Last week, we gave you a challenge: Spend 8 minutes each day, for 30 days, on a creative activity with your kids. If you’re like me, this isn’t easy. Then again, a challenge isn’t supposed to be easy, is it?

I’ve had to find creative ways to work creativity into my family’s hectic days, and I’ve discovered a wonderful outlet that achieves multiple goals – food art. From bento boxes to cakes you can draw on, there is no end to fun ways to get creative in the kitchen with your kids. Read on for some of my favorite ideas. 

Oh, faith and begorrah (whatever that means), it's the weekend of St. Patty's, and there's much greenery abounding. But even if that holiday is not appealing to ye, there's much in New Jersey that's fun for families, like Nano Day at Newark Museum or Dinosaur Day in Roseland. Read our top picks and find a listing of all NJ activities in our Event Calendar. And don't forget to enter to win a week of Pony Camp at Dapple Hill Farm on our Giveaways Page!

A favorite family dinner activity in this house is to adopt a different accent at mealtime.  I dare you to keep a straight face with a five-year old chatting away in her best Italian accent…

And so in honor of the approaching St. Patrick’s Day, last night we dined with our Irish brogues.  The result sounded something like an unholy mix of Cockney, Australian and Dutch dialects with a hint of New Orleans thrown in.   Music to the ears?  No.  Hilariously funny?  Undoubtedly.  And a great way to celebrate our Irish heritage (though no doubt our Irish ancestors are rolling in their graves!).  And always, there are lots of fun ways to celebrate Irish culture this St. Patrick's Day in Fairfield County, CT:

A couple of weeks ago, we shared the when and the how of visiting museums in the city of Boston for free. Inquiring minds wanted to know: What about the Harvard museums in Cambridge? Well, here is the answer. Read on to find out how to visit museums in Greater Boston (Cambridge, Brookline, Somerville) for free. You might even discover a couple of museums you'd never heard of before!

I recently went on a little (mis)adventure with my 23-month old, Paigely, to check out “Toddler Time” at  Skyzone Indoor Trampoline Park.  Although the address is technically Boston, I drove through several towns I’d never heard of before I ended up finding it in Hyde Park. It took us about 25 minutes in the car, which in actual “Toddler Time”, is more like three hours. 

Upon arrival, we walked into a large lobby where we were supposed to take off our shoes and sign a waiver.  Paigely was ready to go and had zero patience for this (in her defense we had been talking about jumping since 6am).  Kids get to jump in socks and adults get these funky shoes that I’m sure will make a big splash on the Boston hipster scene sometime next year.  We walked past a sitting area, banged a sharp left and stopped to put our belongings into waiting lockers. I didn’t actually get to lock anything up though because my daughter had already spied the gigantic looking trampoline and was bee-lining for it.   I hear a “Come ON Mommy!” and saw her on the top step waving me on.  Going in, I had thought this would be somewhat intimidating for her (to be honest, it was to me), but I couldn’t have been more wrong.  We took our first step in holding hands, and watching her face light up was worth the drive alone. 

We so love to give good gifts to our readers that we now have a Giveaways Page just for free stuff--huzzah! And our giveaway this week is a particularly happy one, because who doesn't love horse camp, ponies and foals? So how about a free week of Pony Camp at the wonderful Dapple Hill Farm in Whitehouse Station, NJ? We can feel your smile through the computer... Read on for all the info on how to enter to win!

We continue our month-long focus on Forest Hills with a look at our favorite places to eat with kids in the area. While the Queens neighborhood is filled with great restaurants, our picks all offer tasty food and a family-friendly atmosphere, plus a wide variety of cuisines that reflect the diversity of the community. Forest Hills also boasts a few classic NYC eateries, like old-fashioned soda fountain Eddie's Sweet Shop, famous thin-crust pizzeria Nick's Pizza and retro sweet shop Aigner Chocolates.

I find myself in new summer camp territory this year.  My 9 year old is old enough for sleep away camp, but her mother… ahem…isn’t quite ready to send her off.  But as I think she’s outgrown our local rec camp, I’ve been looking into some different alternatives.  I want her camp experience this year to really be a growing and learning experience for her, a chance for her to try something new and different.  And so we're considering some of the following: