The top tip for this weekend is the Governor's Island Figment 28 Festival , an incredible sounding three-day outdoor art festival with just a wild array of really fun sounding events for adults and kids.

Bring your bikes, your picnics and all your senses for a unique outdoor art experience. Hop on the free 15 minute ferry ride and it's as though you've arrived in the Berkshires at the other end, with the picturesque environment and wonderful art festival that feels a world away from NYC. I think we'll be sorry if we miss this one.

Figment 2008 Kid-Friendly highlights:

One of the most anticipated events of this summer is the New York City Waterfalls. Starting on Friday, June 26th and running through October, four spots in the East River will be morphed into 100 foot high waterfalls. It's all part of a public art project by artist Olafur Eliasson who is challenging us island dwellers to pay a bit more attention to our water.

The five 90 to 120-foot tall installations will operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week, and will be lit after sunset, adding a striking element to New York City’s iconic skyline. One will be by the Brooklyn anchorage of the Brooklyn Bridge, the other between Piers 4 and 5 at Furman and Joralemon Streets in Brooklyn. A third waterfall will be located in Lower Manhattan at Pier 35, and the fourth on the north shore of Governors Island.

The project uses only environmentally sustainable energy and they promise that the structures won't harm the fish, shoreline or aquatic life (yup, thats right, fish actually live in the East River).  And if your family gets really into it, you can follow up the waterfalls with trips to MOMA and PS1 where Eliasson currently has exhibits which incidentally are great for babies since they include lots of colored lights.

Bonus: Mommy Poppins is teaming up with Circle Line Tours to give 3 lucky readers a 4-pack of tickets to the Shark Boat speed boat tour of the waterfalls. What better way to get kids psyched to see some cool public art then by passing it at really fast speeds? And, learn after the jump about other FREE boat tours of the waterfalls that anyone can get tickets for!

New York City has gone nuts for outdoor movies in recent years and with good reason, there's something magical about lying back on a picnic blanket and watching your favorite movie with hundreds of other New Yorkers.

Outdoor films are also the best way for grown ups to go see kid movies because you can just enjoy being out on a nice summer evening even if you aren't that into the movie. And, depending on your kids, it can be a great way to get out to see a grown up movie without spending the college savings on a sitter, as many kids will enjoy the classic films frequently shown or will just enjoy being out at night enough to sit (or sleep) through it.  Films begin at dusk which is generally at around 8:30 and many of these series include other entertainment.

Here's a rundown of the best free outdoor movies for kids in NYC this summer:

Photo by egarc2

Ask Brooklyn parents what pools they like and you'll hear the Red Hook Pool mentioned a lot. Sunset Park is another favorite. Both of these are Olympic-sized pools and are great. But if you are lucky, you might hear mention of one of Brooklyn's hidden gems, The Double D Pool, or the DD Pool.

This morning we were on Good Day NY to talk about what to do with your kids this summer in NYC. And if you are here looking for the answer, you've come to the right place.

Check out our Summer Fun Guide for all our top picks for kids this summer from outdoor concerts and festivals, swimming pools, beaches, water parks, and even indoor activities like museum programs and story hours.

Summer days are long, it's hot, and you can't just send your kids out to play in the streets. You need help. You need distractions. You need our Free Fun Summer Activity Planner. With a free activity for every single day of summer in July and August, it's like a do-it-yourself camp for New York City parents.

Free concerts, outdoor movies, museum programs, classes and workshops, story times, festivals, performances, events—the following list isn't just 62 activities, many of these events are recurring, so look out for the stars—which indicate an event occurs on additional dates.

*recurring daily

**recurring weekly

***Check for other dates

And don't forget to check out our Summer Fun Guide for more ideas on the best stuff to do in and around New York this summer.

JULY

July 1 Visit the Science Barge *

July 2 Free Wednesdays NY Botanical Garden **

July 3 Union Square Summer in the Square**—Astrograss

July 4 International African Arts Festival, July 3-6

July 5 Free First Saturday Programs Brooklyn Museum and New Museum

July 6 Central Park Clearing in the Forest Series**—The Dancing Bahilla, Middle Eastern dance performance and workshop

July 7 Lower Manhattan River to River Festival *— Sitelines Interactive Environmental Dance

July 8 Tragedy of MacBeth Performance and Family Workshop ***— Battery Park

July 9 Carroll Park Concert Series ***— Lloyd Miller and The Brooklyn Phone Book

July 10 Washington Market Park Concert Series **— Uncle Rock

July 11 NY Philharmonic Concert in the Park ***

July 12 City Parks Dance***—Rennie Harris Puremovement Ballet Int'l Africans

July 13 SummerStage ***— Global Family Day

July 14 The Paper Bag Players: On Top of Spaghetti — Bronx Library Center

July 15 Madison Square Kids Concert**— Audra Rox Concert

July 16 Stuyvesant Town Music on the Oval**— DJ Duane Harriot & Easy Star All-Stars

