My 2 ½ year old son was addicted to acorns last year. Luckily, he only wanted to gather them. He preferred ones with “tops on them” and loved trips to the park to beef up his collection. This year, he’s more into sticks, leaves and tree stumps. I knew the exhibit Out on A Limb: Adventures in Nature and Art at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum would be right up his alley (and a great way to spend a rainy day!).

From what I’d read about Out on a Limb, I expected a bunch of tree-like structures that kids could climb with actual houses to play in. Once we entered the exhibit, I realized I hadn’t used my imagination enough. Tree-houses were clearly the inspiration, but Out on a Limb takes their meaning to a new, more whimsical level.

I love Halloween.  I just want to get on with the candy eating, costume wearing and parade marching fun, so, I am going to waste no time with this intro, except to tell you to read this post for some tried and true Halloween events in NYC that we are sure your family will love and also that our events calendar and The Mommy Poppins Halloween Guide are both literally stuffed with tons of awesome Halloween events like parties, trick or treating, parades, haunted houses, live music, storytelling and everything else you need to get your ghoul on this Halloween.  Make sure whatever you decide to do, that you arrive early and plan for crowds.  Young or old, everyone in New York City loves Halloween!  

Best Wishes for a Happy and Haunted Halloween!

What could be more fun than making Bread of the Dead? Not much, right? In New Jersey this weekend you can celebrate some fine American ghouls and goblins, or join in a Latino Heritage Festival and celebrate Day of the Dead with sugar skulls, Mexican hot chocolate and Pan de Muertos. Or you can party in a non-Halloween fashion and go to the huge Sugarloaf Crafts Festival. Whatever you choose, have a fun, only mildly scary weekend! (And check our Halloween Guide for more Halloween thrills.)

We had our Halloween Party yesterday and it was a ton of fun. Hot, crowded, but lots of fun. I could not have asked for better partners. I was so pleased with the excellent quality of everything from everyone who participated, including all our little guests who came in fabulous costumes.

The only thing I wish had been different is that we could have had more people come. As it was, the space was pretty tight. In order to share the fun with everyone, whether you could make it or not, we're doing a Virtual Halloween Party on facebook where you can enter to win one of two fabulous spooky gift baskets from Scholastic.

Find out how to enter to enter and see some of the party pictures below.

The sticky days of summer are over and brisk fall days are here. What better time to treat you and your little ones to apple pie, pumpkin tarts and other seasonal sweets? Below are five Brooklyn bakeries that serve cozy, cold-weather treats, and have fun places to play just a few blocks away.

I’ve been thinking about ways to celebrate my soon-to-be-2-year-old’s birthday with all the traditional fun, but minus the usual mound of presents.  Is this possible to pull off without offending friends and family or upsetting the birthday boy?  I think so.  Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting a ban on all birthday gifts!  But there are ways to strike a balance and make birthday parties more socially, environmentally and financially friendly.  Besides, who in NYC has the room for all those presents anyway?  Here are a few ideas to limit the toy intake and use the occasion to share all that birthday love and generosity with others.

I am not usually a slacker mom, but last Halloween it happened:  two days before my son’s annual school Halloween parade he had no costume to wear!  I had known what he wanted to be since August but just couldn’t find it.  As Halloween drew closer I enlisted the help of my friends, their spouses and even some of their parents, but no one could find a whale costume any where in the city or even online.  And, making a whale, well, it was beyond my limited crafting capabilities.  I took him to the Halloween stores to pick something else out but it for him it was whale or bust.  The night before the parade in a moment of exhaustion and desperation, I suggested the ultimate slacker mom Halloween costume, “how about dressing as a ghost?”  

Halloween is just a few days away.  Do you have your costume ready?  Read on for fun and spooky last minute DIY costumes, including the infamous ghost costume (it isn’t as easy as you would think.)