If your cubs crave comic books or are aficionados of Japanese animé, you’ll definitely want to head on over to the incredibly cool Graphic Heroes, Magic Monsters show at Japan Society.  What you get to see is the amazing artwork that inspired modern-day animé, the likes of Mothra and Godzilla, and much of what we recognize as classic comic book graphic style, as well as popular tattoo art and manga.  All the bold, colorful works are by one incredible artist, Utagawa Kuniyoshi. One more thing. He lived from 1797-1861. (Totally true.)  Read on to find out more about this fantastic show  with tips on how best to view it.
 
 

No matter what age they are, kids really have good theater in this town. New York City is uniquely set up to provide top quality children’s entertainment, thanks to its host of actors, musicians, puppeteers and storytellers happy to perform for the little ones. Better yet, these productions are created to specifically engage a young child and many of the shows are interactive, usually about an hour in length and generally affordable.

The season is starting to wind down so if you haven’t taken your child to a theater performance yet this year – now is a good time to do it – there are plenty of great shows this spring - even some that are brand new.

Below is a pretty comprehensive list of what is playing around town for in the next few months, sorted by borough.  You will be able to find this list and all our cool kid culture finds in our Culture Guide.

Photo of the Week: My daughter walked on stilts at the Tribeca Family Festival, the Tribeca Film Festival's annual street fair, handing out cards for her tumbling class. The Family Festival was better than ever this year, spidering out onto several adjacent blocks because there were so many different activities and booths. The ESPN zone was particularly a big hit with the kids as well as mini-golf, imagination playground, hair spraying, and a free screening of the film Snowmen. While the fair was unbearably crowded right in mid-day having he activities on the side streets helped bring some relief.

Yesterday we posted about our Mother's Day wishes. I always find it hard to think of what I'd like myself. How do you possibly capture all the different sides of Mother's Day—the beauty of motherhood, your love and joy for your child(ren), and maybe just a little something special to make you feel like someone really went the extra effort for you with a wonderful, thoughtful gift?

There's one Mother's Day gift that I think fits the bill perfectly, a professional portrait. Whether you want to give mom a mother and child portrait to show off her beautiful maternal bond, a portrait of dad and baby so she can gaze on the ones she loves most, or a portrait of the whole family, I can't think of any Mother's Day gift more perfect than a portrait sitting or a professional family portrait.
 

Sit. Stay. Don't jump on the couch. There are an awful lot of commandments that apply to your dog and your kid. That's the beauty of Stanley's Party, the latest production at Manhattan Children's Theater. The musical, based on the Stanley book series by Linda Bailey, features the title pooch wrestling with house rules, but it could just as easily be your pre-schooler. Stanley wants to be a good boy, but when his people leave home for a few hours he just can't resist squeezing under the fence. After rounding up his friends, the dog pack take off for adventure that concludes with a house party Stanley's owners won't soon forget.

We've been watching lots of TV, with my son in the hospital for the last few weeks, so he's gotten pretty well versed in the facts of life according to commercials. Accordingly, he has learned that what all moms want for Mother's Day are flowers...or edible arrangements (because they're not just pretty but you can eat them too).

He had me convinced, but just to make sure, I asked the other folks at Mommy Poppins what their Mother's Day wishes were. Not one person mentioned Edible Arrangements, which is weird (Maybe that's just cause they haven't seen the commercial yet). In fact, every single person has a different wish or plan for their day. Read on to find out what this crew is doing...or dreams of doing (or getting) for Mother's Day this year.

Because I live in the concrete jungle, or perhaps in spite of it, I am crazy about getting my son involved in nature activities and events in the five boroughs.  I don’t want him to think he lives in a place devoid of nature - because it just isn’t true. Here in New York City we have many diverse natural environments and thankfully we have lots of groups full of passionate people dedicated to preserving them.  One of these groups is the Torrey Botanic Society, who is sponsoring Wildflower Week in New York City.  A week of educational program all around the city devoted to exploring and hopefully conserving the plants indigenous to New York City.

Saturday is the kick off and there are a lot of really cool and interesting things scheduled for adults, kids and families.  Here are some highlights of  NYC Wildflower Week 2010:

Another fun filled weekend is upon us and there is a lot of cool, free stuff do in New York City: festivals, early Mother’s Day parties, fantastic flea markets and craft fairs, fun and enriching art programs at the museums, nature study in the parks, and a very cool indie-rock fest for families.  Plus if you and the gang are artistically inclined – check out the art competition in Coney Island – it sounds like a blast.

The annual Tribeca Family Street Fair (Saturday) and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Cherry Blossom Festival are also this weekend –if you plan on going to either of them, try to get there early – they are both very popular.  There are lots of other street fairs too. Something fun on a smaller scale is the King Manor Museum Spring Festival (Saturday). It's also Wildflower Week. And don’t forget it’s the first weekend of May and some area museums have free admission times and special family programs.

There are festivals everywhere this weekend, Huntington, Long Island is throwing its annual tulip festival in beautiful Hecksher Park, I used to go to this event as a kid, and it was always a lot of fun – and all the kid activities are free. While you are there check out the Hecksher Museum of Art located in the park.

Read on to see more goings on around town and I hope you have a great weekend.