Twitter has become a great resource for finding cool things to do with kids in New York City. Pretty much all of the institutions are on there, letting us know about their events, plus there's lots of parents and bloggers sharing tips too. I've been scouring the NYC Kid event tweets for great tips to share and "re-tweeting" them, so if you are following me [@mommypoppins] you can always find out the latest.

But if you want to get all the tweets right from the souce, here's my list of the Top Ten people to follow on twitter for NYC kids Events, Activities and News:

There's always so much cool stuff going on at the libraries, I thought I would pull these events out of the regular free weekend events post this week and make a post just of library events. See and touch live birds of prey, watch a live performance or Robin Hood or Pinnochio, or see a show about puppets from different cultures, or hear some native Chinese or Peruvian music. Your tax dollars (and private funding) at work, folks!

If you aren't heading out of the city this weekend for some Maple Sugaring, don't worry. There's more than enough to make your weekend slammin' right here in town, with lots of circus performances, concerts, festivals a science fair, and more—all free (except for the circus shows, but who can resist a circus act?). And this weekend marks the official beginning of Spring so get out and have fun!

And don't forget to check our events calendar for some more fun activities too.

The New York City twitter stream never sleeps and the great tweets just keep coming. I feel kind of silly retweeting these online when you should all just be following me and kidbuzzny on twitter and seeing them as they happen, but I know not everyone has made the leap o tweet. I guess that makes me an enabler.

Keep reading for some great tips from our tweeps, including workshops for people trying to start their own businesses, a free foraging expedition in Prospect Park, the new/retro "anniversary edition" Little People house, the breastfeeding brawl going down with some daddy bloggers, emergency bathroom finder iPhone app and more.

Everyone is feeling the strain of the economy, whether they have been directly affected or tangentially. And, I suppose, we are all dealing with it in our own ways. Me, I'm baking my way through the economic crisis.

You might think that makes sense. Cooking at home and baking save money. But I think the real reason I've taken solace at my stove is that it reassures me. If I can bake, then everything is OK. If I can bake, then how can my life not be great? If I've made homemade granola bars for healthy after-school snacks, then how can I not be doing a good job as a mom? Plus, there's nothing to reduce stress like the smell of warm baked goods in your home. How could anything be wrong when your house smells like melting chocolate?

Today I'm sharing a recipe for my favorite pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. These are delicious. Plus they are low fat and have lots of healthy protein and vitamins. Or as my friend, Katia says, "they're basically delicious muffin-shaped power bars." The recipe makes a whopping 36 muffins. Freeze some for later.

Easy, Healthy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins Recipe

Even though the St Patrick's Day Parade is NYC's biggest and most popular parade, it's never appealed to me much. Maybe it was the years of working in Mid-Town and seeing the streets littered with plastic beer cups at lunchtime that turned me off. Or the blaring bag pipes and drunken college students might have soured me on it as a kid-friendly event.

But St Patrick's Day is still a great excuse to celebrate Irish culture with some cool events and activities where kids can earn Irish dance steps and music, learn the Irish mother tongue and hunt for leprechauns. Check out some cool St Patrick's Day events and learn about an alternative St. Patrick's Day Parade.

The forecast for this weekend? Sunny, not too cold and a 100% chance of cool events for kids in NYC. Be on the lookout for an amazing performing arts festival, a craft market and Jim Henson-inspired retro show for kids (and their nostalgic parents), 2 great excuses to head to the Bronx, and a hike where kids will search for leprechauns (if that won't get your kids to go hiking I don't know what will).

Here's the best of the weekend activities for each of the five boroughs:

As twittering becomes more and more popular, I've been enjoying following all the great information that's being tweeted about, especially lots of great stuff about New York City. I thought I knew a lot about what was going on before, but it's just amazing with all these voices how much more information there is. And I find it so inspiring to see all these people sharing great tips. I thought I'd pass on some of the great info I've mined from twitter this week, both from our KidBuzzNY group and from the people we follow.