It's mid-winter break and whether you just have the four day President's Weekend off or the whole 10 day vacation, you need a plan for things to do to filling those days with fun and memory-making activities that won't break the bank. I can't believe some of the great free activities going on in the city this week.

So I put them together to create the Mommy Poppins Do-It-Yourself Mid-Winter Break Camp! It's fun, it's free and it's sure to fill your vacation days with awesome memory-making activities. The only draw-back is you don't get to ship your kids off to do all the fun stuff with someone else. Oh wait, that's a plus too!

Day One: Friday February 15
Free Skating Prospect Park Wollman Rink 8:30 am to 9pm
Get in the mood for your wintry vacation with a special evening of free ice skating followed by hot chocolate at Prospect Park Wollman Rink. Actually the skating is free all day today, but doing something a little out of character like skating in the evening is a great way to break your everyday routine and get into the vacation mood without leaving New York.

Day Two: Saturday, February 16
Fill your kids with a little culture at some unusual performances around the city. Your pick: Sword Dancing, Gospel or Ice Skating Competition.

Two separate, free sword dancing performances in one day??”at the Museum of the City of New York 1:30pm or at Jefferson Market Public Library 1pm??”what are the odds of that? [Thank you to New York Magazine for clarifying to me that these two performances are actually part of a sword dance festival going on throughout the city both Saturday and Sunday. Check the festival homepage for more free locations around Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Tri-State Area]

Meanwhile at the World Financial Center enjoy Gospel Choir Competition with singers from all over the country. Youth groups will sing first, starting at 10am with adults following at 1:30 to 5pm. How sweet it is.

And at Sky Rink at Chelsea Piers the Skating Club of New York will hold it's Showcase Competition in Theatrical Skating at 1:30pm.

Note: The sword dancing at the Museum of the City of New York is free with admission and children under 12 are free, but adults will have to pay the $9 museum admission.

Day Three: Sunday, February 17
Family Arts Workshop: MAKING A MARK 1 - 3 pm
Enjoy a child-friendly docent-led tour of the current funky abstract art In Context exhibit followed with an art making workshop. Space is limited. Please call or email Rose at 212.598.0400 x229 or Rortiz@henrystreet.org to reserve your place.

Day Four: Monday, February 18
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is usually closed on Mondays, but will open for this President's Day. There will be special family programs throughout the day, including story times, films, and gallery sketch talks.

Take advantage of a free complimentary family pass for free admission for up to 6 people. Register and print out the invitation for your free pass plus a $5 off coupon to the museum store.

Day Five: Tuesday, February 19
Play at the Parks??”Actually every day throughout the vacation break the NYC Parks Department is hosting a winter festival with fun activities for kids.

Historic Lefferts House offers Coming in from the Cold where kids can experience and learn what children did for fun over 100 years ago with historic indoor games and projects. February 16-24 12pm -4pm.

The Audubon Center hosts a Children's Film Festival with kid-friendly nature films followed by nature crafts.

See all the offerings at the winter festival website.

Day Six: Wednesday, February 20
Fort Greene Park will offer its own daily educational activities during the break. On the 20th, kids can learn about the urban wildlife that lives all around them and create an animal craft. 11am.

Day Seven: Thursday, February 21
The Brooklyn Children's Museum On-the-Go will be having a Tales for Tots at the Brooklyn museum with international stories illustrated by real artifacts from the Brooklyn Museum's collections.

Day Eight: Friday, February 22
It's been a long week. How about chilling out at a free storytime yoga class at Karma Kids Yoga.

Day Nine: Saturday, February 23
They Might Be Giants promote their new album, Here Come the 123s with a free performance at Borders in the the Time Warner Center! 3-5pm

Day Ten: Sunday, February 24
Princess Katie and Racer Steve perform for free in Chelsea Market at 10:3am in honor of Steve's birthday. Costumes encouraged.

Whew! I hope that keeps you as busy all week having fun as it kept me writing it up. Don't forget about our Winter Fun Guide. If any of these ideas don't tickle your fancy one day, there's plenty of other fun stuff to do with kids in New York in there. Working parents, you can print this post out for the sitter too.

French Woods is located on a private lake in the western Catskill mountains of New York State near the Delaware river and the Pennsylvania Border, approximately two and a half hours from New York City between Monticello and Binghamton.

We offer summer camp programs in dance, theater, music, circus, magic, visual arts, sports, and horseback riding. Each child, works with our staff to design his or her own unique summer experience. Campers are able to focus on one particular area of interest, or they may choose to select a variety of activities. We are at the same time, a theater camp, an art camp, a dance camp, a circus camp, a horseback riding camp, a sports camp, a magic camp, and a traditional camp, with world class programs that each child can choose a-la-cart.

For more great camp ideas, check out our Summer Camp Guide!

The best of Brooklyn summer camps since 1992, The Park Slope Day Camp is a private summer and holiday camp with locations in the Park Slope, Windsor Terrace and Bay Ridge communities of Brooklyn. Campers enjoy the wide variety of activities our camps offer. Parents love our flexible and accommodating schedules and programs.

