Last summer, a police officer told one of our writer’s kids to stop flying a kite in Prospect Park. That was the first time we heard that technically kite flying is not allowed in New York City Parks (to protect the trees and birds, we imagine).

Of course, this rule is a bit ambiguous. According to the NYC Parks & Recreation Department’s website, “no person shall engage in…kite-flying, except at such times and at such places designated or maintained therefore.” Right below that, it says the same thing about roller skating and sledding. I don't know about you, but no one I know ever looks for "official" sledding, skating or flying zones.

Central Park’s website says kite flying is permitted in “large, open landscapes away from trees,” like Sheep Meadow and the Great Lawn. Prospect Park’s site touts Long Meadow as a wonderful place to fly kites. So really, you need to use your best judgment and hope a cop won’t stop you—or you can attend a kite-flying festival.

While there are wonderful kite events for families throughout the season (Socrates Sculpture Park hosts its annual Kite Flight in early spring), there are a handful of cool and colorful fetes coming up where you can go fly a kite. Sometimes you can even snag (or make) a free flyer.

By Julie Revelant

Summertime doesn’t mean your special kid should fall back on the progress he’s made throughout the year or miss out on all the fun the other kids are having. There are a host of camps in the area who have programs and facilities specially tailored to the special needs kid. Here are a few:

It’s summertime, people, and we don't need to tell you that it's hot outside. Really hot. So we've been spending way too much time indoors glued to our computer screens, surfing, reading and gathering.

And that's great news for you, because we're passing along all of the cool info we acquired (and none of the extraneous junk) to you. Everything that made the moms at Mommy Poppins go "hmmmm" or “cool!” or “wow!"

From a Department of Education feedback form to mommy bloggers in Kenya to Harry hysteria, here's what we rounded up.

The Staten Island Ferry isn't the only free boat ride in town. The Ikea ferry also offers a (usually) no-cost tour of New York City's magnificent waterfront.

The Ikea Water Taxi departs from Slip A at Pier 11, right near South Street Seaport, and sails you to Red Hook, Brooklyn, land of funky post-industrial architecture, and trendy restaurants and shops. In addition to shuttling you right to the Swedish megastore, it's a great way to visit this cool neighborhood, which is quite a long walk from the subway.

My family and I had never taken this trip before, so this summer we decided to cross it off our bucket list. Here's how we fared during our maiden voyage.

There are lots of free outdoor summer concerts for kids where you can check out all kinds of big (and lesser known) bands on the children's music scene.

Although I enjoy seeing established stars like Dan Zanes, I love being totally blown away by a new group. And that's exactly how I felt when I caught Shine & the Moonbeams at the Kindiefest music conference this past spring.

The NYC-based quartet is playing three free concerts this month as part of SummerStage Kids. Read on for details about the gigs, and why this soulful band should be on your radar—and once the CD comes out, on your iPod!

It's hot in the city, hot in the city tonight! And we're not even talking about the weather. There's a ton of amazing things happening in NYC, and we've been running around like madwomen (more than usual) trying to cover everything.

This week we went to the Bronx to see what was growing on at the New York Botanical Garden, hit Queens for a preview of the Museum of the Moving Image's new exhibit Jim Henson's Fantastic World, caught a performance of the Berenstain Bears musical on the Upper West Side, and even chatted with Grammy winning children's music god Dan Zanes, who's playing a free concert this Saturday in Brooklyn.

Plus, we launched our amazing Hot List deal. For $4.95, you can download our ebook which features more than $1,000 in savings on the best things to do in NYC this summer.

And that's just a bit of what's going on. Here's what we covered this week on Mommy Poppins in NYC, New Jersey, Long Island and Connecticut.

Exactly a decade ago this month, a friend told my family about a new band for kids that was playing at Chelsea restaurant The Park on Sundays. We went the following weekend with our then two-year-old Emma, and instantly became fans of Dan Zanes & Friends, which soon became a children’s music juggernaut.

The Grammy winning group plays many different genres of music (rock, folk, world, blues, even show tunes) and the songs espouse positive values like having fun, making music and caring about others. The fact that Zanes—who played in the adult rock outfit The Del Fuegos in the '80s—and his collaborators are as popular as ever after releasing 10 albums over the past 10 years speaks (sings?) volumes about their talent, tenacity and creativity.

Emma was too young to remember those early concerts (that's a photo of her at age two with Zanes!), but she grew up listening to all of the band's CDs. So she was thrilled to get the opportunity to chat with him about his career, his favorite things to do in NYC with kids and how he plans to get ready for his big free Celebrate Brooklyn concert this Saturday, July 16 in Prospect Park, where he'll play tunes from his upcoming album Little Nut Tree.

What does a 12-year-old want to know from her first musical favorite? Read on to find out.—Sara, mom to Emma the interviewer.

Music lovers and gourmands, ready yourselves for a weekend filled with more treats and tunes than you can take!  Foodies take their pick from an ice cream festival ‘down the shore; brats’n’brews in the Poconos and French fare in Frenchtown.  Music-minded folk’ll get their fix at fests featuring bluegrass-like “mountain music”; polka bands; jazz and more. There’s also outdoor love this weekend, including a City of Water Day Festival at Liberty State Park, a drop-off naturalist program, and an 1800's village to explore.  With all that’s going on, you’ll be longing for a weekend to recover from your weekend!