An eight-day festival, Passover is celebrated in the early spring, from the 15th through the 22nd of the Hebrew month of Nissan. It celebrates the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. This year, Passover begins on April 6^th, at sundown. The first two days and last two days of Passover (or “Pesach,” in Hebrew) are full-fledged holidays; the latter days commemorate the splitting of the Red Sea. The Passover Seder (a Hebrew word for: order, arrangement) is a ritual feast that marks the beginning of Passover. Traditionally, during the seder, families and friends read the Haggadah, a book that contains the Passover story/history, special blessings and rituals, songs, and more. Seder customs include drinking four cups of wine (adults only!), eating matza (unleavened bread), partaking of symbolic foods placed on a seder plate and reclining in celebration of freedom.

Here are some kid-friendly Passover events for the whole family in New Jersey:

Christina Simon is the co-author of Beyond The Brochure: An Insider’s Guide To Private Elementary Schools In Los Angeles. She is the mom of a 3rd grade son and a 5th grade daughter who attend The Willows Community School. Christina’s work has been published on Salon.com, Mamapedia, BlogHer, The Mother Company, Scary Mommy, ecomom, and numerous other sites. She blogs at Beyond the Brochure, or you can find her on Facebook.

As you know, Mommy Poppins has been sharing our expertise on the best things to do in the New York City area since January of 2007. We currently have destination sites for NYC, Long Island, New Jersey, Connecticut, Boston and Los Angeles. Now we're taking Mommy Poppins global with family vacation information from wherever our own travels take us.

On Mommy Poppins Travel, our mission is to help you discover exceptional experiences and magical vacation memories with a mix of bucket lists, slideshows, reviews and articles about the best places to travel with kids in the US, the Caribbean and Europe (for now). Plus weekly roundups of top travel deals.

Find our family travel site by clicking the TRAVEL link at the top of any Mommy Poppins page or go directly to travel.mommypoppins.com to see what we wrote about this first week. As with everything, the site is a work in progress. We're adding lots of new content every week so sign up for our weekly free Travel newsletters so you don't miss a thing. And I'd love it if you'd take our quick reader survey and tell us what you hope to see on the site.

Oh, and if you're wondering what will happen to our old Travel Guide, it will live on the NYC site as a NYC Day Trips and Weekend Getaways Guide.

Here's what else we shared this week (I'll give a hint, lots of deals, a huge giveaway and more awesome fun stuff to do).

We love travel, but we especially love traveling when we find a great deal. Right now we've got last minute Spring Break deals on the brain. It's not too late to plan something...and save! Look for a resort deal (and giveaway) in New Jersey, spring skiing, Orlando and San Diego deals, plus a Disney deal for planning ahead to late summer/Fall.

Read on to get the deals.

 (Photo courtesy of PartyRockers.)

If the sun comes out this weekend, get out your Easter baskets, put the kids in the car, and drive just about anywhere on the Island to find an egg hunt, cuz they're everywhere this weekend. PartyRockers has also got an Easter-themed party for you. If egg hunting isn't your thing, it's the opening day of trout season, and the Cold Spring Fish Hatchery is offering free fishing-rod rentals to celebrate. Or go on an April Fool's Hike, or check out the Flying Model Expo at the Cradle of Aviation Museum. Check out our calendar for even more weekend events. There's plenty to do out there this weekend. Get out and do it!

I do love a good water park, but if there’s one thing I hate more than being cold, it’s being wet and cold. Which is why I was so enamored of the Great Wolf Lodge Indoor Water Park in the Poconos. A balmy and constant 84 degrees, no matter what the weather outside--now this is my kind of water park. And with the mere hour and a half drive from Northern NJ, this is the ultimate in family weekend trips. Mentally put on your swimsuit, and read on for my family’s "good times" at the Great Wolf Lodge.

Are we all ready to say goodbye to March this weekend and hello to April?! Although I may not be quite ready to get into full blown spring mode (which includes multiple spring sports for my three kids, ACK!), I AM totally ready to get in the springtime groove with such fun activities as a Bunny Hop, Spring Festival, Jazz Concert Series, Paws for Art and more. Read on for our picks and remember, you can always find a list of all NJ weekend activities for kids in our Event Calendar. Have fun and don't get fooled, NJ!

The Big Apple Circus makes its annual trip to town and has set up its tent in City Hall Plaza; the Harlem Globetrotters bring their world tour to the TD Garden for two performances; and Drumlin Farm hosts Woolapalooza 2012. (For more places to find the wooly animals, check out our post that’s all about Sheepshearing Festivals.) These big events, plus a free EcoFest, two special Ben Rudnick/Family Works events, and a calendar full of events means there are plenty of ways for families to keep busy this weekend.

It’s also the season of Easter bunnies and egg hunts and Passover events in the days leading up to the holidays next weekend. One thing that never goes out of season is birthday party planning. We’ve added to our continuing series of places to host parties with a roundup of indoor birthday party places for active kids. And if you’re not hungry for pizza now, you will be once you read Tara’s post about Glutenus Minimus in Belmont!

Read on for more of our top picks, and enjoy!