The Scholastic Store holds free story hours every Tuesday and Thursday at 11am in their SoHo store. The store also has play activities areas like a big Colorforms magnet wall where kids can create their own pictures, a Magic School Bus with a screening area, and a giant dinosaur with a cozy beanbag tail to curl up and read so story hour could easily turn into several hours of indoor entertainment and reading.

The other day we posted our Vintage Valentine craft idea. Well, we just discovered the New York Public Library has a huge collection of Vintage Valentine artwork.

Dumplings are one of the symbolic foods of the Chinese New Year, so Amber sent us this fun activity idea for celebrating Lunar New Year with kids. It's a bit of prep work to get the filling made, but kids will love filling and eating their own dumplings. It would be a great activity for a Lunar New Year kids' party, and a healthy snack too!

The weather hasn't been too bad lately, so if you need a different excuse to fill up on hot chocolate, how about City Bakery's Hot Chocolate Festival. Every day in the month of February City Bakery is offering up a unique flavor at their 18th Street store. If you don't know about City Bakery's famous hot chocolate, then all the more reason to head over to what some believe is the best hot chocolate in Manhattan.

Taking your child with you to vote is a great way to teach them about the importance of active citizenship.

Valentine's Day is coming up and we're sharing some fun and easy Valentine crafts to do with kids. We love this one because it works perfectly with the fact that Valentines and Chinese New Year are so close.

The Henry Street Settlement’s Abrons Arts Center offers affordable, superb programs for all ages and skill levels in dance, music, theatre, and the visual arts. This Winter, due to some reshuffling of classes, some of the classes are under-enrolled. If you are looking for art classes for you toddler through high schooler, this is a wonderful opportunity to take advantage of one of New York's incredible cultural institutions.