Choose the weeks that you want; weeks need not be consecutive. Limited spaces for daily registration are available in most programs. End of Summer Mini-Camp is available the last week in August. Camp Hours Regular hours are 8am-4pm. Optional extended hours end at 6:30pm.

For summer campers in our Pee Wee program, we offer our Bankers' Hours option, a shortened day of 8am-2:30pm.

What Makes Our Camps Special
The large variety of programs we offer for ages 3.5 to 14
The safe, fun, stimulating environment we create Accredited by the American Camp Association.*
Our stable, talented and committed leadership team and staff who relate well to children
Fabulous elective periods for concentration in sports & arts Superior counselor to camper ratios
Our climbing wall
Very flexible registration and accommodating hours
Mini-Camps at the end of August prior to the opening of school & during public school vacations
Small co-ed groups, grouped by grade
Our love for the outdoors Professional management & organization
Licensed by the NYC Department of Health and inspected twice yearly.
Reports are filed at the Bureau of Inspections.
Transportation from most Brooklyn locations.
*American Camp Association Accreditation means that The Park Slope Day Camp submitted to a thorough (over 300 standards) review of its operation by the American Camp Association - from staff qualifications and training to emergency management. American Camp Association collaborates with experts from The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Red Cross, and other youth service agencies to assure that current practices at the camp reflect the most up-to-date, research-based standards in camp operation. T

he Park Slope Day Camp and American Camp Association form a partnership that promotes summers of growth and fun in an environment committed to safety.
 

And for more great camp ideas, check out our Summer Camp Guide! 

Woodmont Day Camp is a camp where each child will feel the warmth and comfort of home. Your child will experience a dynamic program in an environment fostering growth and independence. Our breath-taking waterfall welcomes you to our 50 acres of beautiful woodlands, streams, trails and open space. Woodmont offers campers an unforgettable camp experience in a country setting unrivaled in its natural surroundings. We are ideally located--a mile from exit 11 on the Palisades Interstate Parkway, just 25 minutes from Manhattan, 20 minutes from Westchester and 15 minutes from Northern New Jersey.

For more great camp ideas, check out our Summer Camp Guide!

The Mommy Poppins Summer Camp and Program Guide is up! It's got information on over 30 terrific camps, organized by type, from preschool camps to sleepaways and everything in between. We've been amazed at how many cool camps there are that we had never even heard of.

This is just the beginning though. We're going to keep writing about camps for the rest of February and we'll be adding the new posts right into the guide, so you'll have everything you need to know about summer camps and programs in the New York region right at your finger tips. Stay tuned for more resources for finding the right camps, more expert posts, more free and cheap camps and summer programs, cool finds for camp gear, and more and more cool camps.

How are you celebrating Valentine's Day with your kids or your sweetheart in NYC this year? How about heading to The Sweet Life, one of New York's best candy stores? Take a look at the latest in our Best of NYC Candy Store video posts. We got a little romantic with this one. So sue us, it's Valentine's Day!.

A combination that can’t be beat… A personal approach where we get to know each of our campers AND a state of the art facility second to none, complete with a dazzling array of high quality activities!  Katz family owned for 52 years, Deer Mountain Day Camp is a place where we celebrate each of our campers while they make friends, learn new skills and have a TON OF FUN! Serving children ages 3 to 15 with a 3 to 1 camper to staff ratio. Our breathtaking 25 acre mountainside facility includes 6 heated pools for daily instruction and recreational swim, a lake for boating and fishing, a 7,000 square foot dining hall, 25 air-conditioned buildings for our fine & dramatic arts programs as well as age-appropriate sports fields and courts that serve our tremendous variety of athletic programs. Our campers enjoy a complete activity program packed with swimming, sports, fine arts, performing arts, adventure trek and special events. Door to door, air-conditioned, supervised transportation included. Come visit and see why we have become known as Your Child’s Summer Home.

Deer Mountain Day Camp
63 Call Hollow Road, Pomona, New York 10970
845/354-2727
www.deermountaindaycamp.com
Owners & Directors: Roberta Katz & Carol Katz

For more great camp ideas, check out our Summer Camp Guide!

The Frost Valley YMCA tradition is an engaging, affordable summer camp experience for children ages 7-16 at our 6,000-acre camp in the heart of the forever wild Catskill Forest Preserve.

Lodges nestled near mountain trails and wide green spaces create a special world where kids journey on every scale, from spending first nights away from home and bonding with new friends to mountain hikes, waterfront fun and all-camp traditions and games. Non-competitive activities in a safe, nurturing environment model our values of caring, honesty, respect, responsibility and emphasize environmental awareness. Children learn confidence in a supportive atmosphere that fosters skill development and memories that last a lifetime.

Our roots reach back to 1901 as one of the nation's first overnight camps and over a century later, we remain true to the Y mission and our commitment to bring children of all backgrounds and abilities together in an enriching, life-changing summer community.

Frost Valley offers age-based sleepaway camp for children ages 7-15 in (4) two-week camp sessions from June-August; two and three-week Adventure Trips for kids ages 11-16. Special offerings: Horse Programs; Farm Camp; Sleepaway camp for children with kidney disease; and Mainstreaming At Camp for children with development disabilities. (845) 985-2291 ext 203.

For more great camp ideas, check out our Summer Camp Guide!