Themed Restaurants in Houston for a Fun Night Out With Kids

Make dining out with kids more fun at one of Houston's themed restaurants. Photo courtesy of Rock N Roll Sushi

Themed restaurants in Houston turn dining out with kids into an exciting adventure. Keep those kids from getting bored while waiting for food with one of these unique and engaging themed restaurants in Houston. Whether your kids are into animals, sports, music, or something different, there's something on our list to spark every child's imagination.

Check out our Houston restaurant guide for more kid-friendly eating-out ideas. 

Bilingual and Language Immersion Preschools in Philly

These Philly preschools promote knowledge and language learning in one neat package.

Learning a language at a young age can help ensure that your child has dual language capabilities for a lifetime. While many schools may offer a language learning time, bilingual and language immersion schools take your child through the majority of their day in a non-English language. This helps the child understand not only hearing and speaking the language, but often, by extension, the culture related to that language.

To see more preschools in your area, visit our preschool directory, and find more great articles about choosing a preschool in our guide.

The Brookfield Zoo Has Plans to Take Your Zoo Experience to the Next Level

New Amphitheatre in the Wildlife Discovery Zone. Renderings credit Jones & Jones Architects and Landscape Architects and Booth Hansen.

Brookfield Zoo Chicago turned 90 earlier this month, but the animals have big plans for the next decade and beyond. The Brookfield Zoo master plan—the ambitious Next Century Plan, was unveiled on Tuesday, July 16, outlining a $500 million renovation and expansion plan that will take place in four phases over the next 15 years.

As a native Chicagoan who has been visiting Brookfield Zoo Chicago for more than three decades and taking my kids there for nine years, I'm so excited to see how the zoo will convert its historic grounds into a modern haven for wildlife and conservation!

If you plan to head to the Brookfield Zoo now, check out what's new and cool at Chicago's zoos for 2024. 

Best Tips on How To Plan a Birthday Party for Kids in 10 Easy Steps

Plan a birthday party with no stress with our easy step-by-step plan. Photo courtesy of Canva

How to plan a birthday party for kids? We polled all the moms we know and reduced the hassle of birthday party planning to 10 easy steps. Follow them and voila—birthday party of your kid's dreams with no headache for you!

Close your eyes, and make a wish! Did you wish that you'd be given the magic recipe for how to plan your kid's birthday party? Well, today's your lucky day. Read on for 10 easy steps to plan a birthday party for kids.

Check out our Guide to Kids' Birthday Parties and Birthday Party Ideas for even more inspiration.

14 Great Ice Cream Shops in NYC for a Cool Summer Treat

These local scoop shops serve the best ice cream in NYC.

Playgrounds, sprinklers, and cold, sweet ice cream are the perfect antidote to a hot summer day. We've found the best ice cream in NYC and rounded our favorite scoop shops for kids and adults alike.

These spots are destination-worthy and scooping up the best ice cream in NYC. With this list, we're skipping the big-time chains in favor of local purveyors. These NYC ice cream shops source ingredients locally, craft their treats in small batches, and give back to the community and beyond. So, you can feel a little less guilty about suggesting ice cream for lunch...or dinner...again.

Read on for 14 of the best scoop shops for ice cream in NYC and find more cold treats and kid-friendly eats in our NYC Kids Guide to Restaurants.

10 Fun Summer Olympics-Themed Snacks for Kids

No cooking or decorating required for these easy and cute snacks that kids can make themselves! Photo by Ally Noel

The Summer Olympics are here! The Olympics, be it Summer Olympics or Winter Olympics, are like Christmas or the Super Bowl at my house, where we all gather together to celebrate and watch and cheer. There are so many cool sports to obsess over in the Summer Olympics: gymnastics, swimming, track & field, fencing, basketball, climbing, BMX freestyle, and even breakdancing. There's something for everyone. The only thing that could make it better? Cool snacks.

Here are 10 fun and easy Olympics-themed snacks that kids can help make and will adore devouring.

We also have 15 Ideas for a Fun Winter Olympics Party with Kids, if you're looking for more Olympics fun.

Empire Adventure Park, a Sprawling and High-Tech Indoor Playground, Debuts in Westbury

Bounce on the sprawling honeycomb trampoline floor, gaining serious air.

Empire Adventure Park is a first-of-its-kind indoor playground in New York that includes a huge trampoline area, obstacle courses, and augmented reality offerings. While I visited with two teen boys, this 35,000-square-foot space in Westbury appeals to toddlers through adults. 

For more on indoor play spaces, check out our Guide to Indoor Playgrounds on Long Island.

Aruba with Kids: 29 Best Things To Do in Aruba, the Caribbean

You just might catch a glimpse of Aruba's resident pink flamingos! Photo by Frugal Flyer on Unsplash

At less than 70 square miles, Aruba is a small island, but it packs in a lot of kid-friendly activities for a Caribbean family getaway. Snorkel or splash in the bright blue waters of the Caribbean Sea, explore breathtaking natural parklands, dig in to a wide variety of tasty restaurants, support Aruba’s wildlife sanctuaries, or just stake out a spot on the powdery sand beaches.

With its mix of beach beauty and easy-access family attractions—and a relatively protected location south of the main Atlantic hurricane corridor—Aruba is a kid-pleasing choice for a sunny school-break vacation. Perhaps best of all, Aruba has a well-deserved rep for being one of the friendliest places on Earth. It certainly lives up to its tagline: One happy island!

Whether you’ve got an active crew in search of some new adventures or you’re just looking for a fabulous hotel pool to sink into for a few days, here are the best things to do in Aruba with kids. Find more tropical family-friendly escapes, including St. Thomas, in our Caribbean Family Travel Guide.

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