Last week, we shared our favorite indoor places to play in Park Slope. There are also a number of playgrounds for kids in the nabe, including a bunch in Prospect Park.

Of course, only a handful of these playgrounds are true destinations. Here are our top five playgrounds in Park Slope , including a preview of one all Park Slope families are buzzing about: the currently under renovation J.J. Byrne Playground.

[UPDATED: JANUARY 9, 2013]

This is the second in a series of posts about All-Inclusive Winter Resorts for Family Vacations in the New York City Region. In our previous post, we reviewed Woodloch Pines Resort in the Poconos.

If you like your vacations a little more on the rustic side, Ridin-Hy Ranch might be the answer. This Adirondack ranch resort offers good old-fashioned winter fun, hold the glitz and glamour. Winter activity highlights include horseback riding through snow-covered trails, sleigh rides, ice skating, snow tubing, snowmobiling, cross country skiing and nightly entertainment.

Sadly Bryant Park isn't having a Winter Film Festival in 2014. Who says free outdoor film festivals are a summer-only activity? On Monday, February 4, Citi Pond at Bryant Park launches its third annual Winter Film Festival and Mommy Poppins is a media sponsor! My son and I attended a screening of Happy Feet a few years back on a balmy, 17-degree evening. The movie was shown on a tremendous blow-up movie screen on the Sixth Avenue side of the ice rink. It was pretty cool (in more ways than one).

Think you are hearty enough to brave the freezing temperatures to catch a free flick? Read on to find out more about this fun, frigid film festival and ways to keep warm while you are there. Plus, make sure you come out for the very first screening, Disney's 1953 flick Peter Pan on Monday, February 4—the Mommy Poppins team will be there and we'll be giving out vouchers good for one hot chocolate at Citi Pond’s concession stand Ice Bites.

Keeping kids happy when it’s freezing outside isn’t easy. To get through winter last year, my son and I spent a lot of time at a drop-in center in Park Slope. He’s too old for it now, so I’m always searching for new indoor play spaces. I heard about The Gym Park in Greenpoint. We’ve been twice already and he loves it. We drove both times we visited and street parking was a cinch. Here is what else you'll find if you go. 

It’s a new year, which means a whole new season of packing lunches for the kids. How about making a resolution to try something new, healthy and delicious—not to mention fun?

If your kids are like mine, they want what they want in their lunches—until they decide one day that that's not what they want, and in fact they want nothing to do with [fill in the blank previously favorite food].

[UPDATED: JANUARY 21, 2013]

The first time my three-year-old son saw a backyard swimming pool, he was completely befuddled. He thought pools belonged indoors or on glass-enclosed rooftops, not out in the elements in a backyard. Thanks to city living, he had already discovered the pleasures of swimming year round in an indoor pool. New Yorkers are lucky to have many family-friendly pools available with affordable open swim options. Read on for our list of the best public and private indoor pools in New York City. No need to pack up your bathing suit until next summer!

[UPDATED: December 1, 2012]

We continue our focus on Park Slope this month with a look at toy stores in the nabe.

Considering how many families live in the area (mine included), it's no surprise that there are lots of shops selling toys. We've rounded up our favorite places to pick up playthings, from well-known boutiques like Little Things Toy Store to unusual spots where you can find fun knickknacks.

Anyone who's ever gone hunting for fairies knows that it can help a lot to have a guide. Not only is A Faery Hunt Theater at our service; the sprightly sprite experts are taking their popular fairy ensemble indoors to Studio City's Whitefire Theater - where, presumably, the fairies will be easier to hunt. The new show, Auntie Angelica Root's Fairy Garden, opens on January 22nd, and one lucky Mommy Poppins family is going to see the show for free! Read on to find out how to score four free tickets to the January 22nd performance.