February break is winding down but you can end it with a bang this weekend. Rock out to concerts by Lloyd Miller of the Deedle Deedle Dees or Seattle trio Recess Monkey. If theater's more your thing, you can choose from a fairy tale puppet show, a musical based on the Beezus and Ramona book series or a kids' comedy show.

Other fun includes celebrating the Himalayan New Year at the Rubin Museum, and a Muppet movie marathon in conjunction with the Museum of the Moving Image's Jim Henson exhibit, which closes soon. Speaking of closing, it's your last weekend to go ice-skating at Bryant Park; the free rink shutters for the season on Sunday.

These are just a few of the great things going on this weekend. All of our best bets are below. You can find additional options in our Event Calendar or our Winter Fun Guide.

Some babies are early talkers, some are early walkers. My second child was a precocious jokester. He told his first (nonverbal) joke at about six months. Since he's my second child I don't recall the actual joke, but I remember making a mental note that I had a little comedian on my hands. Years later the comedy continues... to the chagrin of his teachers, I'm sure.

Of course, exposing him to age-appropriate funny business hasn't been easy. Let's face it, if you tried to take kids to your average comedy show, you'd spend most of the evening covering their ears (and possibly their eyes) with your hands. But there are a handful of family-friendly comedy shows and great kids' comedy classes in New York City, so you can see your own wisenheimer on the stage.

My son and I attended a couple of these shows, and he also took a few improv and comedy classes. Read on to find out what they're like, and find out details about a series of free kids' comedy classes that start next week.

Are your kids climbing the walls and jumping from couch to couch? When it's too cold for your favorite park there are plenty of places to blow off steam indoors in Northwestern New Jersey.  Many of these venues offer open play or classes geared from little ones to tweens and most offer birthday party packages as well. Each is $10 or less per child and most offer group rates. The mommy bonus of indoor open play? Bring a box of joe and some juice boxes and make your own party- without the clean up!

This time of year, I am always ready for the arrival of spring.  I know, I know...we haven’t REALLY had winter this year, but still!  February vacation is coming to an end, the groundhog has come and gone, the Superbowl has passed….time to bring on Spring!  And to kick off Spring in this family, we like to pack up our car take a day trip to New London’s Connecticut College for an early season lacrosse game.

Why Connecticut College, you ask?  Well – for several reasons.  Their New London campus is right on the water, and nothing makes me feel like Spring more than an ocean breeze blowing.   Plus, the convenient New London location makes it an ideal spot to meet up with Boston friends who might be heading south to catch the game.  

Until this past weekend, one of the casualties of parenthood in our family was skiing. Of course, if I had been a true skiing fanatic I would have moved "Teach Child To Ski" higher up the priority list. Indeed, if I were a serious skier, I may even have felt qualified to teach said child to ski myself. Instead, I have vaguely contemplated the family ski resort options near LA each winter, and then realized that I have not made it to one each spring. After six seasons without skiing, I decided it was time to take the child by the horns and get someone to teach him to ski.

Don’t miss your chance to see the Harlem Globetrotters 2012 World Tour right here in Hartford this Saturday! For over 80 years the Globetrotters have been entertaining hundreds of thousands of fans around the world. The line up for Hartford is Special K, Flight Time, Tiny, Too Tall, Firefly, Slick Willie, Jet, Spider, Hammer and Airport! Players are subject to change.

This year my kids have gotten into basketball so we are going to this show. I get to mark it off the list of things I want to do with the kids before they grow up! Join us - and even better - get a discount on your ticket by using the code listed below. That is if you don't win the 4 free tickets, of course!

As fans of movies from Studio Ghibli, particularly those directed by anime master Hayao Miyazaki — Ponyo, Kiki's Delivery Service and Castle in the Sky so far — my daughter Violet and I were excited to see The Secret World of Arrietty (opening today in 9 NJ locations). Arrietty is written and supervised by Miyazaki, but directed by first timer Hiromasa Yonebayashi. The film's glorious color palette, attention to nature, and charming details are enchanting, particularly since Arrietty (voiced by Bridgit Mendler) is a Borrower, and very tiny. The pair of earrings used as climbing tools, sticky double-sided tape for scaling a cupboard, and rain drops that cling to Arrietty's clothes like snow globes, are quite captivating, as is Arrietty herself, with her scrappy personality, cute dresses and Julia Roberts' hair. The story, however, never brings the magic.