This week the Chinese New Year started and we covered fun events to celebrate the year of the dragon in Fairfield and Hartford Counties. For those considering moving to Fairfield County check out our suggestions for towns that are commutable to NYC. If thinking of soccer camps in Fairfield Co. this summer, get a jump on it using our list of options. In Hartford County we listed some fun birthday party locations. And finally, we covered ski resorts across the state (and a little beyond).

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This weekend there's lots of fun to be had:

It's time to fully embrace winter in New Jersey, especially now that we’ve actually witnessed a bit of snow. This weekends' events are filled with many outdoor winter celebrations and festivals in Lambertville, Sussex, Mt. Holly and Princeton to get your whole family  in the winter spirit. For those that prefer to stay warm inside there's plenty to choose from at the Museum of Early Trades and Crafts, Hunderdon Art Museum, the State Theatre of New Jersey and more.  Read on for all of our picks and remember, you can always find additional weekend activities in our Events Calendar . And don’t forget to check out our new Winter Fun Guide!


The Year of the Dragon kicked off on Monday, and many of the big celebrations happen this weekend, including Lunar New Year parades in Manhattan and Brooklyn. This weekend also marks Tu B'Shevat (Jewish Arbor Day), and there are festivals at the Museum at Eldridge Street and Central Park's Dana Discovery Center.

It's also a great weekend for music. Families can choose from cool classical, jazz and rock concerts, including live performances by Erin Lee and the Up Past Bedtime Band and the genre-busting Hot Peas N’ Butter.

Those are just a few of the great things going on this weekend. Read on for all of our picks and remember, you can find additional ideas in our Winter Fun Guide and our Event Calendar.

If you're on a quest to see how many times you can get your kids to say, "Wow!" in a two-hour period, take them to see Cirque du Soleil's OVO at the Santa Monica Pier - they'll break all previous records. In fact, allow us to make it easier for you: even though we've already given away a family four-pack of tickets to see OVO, now that we've seen for ourselves what a fabulous show for kids it is, we're giving away another set of four tickets to the February 1 performance! Read on to see how to enter!

We love taking the kids to indoor concerts when it's cold outside. It's a great way for them to shimmy and shake away the winter blues. Unlike sing-alongs or jazz concerts, pop and rock bands really let little music lovers blow off steam.

Lots of our favorite kids' groups are playing this winter, like The Deedle Deedle Dees and Suzi Shelton, but we've also included less well known groups we love. Whether you want to see a big name like Dan Zanes or are hoping to discover a new musical obsession, here are 13 cool kids' concerts in New York City.

Happy 4,709! As you've probably heard, the Chinese New Year began on January 23, and it's the Year of the Dragon - associated with wealth, power and courage! I don't know about you, but I could use a little of all of that right about now. To honor the dragon (perhaps running into a little wealth, power, and courage en route?) we offer a list of All Things Dragon in LA, to show our little dragons more of what this year of fiery, auspicious legend has to offer. You can start with Chinatown's Golden Dragon Parade, of course, as well as a few other Chinese New Year Festivals, then move on to some less obvious dragons...

We usually do these links posts once every two weeks, but so many stories caught our eye over the past seven days, we couldn't wait to share.

This batch is heavy on education-related news, including a stomach-churning breakdown of public school lunches, major budget cuts to after-school programs and a new definition of autism that could change available services.

Before you grab a bottle of aspirin (or vodka), not all of the news is bad. We've also got info on a new Montessori that's open 24/seven, the annual Doodle 4 Google competition and an open call for young circus performers—and we're not clowning around.