Orlando schools are back in session and that means the inevitable back-to-school shopping spree! Going beyond standard school supplies like pencils and crayons, many kids want to add to their closets and drawers. Just one growth spurt and your child may require an entirely new collection of pants and shorts! And with all those changing sizes in clothes and shoes, a new wardrobe can get quite pricey. Consignment shops to the rescue! Save money by visiting Orlando thrift and consignment stores for kids. Children can enjoy "new" back-to-school outfits, while parents can enjoy more money in the bank.

There's lots of reasons to shop resale shops! At a time when everything seems to get more expensive by the week, shopping from a thrift or consignment store is a great economic choice. Thrifting supports environmental sustainability, by repurposing clothing that might have otherwise ended up in a landfill. And the profits of some thrift stores go to important causes that help the community, like job-skills training and animal shelters.

Read on and learn about some great consignment stores near Orlando!

Visiting Melville's White Post Farms with kids means an animal-packed outing featuring more than just your usual farm friends. You'll find giraffes, zebras, camels, lorikeets, marmosets, and plenty more, all of which can be fed. Spring and summer are perfect for animal fun, while autumn brings a fall festival. White Post Farms is a must for animal-loving parents and their kids. 

For more fun family outings, check out our Guide to Parks and Playgrounds on Long Island, and be sure to bookmark our updated Long Island Family Activity Calendar.

If you’re looking for the ultimate escape room in Chicago, you’ve come to the right place. An escape room is an awesome and interactive experience for the entire family. Your entire group will need to work together to try and find an escape from the room you’re in. The coolest part about doing this challenge together is the different themes each escape room comes with. There is sure to be a room and theme to fit tweens, teens, and even the littlest member of your group. Check out our escape rooms in Chicago round-up below.

Escape rooms are fun all year round! For other indoor activities in Chicago, check out our Guide to Indoor Play.

For many families, mini golf is a quintessential warm-weather activity. My son loves mini golf, so we've played tons of mini golf in NYC and the tri-state area beyond. While there are plenty of places to play mini golf near NYC on Long Island and in New Jersey, you don't need to head out of town to hone your short game.

We've rounded up a handful of spots to play mini golf in NYC, including the pop-up VALE(mini)GOLF in Williamsburg, Jurassic-themed seasons installation at the ultra kid-friendly Brooklyn Children's Museum, and plenty of perennial favorites, like the course at Pier 25 in Hudson River Park. We've also found a few grown-up places where kids can take their golf game to the next level.

As sports go, playing mini golf in NYC is relatively inexpensive—often as little as $5 a round for kids. It's also one of those rare intergenerational activities parents and kids can play together. You can even host a birthday party at most of these spots. Read on to find out where to play mini golf in New York City with kids, and we'll see you on the green!

Swimply and Resort Pass solve the problem for those of us who dream of having a private backyard pool or membership to a swanky private pool but don’t have unlimited funds with resort passes and daily pool rentals.

Pools by the hour? Yes, please. This summer has been blisteringly, blazingly hot. Sadly, not all of us have a pool! And private swim club memberships either cost big bucks or sold out of memberships well before summer started. That’s where Swimply and Resort Pass come in.

Swimply is an app that allows anyone to rent out private pools by the hour. It’s basically the Airbnb of private pools. And Resort Pass is a program that allows you to purchase day passes to private hotel pools, without having to rent a room. 

Genius. Read on for how to book your own pool day online, in an instant. If you're looking for a bigger getaway, like at one of the best family resorts with water parks check out our Guide to Family-Friendly Resorts and Hotels.

Anytime we've mentioned to friends and family that we had the best time whale watching near NYC this summer, the first question we're asked is, "Where can you go whale watching in New York City?" After all, the closest most local families have probably come to a larger-than-life marine mammal is the famous, oversized blue whale that hangs overhead at the American Museum of Natural History.

Believe us: If we hadn't gone whale watching near NYC and seen these ginormous marine mammals jump out of the water with our own eyes, we wouldn't think it would be possible either! When we set sail on our NYC Whale Watching Cruise, we thought we might see a fin here or there. By the end of our three-hour tour, the whale watching boat roared with cheers of excitement, thanks to several humpback whale sightings.

I know from experience that being outdoors helps kids feel less irritable and sleep better. But don't take my word for it;  researchers have also found that when parents encourage kids to engage in outdoor activities, they will become naturally connected to our planet and care more for its future. Perhaps they'll even become future environmental activists...

These 30 outdoor nature activities will spark your child’s imagination. From arts and crafts and sensory activities to outdoor learning activities and physical fun, there are outdoor activities on this list to please every kid. And when everyone’s worn out, we also have some quiet and relaxing outdoor activities.

Check out more green activities for kids as part of our Earth Kids Guide to Green Activities for the Planet. And if you need even more ideas for outdoor fun, take a look at our guide to Top Outdoor Activities Guide for Kids, with hundreds of ideas for ways to learn, explore, and play outside.

Little ones as young as 3 months can start getting acclimated to the water at these spots that offer fantastic swimming lessons in San Francisco. The Bay Area has some awesome spots for swimming classes with teachers who are patient, fun, energetic, and experienced, and some of these businesses even have trial classes to make sure it’s a good fit. It's never too young to teach kids how to love the water, so every place on our list also offers baby and toddler swimming lessons.

For more great classes for kids, including great cooking classes for little San Francisco foodies, check out our Bay Area Classes Directory.