One of my favorite perks to city living is the NYC museums that surround us. It's easy to find culture on every corner from The Met's iconic artwork to dioramas, artifacts, and dinosaurs at the American Museum of Natural History and the rest of these top children's museums in NYC, but when you're in search of something more hands-on and interactive, NYC is a boon for that, too!

Below, find our top picks for immersive museums in NYC, where kids can get hands-on and play with slime, jump in a ball pit, bury themselves in sprinkles, and more. These immersive NYC museums are perfect rainy-day destinations that will help kids burn off some energy and introduce them to everything from art to science or simply the art of selfies in a fun and experiential way.

Find all our top kid-culture spots in our Guide to Museums, Galleries, and Exhibits in NYC for Kids.

Volunteering opportunities on Long Island show your children how rewarding it is to make someone’s holiday a little brighter by simply giving a little of your time. Volunteering also offers a way to break free from the gift-getting, list-making, shop-till-you-drop frenzy of the holidays. 

From fundraising to turkey and book drives to helping make wishes come true, we’ve pulled together this list of a dozen Long Island organizations looking for volunteers this holiday season. Most welcome help at other times, too.

Read all our best tips for the holidays–like the best seasonal day trips near Long Island–in our Guide to Holiday and Christmas Events for Long Island Kids. 

Westchester and the Hudson Valley have a bevy of great museums that offer stimulating fun and exposure to culture. All of the museums we've rounded up below offer exhibits and family programs that let kids–and grown-ups–learn, explore, and appreciate new viewpoints. 

Read on for more about these cultural gems, each of which can be included as part of a family day trip, and be sure to check our Museum Guide for Westchester and Hudson Valley Kids for more. 

If the white sands and turquoise waters of Aruba are beckoning your family for a visit, Embassy Suites Aruba by Hilton makes for a lovely, welcoming home away from home. This brand-new Aruba hotel takes the brand's well-known family-friendly amenities—spacious suites, generous hot breakfasts, pet-friendly rooms, daily evening happy hours—and packs it into a beautiful beachfront resort package.

Add to that the friendly, personable staff who can't wait to share the best things to do in Aruba with you, and this is an easy, warm-weather, family-friendly vacation destination in our book.

Read all about my fantastic stay at Embassy Suites Aruba by Hilton. Then check out our Caribbean Family Travel Guide for more great places to visit in the Caribbean. 

Whether your kids are skating first-timers or hockey players, gliding on one of the best outdoor ice skating rinks in Boston can be a fun excursion. It's also an affordable way for families to get fresh air and exercise in the wintertime. It's pretty thrilling to glide along the ice and look at the city and park scenery. Read on for our guide to the best outdoor ice skating rinks in Boston and the surrounding communities. Our list includes the beloved Boston Common Frog Pond, the Canal District Kendall Square ice rink, and Patriot Place – all of which are open this winter!

While these fresh-air rinks have a special charm, many of these free indoor skating facilities around Boston are open this winter for public skating and lessons, too. If your kids enjoy a slope as much (or more than) a rink, check out these Northeast ski mountains.

When bad weather hits, a trip to a museum can be a great cure for cabin fever. Northern New Jersey is home to a collection of world-class, kid-friendly museums–including world-class institutions like the Liberty Science Center and the Newark Museum of Art–where kids can study the stars at a planetarium, learn about dinosaurs that once roamed New Jersey, create their own works of art, meet animals, make music, and much more.

Read on for our favorite cultural spots in North Jersey, and be sure to check out our roundup of museums in central and southern NJ, too.

Florida's first and only snow park, Snowcat Ridge, has returned with brand new features for 2023! The outdoor attraction opens Santa's Christmas Lane for the first time this year, as well as offering beloved winter staples like a snow tubing hill, snow-covered Arctic igloo, outdoor ice skating ribbon, and more. Read all about it below, plus we've included more places to enjoy Florida "snow" and related activities around Central Florida.

And for even more winter fun, visit our Orlando Winter Activities Guide. Get info about fun holiday events, great indoor and outdoor day trips, holiday lights, and more info about Orlando as the weather drops!