July 17 MoMA Sculpture Garden Story Time**

July18 Bryant Park Good Morning America Concert Series **— Miley Cyrus

July 19 Macy's Fishing Contest * — Prospect Park

July 20 daydream***— A Midsummer Night's Dream specially adapted for children and performed in Imagination Playground, Prospect Park

July 21 La Caperucita Roja*** — Bi-lingual, revisionist Little Red Riding Hood in Red Hook

July 22 Lucy Lortel Theater***—The Plant That Ate the Dirty Socks

July 23 Laura Vila at Book Culture —Interactive Book event

July 24 Movies with a View** — Curse of the Were Rabbit

July 25 Prospect Park Audubon Center Nestlings Nature Classes**

July 26 Solar One Family Day Environmental Festival

July 27 MoMA Family Program**—Closer Look for Kids

July 28 Kayaking on the Hudson*

July 29 Shakespeare in the Park*—Hair

July 30 Central Park Sandbox Series *— Music Performances, Art Classes, Story-Telling and Music Classes

July 31 Jefferson Market Library Toddler Time**

AUGUST

August 1 Children's Museum of Manhattan — Free First Friday

August 2 Celebrate Brooklyn* — Family Concert

August 3 Queens Museum of Art — Free First Sunday

August 4 Storytime at Babylicious **

August 5 Family Programs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art**— Start With Art

August 6 Outdoor Cinema Socrates Sculpture Park**— The Red Balloon and Persepolis

August 7 Summer on the Hudson*—Billy B., the Natural Science Song and Dance Man

August 8 SummerStarz**—Crafts, Music and Film in McCarren Park

August 9 International YoYo Open and Contest

August 10 Lefferts Historic House**— Early American Crafts

August 11 Rubin Museum of Art Museum Program*—Word Play (free with admission)

August 12 Story time at Giggle**

August 13 Plant 'N Play at Umoja Garden

August 14 CInderella Samba Riverside Park

August 15 RiverFlicks for Kids **— Willie Wonka and The Chocolate Factory

August 16 Lincoln Center Out of Doors* — Family Day

August 17 Barnes and Noble Union Square Story Time**

August 18 Bryant Park Summer Film Festival** — Superman

August 19 Tales on Tuesdays Carl Shurz Park

August 20 Wednesdays in Teardrop Park

August 21 Preschool Art Rockefeller Park **

August 22 RiverFlicks for Kids **—Shrek

August 23 Walk, bike or roll up car-free Summer Streets**

August 24 Blues and BBQ Festival Hudson River Park

August 25 Moxie Spot Story Time **

August 26 Discovery Tuesdays at Brooklyn Botanic Garden**

August 27 Free Story Time Yoga at Karma Kids **

August 28 Broadway in Bryant Park **

August 29 McNally Rand Baby Storytime **

August 30 Free Bike Rental in Manhattan*

August 31 Books of Wonder Story Time **

Like what you see? Subscribe to Mommy Poppins through RSS or our free email newsletter and never miss out on all the great stuff going on for kids in NYC.

Just cause the last time you sat down to read a newspaper was when "pooped out" still meant tired to you doesn't mean you can't stay up to date with what's going on. We've rounded up the top stories you don't want to miss from the NYC media this week.

Urban Farm.  Treehugger reports on this summer's PS1 courtyard installation.  It will have an urban vertical farm where they will be growing tomatoes and other veggies, a chicken coup with egg-laying chickens and a little river that looks perfect for toddlers.

Bananas.  Watch this NY Times video with Mark Bittman and a three year old fan as they make

Just in time for the Summer Solstice, our Summer Fun Guide is here! You won't find any other resource like this—with everything your family needs to have a great time in New York City this summer. The best pools, beaches, playgrounds, water theme parks, concerts, festivals, free programs, family travel tips and more. We've even got indoor activities to keep you cool on too hot or rainy days. There's over 30 articles, each one jam-packed with fun.

And be sure to check out our newly updated post on Story Times Around the City where you'll find 20 different story hour locations.

On Monday we'll be posting our famously popular free activity a day for the entire summer. Don't miss it! It's all you need to have a fun-filled summer without spending a dime. And we'll be adding more posts to our Summer Fun Guide so stay tuned for even more summer fun coming up.

Also check out our new events calendar. You can find all our picks for this weekend's and upcoming events there.

This weekend you won't want to miss: