in our new neighborhood of the months. Our coverage began with a list of the 30 best things to do in Astoria with kids.

Why pay Broadway prices when there are so many exciting family theater shows bowing Off Broadway this spring, from musicals based on popular picture books to interactive performance art for kids.

Got a sweet tooth? Then expect your mouth to water as you click through our Bleecker Street candy store photo tour—four sweet shops all on the same block!

This week's WeeWork projects included no-mess Easter egg decorating and tie-dye ideas.

Best bets for the weekend include opening day at Luna Park in Coney Island, the last few days of the Children’s Carnival in Queens and egg hunts all over town.