Straight from my inbox:

The Gap is turning its rotating concept store on 5th Ave. and 54th St. into a Tiny Dancers ballet studio in partnership with Ballet Tech, a tuition-free ballet school started by world-renowned choreographer Eliot Feld. On Wed., March 25, Gap and Ballet Tech will be opening their doors to NYC’s aspiring “tiny dancers.”

Each Saturday and Sunday, the store will be open for participants to drop-in, dress up, and dance their heart out with instructors from Ballet Tech. The free drop-in lessons will be in session Sat., March 28, through Sun., April 26.

In the news today: how one woman is feeding her family of four on $800 a year, the accumulated knowledge of another woman's 18 years of parenting (apparently it fits on one page), how to reduce your junk-mail footprint (just do it), how to get off the phone faster, a free way to turn your kids art into frame-able nursery art, and how Super Mario is taking over the city, in real life. Check it out.

It's one of the most sought out topics on Mommy Poppins, birthday party ideas. Well, now we've got a page dedicated to everything we've ever written on the theme. And what's more, we're going to write about New York City birthday party ideas every day this week. So check out what we've got in our New York City Birthday Party Guide and stay tuned for more great posts about kids parties in New York to come.  

Oh, and while we've got your attention, make sure to check in next week because we're going to be giving away some awesome tickets to the top kid shows in New York City. Don't miss it.

I don't know about you but, I need something funny to laugh about to nudge me from this long week into the weekend...and I think I found just the ticket. I don't know why this video of the outtakes of Ricky Gervais and Elmo on Sesame Street is floating around the internet, but I'm glad it is. How does Elmo stay in character while Gervais is yanking his chain? Elmo shows RIcky Gervais what real acting is. Even Gervais can't keep a straight face through this routine. Enjoy.

Twitter has become a great resource for finding cool things to do with kids in New York City. Pretty much all of the institutions are on there, letting us know about their events, plus there's lots of parents and bloggers sharing tips too. I've been scouring the NYC Kid event tweets for great tips to share and "re-tweeting" them, so if you are following me [@mommypoppins] you can always find out the latest.

But if you want to get all the tweets right from the souce, here's my list of the Top Ten people to follow on twitter for NYC kids Events, Activities and News:

There's always so much cool stuff going on at the libraries, I thought I would pull these events out of the regular free weekend events post this week and make a post just of library events. See and touch live birds of prey, watch a live performance or Robin Hood or Pinnochio, or see a show about puppets from different cultures, or hear some native Chinese or Peruvian music. Your tax dollars (and private funding) at work, folks!

If you aren't heading out of the city this weekend for some Maple Sugaring, don't worry. There's more than enough to make your weekend slammin' right here in town, with lots of circus performances, concerts, festivals a science fair, and more—all free (except for the circus shows, but who can resist a circus act?). And this weekend marks the official beginning of Spring so get out and have fun!

And don't forget to check our events calendar for some more fun activities too.

While my son's lunchboxes are getting more and more uh...personality (?) with each day, I've found a man that actually does give some character to his children's lunch bags.  He decorates a new one every day, with input from the kids.  They are awesome and I'm betting those kids are the ones everyone else wants to sit next to.  Also, today - speaking of food - how about finding a site devoted to the most delicious and disgusting food combinations entitled “This is Why You're Fat”.  It's at least good for 5 seconds of laughter/disgust.  And to stimulate you cerebrally and creatively, I submit Fiona Carswell.  She's awesome, and that's all I'm telling you about her.  If you don't take the time to check out her thought provoking and incredibly creative projects, it is truly your loss.  These links and more brought to you today by ME!  So go check them out, yo!