Deals on Summer Camps & Classes, Plus Discounts on a Kidrockers Concert and Kids' Magic Show

Right about now, figuring out summer camp is at the top of most parents' minds. So we're happy to share some awesome deals on great NYC day camps like NYC is My Backyard, Wingspan Arts, the just-opened Brooklyn School of Rock and more.

Already have summer camp all planned out? (We're impressed!) We also have significant discounts on the upcoming Kidrockers concert and the family magic show The Amazing Max. If you see a bargain you can't pass up, act fast: Many of these deals will be gone before the first buds bloom.

This Week: Spring Break Travel Deals, Ethnic Food Experiences for NYC Kids, Little League, First Weekend of Spring Fun

The rain washed away the last of that ugly black snow and we took our Winter Guide down from our homepage. So I guess that makes it official: Spring is truly here! This weekend is full of great ways to celebrate the new season like the debut of Macy's Flower Show, the opening day of Queens' mini-amusement park Fantasy Forest and spring's first big movie release, Muppets Most Wanted (my daughter and I saw a preview last Saturday and thought it was a riot—it's all silly puns, goofy gags and celebrity cameos, plus a great Chorus Line parody).

If the upcoming school recess is on your mind, our Travel site has a great list of spring break getaway deals both near (Hudson Valley) and far (the Caribbean). Or check our regional sites for vacation ideas: Our New Jersey bloggers just wrote about farms with adorable baby animals and put all of their great small towns posts into a handy guide. Meanwhile our Connecticut site has a list of family road trip tips.

However you decide to spend the first weekend of spring, we hope you have a blast. Here's what else we covered on the NYC site this week:

This Week: Amazing Weekend Events for NYC Kids, Easy School Fundraising Ideas, Focus on Carroll Gardens & Cobble Hill

Although we moved our clocks ahead back on Sunday, I still feel like I'm playing catch up (I've even had trouble getting my kid out of bed in the morning). But my daughter and I are loving the longer days, just look at that beautiful shot of Central Park at sunset, our view as we walk home from after-school.

We definitely want to get our energy up for this weekend, which is jam-packed with super-cool things to do including four of our top family event picks for all of March. Personally, we're planning to hit a Purim party, see the opening night of the new kids' musical Peace, Love and Cupcakes and maybe catch The Muppets sing-along at the New York International Children's Film Festival. It's definitely not a weekend to hang around at home!

Researching summer camps is also on our agenda. I whittled our possibilities down to eight (hey, I started at 30) using Mommy Poppins' new-and-improved Camp Directory. All of our regional sites have overhauled Camp Guides as well in case you want to see what kind of summer programs are offered in Westchester, Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Here's what else we covered on the NYC site this week.

This Week: Free & Cheap Summer Camps, Best March Events for Kids in the Tri-State Area, Family Travel Ideas for Spring Break

Get out your family calendar: This week has been about planning ahead across all of our sites. Our carefully curated March Go Lists are up for NYC, New Jersey, Long Island, Westchester and beyond so you can find out the absolute best things to do with kids throughout the month.

If you're looking ahead to summer, we continued our overhaul of our Camp Guide by updating our free and cheap camps post, and highlighting all of the improvements to our Camp Directory, including the ability to leave reviews and ratings for the programs you love.

And if spring break is on your mind (it's coming up this month for private school students and in April for public school kids), you can find destination inspiration on our Travel site, in our NYC Family Getaways Guide and on all of our regional sites. Connecticut just wrote a post about the awesome Catamount Aerial Adventure Park and Rockwell Museum in Great Barrington, MA, Westchester has a list of the best things to do with kids in Mount Kisco and New Jersey has a wonderful series on great small towns worth discovering.

Here's what else we covered on the NYC site this week:

Purim Parties for NYC Kids: Put on Your Costumes and Make Some Noise in Honor of the Festive Jewish Holiday

You don't have to be Jewish to enjoy Purim. Often called the Jewish Halloween, Purim is a super-fun holiday when kids can do some of their favorite things, like dress up, play games and eat treats.

Inspired by the great biblical tale of Queen Esther, who saved the Jews from annihilation by standing up to her husband's evil adviser Haman, Purim is celebrated by reading the Megillah (Esther's story), noshing on hamantaschen (triangular fruit-filled pastries meant to represent Haman's ears—gruesome but tasty) and rejoicing in a carnival-style atmosphere.

This year, Purim officially begins on the evening of Saturday, March 15 and ends at sundown the next day, but Jewish cultural institutions are marking the holiday both this weekend and next. So get your Halloween costumes out of the back of your closet and get ready to make some noise: Here are the top 10 Purim celebrations for New York City families.

This Week: Best March Events for NYC Kids, Summer Camp Directory, Drop-in NYC Play Spaces, St. Patrick's Day Celebrations

March arrives this weekend and there are lots of cool things to look forward to throughout the month, including the (alleged) coming of spring. But since it feels like winter right now, we're continuing to update posts in our Inside Activity Guide, like our comprehensive roundups of drop-in indoor play spaces in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn.

Skipping ahead to summer, camp seems to be all anyone is talking about (I made the mistake of trying to involve my eight-year-old in the camp choosing process this year—it's taking forever!). If you're still figuring it out, too, our Camp Guide is here to make your life easier. We just relaunched our new and greatly improved camp directory, where you can browse programs by type (arts, sports, sleepaway, etc.), location and age range. It really helps you sort through all of the amazing options out there. Find a camp that piques your interest? Be sure to check our lists of camp open houses in NYC, Westchester, New Jersey and on Long Island—meeting the directors and seeing the programs in action is quite informative.

And a few other posts from across our sites that may be of interest to NYC folk: Our LA site has a lovely review of the Oscar-nominated animated family film Ernest & Celestine, which happens to be one of the offerings at this year's New York International Children's Film Festival that starts next weekend. Long Island has a roundup of awesome museum sleepover that are a lot less pricey than their NYC counterparts. And New Jersey has a post on dine-in movie theaters—the Dunellen Cinema Cafe, which is about an hour by car from midtown Manhattan, looks particularly spectacular.

Here's what else we covered on the NYC site this week:

This Week: NYC Winter Family Day Trips, Maple Sugaring Outings, New Summer Camps for NYC Kids, Last-chance February Break Fun

From a blogging standpoint it's been a quiet week on Mommy Poppins. But personally we've all been super-busy spending quality time with our kids over February break. My daughter and I took advantage of the winter season by going sledding and ice-skating, kind of like our own much-less-graceful version of the Winter Olympics. Next up: A few museum outings, a second viewing of the awesome Lego Movie (our Boston site has a great review of the flick) and wonderful weekend fun like a screening of West Side Story introduced by Oscar-winning star Rita Moreno (I'm going to have to stop myself from screaming her Electric Company catchphrase, "HEY YOU GUYS!" And we may even try one or two of the WeeWork projects we've been posting. I am pathetically challenged when it comes to crafts, but my creative eight-year-old has promised to hold my hand to help me through.

With four more days of midwinter break to go, there's plenty of time to take a family day trip. Maple sugaring season has arrived and we have roundups of tri-state area spots where you can see how the sweet stuff is made in Westchester and upstate NY, New Jersey and on Long Island. Our Westchester site also has a list of 40 things to do with kids in the quaint Rivertowns that dot the eastern shore of the Hudson River, all accessible via public transportation. Or enjoy a multiday getaway in winter hot spot Lake Placid, NY, which offers a wide variety of cool seasonal activities like skiing, snowboarding and a toboggan chute.

Here's what else we covered on the NYC site this week:

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