Upcycle your cardboard boxes, cardboard tubes, and more with these cardboard crafts kids love.

How many times have you bought your kids a new toy, and had them toss the toy aside and play for hours with a cardboard box? When it comes to keeping kids happily occupied, nothing is quite as cheap, easy, and effective as empty cardboard boxes.

With a little imagination, empty cardboard boxes and other recycled and upcycled cardboard pieces easily become the foundation of a cardboard box house, a cardboard box car, and an endless amount of cardboard crafts.

Check out our other paper crafts for kids for hours of crafting fun. We've got hundreds of crafting ideas and more in our Guide to Boredom Busters for Kids. For more suggestions on recycled crafts for kids, check out our Earth Kids Guide.

There is no one way to be a great dad. However, there is a ton of advice out there on how to be a good dad. These positive parenting tips come directly from Mommy Poppins readers, writers, and editors—plus some dads and spouses—and offer a little guidance down the road of Fatherhood.

While some of these are funny, you might want to have tissues handy, as the dads—and a few moms who couldn't resist chiming in—had some pretty heartfelt advice! If you're looking to roar with laughter at some dad humor, might we suggest these 50 funny dad jokes, from sports and Star Wars jokes to parenthood jokes and gags

One thing sure stood out, and pretty much every single dad mentioned it. Can you guess what it is?

STEM activities are all the rage in education right now, and for good reason. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) – and the Arts for STEAM – are crucial to kids’ learning and our future. But how to get your younger children interested? They might not be ready for coding, but many preschoolers under age 5 can enjoy some basic STEM principles through play.

Below we've got easy instructions to help you and your budding scientist build an apple boat or a toothpick-marshmallow castle, attempt a pom-pom drop, or indulged in baking soda science. Read on for a list of 25 tried-and-true screen-free STEM activities to do with your preschooler.

For more science experiments for kids of all ages, check out our list of 64 easy science experiments for kids, try our colorful Skittles science experiment, or enjoy one of our magical light experiments for toddlers and preschoolers—all of which can be found in our Guide to Science Experiments for Kids. Happy discovering!

Plenty of space, lots of beautiful views and delicious menu options; restaurants with outdoor dining around Connecticut are always a great idea for families! Especially as the temperatures start to rise. From river docks to secret gardens and beachside patios, these eateries are a hit with hungry families looking for good food and outdoor seating.

Some of these awesome Connecticut restaurants with outdoor seating even made our list of places where kids can play while you relax, which is the ultimate combination for happy dining as a family. And if you're looking for a great breakfast out with the kids, look through our list of Best Breakfast Restaurants in Connecticut.

These easy Spirit Week ideas will see you through the days when your kids forget to tell you the day's theme minutes before you run out the door!

Spirit Weeks are great for building community and keeping kids entertained during the weeks leading up to school vacations. But they can be rough on unsuspecting parents. At some point in your kid's school career, you will be forced to buy all the hair accessories at your favorite 24-hour store the night before Crazy Hair Day. It can’t just be me whose kiddo freaked out that her “Anything But a Backpack” wasn’t original enough, can it?

This list of tried and true tips will help you survive even the most last-minute of spirit days. Once they're out the door, take a minute to laugh over these Funny Parenting Memes That Will Make You Feel Seen. And if you had a teacher cool enough to pick easy themes for Spirit Week, you might want to thank them with one of these Teacher Appreciation Gifts They’ll Love.

Birthdays are like national holidays in my house, and we love finding the best fun restaurants to go out and celebrate! Connecticut has plenty of kid-friendly spots that are ready for a party. Here are a few of our favorite go-to spots all around the Nutmeg State. Find more family-friendly eateries in our Guide to Kid-Friendly Restaurants, and make sure to check out this list of Birthday Freebies. 

We've got the ultimate summer camp packing list included below, plus 10 great tips for preparing your experienced or first-time camper for summer camp this year.

You’ve done your research and picked out the right summer camp for your kiddo. Whether it's a shorter camp for first-timers or a unique summer camp that fits their latest obsession, now is the time to start preparing your child for a quintessential childhood experience: going to an overnight camp. These tips will help make going away to a new sleepaway camp as easy as a summer’s breeze. 

Looking for the best summer camp options in your city? Be sure to bookmark your local Summer Camp Guide and check out our Sleepaway Summer Camp Guide to the Best Overnight Camps in the US.

When you take a child to petting zoos in Connecticut and farms with animals, it's as if the pictures in their little books come popping off the page. A real-live donkey, even a zebra, and all the farm animals whose sounds we teach them so early on are right there! There are lots of nurturing, healthy petting zoos, farms and rescues in Connecticut where families can visit all the furry creatures, big small!

In addition to getting up close and personal with these animals, many of these Connecticut Farms also offer a wide variety of pick-your-own fruits and vegetables. There is plenty of family fun to be had. Read on for our favorite Connecticut petting zoos and farms to visit. And don’t forget to visit your other four-legged friends at these Connecticut Zoos and Gardens.