| Page 1548 | Mommy Poppins - Things to Do with Kids

NYC Sports Programs for Kids with Special Needs

Submitted by Alison on Tue, 07/17/2012 - 9:00am

For this edition of my series of special needs posts, I'm taking a look at sports programs for children with special needs. As the mother of a son with autism, I am consistently amazed by the ingenuity of parents, teachers, therapists and sports enthusiasts who manage to adapt traditional athletic activities to accommodate kids like him.

I've seen firsthand how hard it can be for kids with special needs to engage in sports. For my 10-year-old son Jake, sports present unique challenges. Like many kids on the autism spectrum, he requires one-on-one support to remain on task and to manage frustration. The programs below are some of our favorites, and I've added a few we're looking forward to trying. While some of the organizations offer drop-in or one-off sessions, keep in mind that advance registration is often required.

Shakespeare's As You Like It at the VA's Japanese Garden

Submitted by Roberta B on Tue, 07/17/2012 - 5:24am

If there's one city in the world that deserves more Shakespeare in the park than any other, surely it's ours. Oh, yes, London may be Shakespeare's 'hood, and New York has that awfully famous park, but we've got something infinitely more important: the weather. No need to suffer for our art here; when Angelenos see theater al fresco on a summer evening it is a pure delight - it is, in fact, As You Like It.

Best Hotel and Flight Booking Apps and Tools

Submitted by Anna Fader on Tue, 07/17/2012 - 12:12am

On Saturday I spoke at the Apple Store in SoHo about the best apps for family Travel. All this week I'll be posting my suggested apps plus more tips and technology for family travel including the best apps for family road trips, how to find the best places to eat and things to do at your destination and keeping the kids engaged in your trip. In today's post I share my best strategies and tools for getting the best prices on airfares and finding inexpensive car rentals and accommodations.

The most stressful part of planning a family vacation, in my opinion, is booking the flights. No matter how you slice it, flying with a family is expensive and biting the bullet to buy those pricey tickets can be hard. Plus you're always wondering if the price might go down, or if you don't buy now will the prices go up.

Luckily there are a lot of apps that can help make this process easier, alerting you when fares come down and even helping you get refunds if ticket prices go down after you purchase. Read on for apps that help you save money on airfares and accommodations:

Family Friendly Hiking Spots in Fairfield County, CT

Submitted by Katie McKnight on Sun, 07/15/2012 - 9:26pm

A hard core mountaineer I am not. Nope…I’m more of a leisurely loper, quick to stop for snacks, water breaks, and bathrooms. But that being said, I do love getting out on a trail, and I love getting my kids out there as well, in hopes that they will grow up to be better mountaineers than their mother…

To that end, we will be hitting several manageable hiking trails in and around Fairfield County this summer and fall. Hiking Tip: best to wear long pants tucked into socks or tick spray and to bring water and a snack for when it's time to take a rest. Here’s our list of family friendly trails – hope to see you out there! If you'd like to spread your wings a bit further afield, check out these family friendly hikes in the Hartford area.

Staten Island's Greenbelt for NYC Kids: An Awesome Carousel, Cycling, Hiking, Archery and a Living History Museum

Submitted by Stephanie Ogozalek on Sun, 07/15/2012 - 4:00pm

At 2,800 acres, Staten Island’s Greenbelt is one of the largest public parks in New York City. Like Central Park in Manhattan, Brooklyn's Prospect Park, the Bronx's Van Cortlandt Park and Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, the Greenbelt is considered one of NYC's flagship green spaces. However, it's actually several parks linked together in Staten Island’s interior, including the popular Willowbrook Park, home to the Carousel for All Children, the wild High Rock Park and Bloodroot Valley named for its large population of signature flowers.

The Greenbelt makes for a great staycation destination. It's jam-packed with attractions, including 30 miles of groomed hiking trails, a nature center, a recreation center, a public golf course, a merry-go-round, barbecue grills, a lake for fishing, a living history museum and playgrounds. It's also filled with a wide variety of plants, flowers and wildlife like Wood Ducks, Great Blue Herons, muskrats, hawks, owls, woodpeckers, frogs and turtles.

It's possible to see most of the Greenbelt's big attractions on foot in one day—my family and I didn't manage it but we met an intrepid father-son team who were doing just that! But it's more relaxing to choose one area to explore at your leisure. If you decide to do it all in one day, there are parking lots throughout the Greenbelt and various MTA buses circle the park. Here are our top 14 things to do in the Greenbelt with kids.

Table Tennis in NYC: Where to Play Ping-Pong with Kids

Submitted by Alina Adams on Sun, 07/15/2012 - 10:00am

When kids say they want to play something with their parents, they usually mean they want to beat them at something. But when it comes to sports, there are few activities where a parent can honestly be bested by a person half their size and strength without resorting to throwing the game.

The exception: table tennis, better known as Ping-Pong. Forget size and strength; Ping-Pong is all about focus, aim and perseverance—qualities your kids have probably mastered in front of the Wii or Xbox. Here are our favorite kid-friendly New York City Ping-Pong spots where your little ones can whip you fair and square using a tiny paddle and ball.

Summer Children's Theater Performances on Long Island

Submitted by cristin on Sat, 07/14/2012 - 9:05pm

(In photo: Jake Sokoloff as The Mad Hatter and Jenna Kavaler as Alice
Photo Credit: Peter Lanscombe, Theatre Three)

Children develop a personal connection to the characters they meet in fairy tales and story books. They sympathize with Cinderella and Snow White in their plights with their wicked stepmothers, they relate to a child who can’t say no to just one more cupcake and they revel in the thought of a little boy who can fly. This summer children will be dazzled to see the beloved characters they’ve connected with in books come to life on stages across Long Island. We’ve rounded up some summer stage adaptations of popular children’s stories sure to entertain and likely to inspire even a reluctant reader to reread the story after the final bow.

I'm Speaking About Family Travel at the Soho Apple Store

Submitted by Anna Fader on Sat, 07/14/2012 - 1:33am

I'm talking at the Apple Store in SoHo today about the best family travel apps. It's a free event and if you are in the area I hope you'll drop in and check it out. I've got a ton of information to share on apps that will help you save money as well as help solve some of the toughest problems of family vacations.

The event is at 11am today, Saturday, July 14th at the SoHo Apple Store (103 Prince Street), which is re-opening for the first time after a huge renovation, so you'll get to be one of the first people to see the new store as well.

Next week I'll be posting a Best Family Travel Apps Series all week long. So check the site for those too.The topics in the series will be on the best apps for saving money on hotel and flight bookings, road trips, finding the best places to eat and things to do, navigating your destination and more.