Can you imagine telling your kids to throw on their fairy costumes and run around the neighborhood in the dark ringing strangers’ doorbells and asking for candy? Ahhh...the good old days. But while door-to-door trick-or-treating seems to be quickly becoming a tradition of the past, Halloween remains a children’s holiday to be enjoyed with great gusto–so grab those costumes and celebrate the ghoulish fest with a slew of October 31st events sure to raise everyone’s spirits!

When you're a parent, Halloween feels like it's all about the kids. That's why for this month's Parents' Night Out post, we wanted to remind you that there are ways adults can enjoy treats and a few thrills, too.

We've got a list of tasty New York City places where you can indulge in adults-only desserts. Or if chills are what you're after, we know about a few restaurants with haunted histories.

Here are ways you can get a bit of a Halloween fix, without a costume or kid in sight.

Got your costumes ready? It seems like all the kids are thinking or talking about these days is October 31. While there are certainly plenty of Halloween happenings throughout the month, we've been writing about lots of other things, too.

For example, the Little Orchestra Society kicks off its new season of classical concerts this weekend, the New Victory has a new show specifically aimed at preschoolers and, of course, you can always find fun at the library. Plus we're looking for a few good writers to join the Mommy Poppins team.

And that's just a bit of what's going on. Here's what we covered this week on Mommy Poppins in NYC, New Jersey, Long Island and Connecticut, as well as selected stories from our brand-new sites in Boston and Los Angeles.

We’ve made some exciting additions to Mommy Poppins this fall. First, we launched our monthly neighborhood spotlight series, in which we run multiple posts about a chosen New York City area. For October, we decided to highlight one of our favorite places: Chinatown.

Now we’re excited to debut a new series of monthly posts featuring children's book recommendations by New York Public Library (NYPL) librarians. Because really, who better is there to suggest educational and engaging titles for our kids?

For this first NYPL post, we decided to combine our two new series. Stephanie Whelan, a librarian at the Seward Park Library near Chinatown, has compiled a wonderful roundup of nine children’s books that explore Chinatown, or Chinese culture and traditions.

This weekend's bounty of events involves a myriad of Halloween festivities, harvest festivals, hayrides and even a hula.  But if the hula or hauntings don't excite you, then there's a rodeo, a greenmarket or some competitive Scrabble. And we do love Scrabble here at Mommy Poppins. Yes, we're geeky that way. Have a great weekend!

What’s that seismic rumbling? The vibration of 10 million pumpkins rolling down the 405? No, (well maybe, but that’s not what we’re talking about here).  What you’re feeling is the pretend earthquake of the Great American Shakeout, a drill being held Thursday to help kids learn to drop, cover, and hold in the event of a genuine temblor. At 10:20AM schools, businesses, and community groups throughout the Southland are practicing what to do when the Big One (or a medium one) strikes.

Once the dust settles, you’ll find no shortage of things to do this weekend.  Halloween draws ever closer, and our calendar reflects that. The weekend is filled with pumpkins, pumpkins, and more pumpkins, two scary aquariums, and quite a few Día de los Muertos celebraciones. 

Here are some of our top choices for this weekend...

Boston families are treated to the opening of two great shows this week - Peter Pan, performed in the round, in City Hall Plaza, and The Phantom Tollbooth, Wheelock Family Theatre's musical adaptation of the classic book. These shows, plus pumpkin floats, a lantern parade, the annual Head of the Charles Regatta, and Boo at the Zoo, are just some of the many weekend options available. And be sure to check out our 20+ Free Halloween Activities for more ideas.

We’ve also launched our occasional series of preschools in the greater Boston area by highlighting five Boston nursery schools that represent different philosophies or approaches to education, plus a schedule of Open Houses that begin next week. We’d love your thoughts about other great schools to cover in our series; please drop me a line with your ideas.

Enjoy!

by Julie Marden

While the school year may still have a bit of a “back to school” feel to it, area preschools begin their open house season this month for parents trying to decide where to send their children next year. Recently, we launched our occasional series of preschools in the greater Boston area by highlighting five Boston nursery schools that represent different philosophies or approaches to education. Below is a calendar of these schools’ upcoming Open Houses and information on how to visit them.