Sign up for our FREE Mommy Poppins newsletters and get our weekend picks delivered to your inbox every Thursday morning.

All Weekend

MulchFest – Citywide
If your Christmas tree is still standing, it's time to recycle it. Bring it to one of the Parks Department's designated sites throughout the city and watch it get chopped up into mulch that will help nourish NYC green spaces. FREE

Icky Fest! – Crown Heights
Ready to get yucky? Then head to the Brooklyn Children's Museum for a weekend full of icky activities. Enjoy face time with live bugs and snakes, make slime, find out how well you wash your hands and try other yucky fun. Free with admission: $9.

High-Tech Workshop: Playable Fashion – Cobble Hill & Staten Island
Eyebeam, a creative arts and technology nonprofit, is hosting a series of two-day interactive workshops for teens in various locations throughout the month. The sessions combine fashion and technology as aspiring designers create digital games and wearable game-controller gloves. This weekend's workshops take place in Brooklyn at Pixel Academy and a Staten Island high school. See our event listing for the dates and locations of all the offerings. Preregistration required. FREE
 

Saturday, January 11

DiNO-Light: A Glow-in-the-Dark Dinosaur Adventure – Upper West Side
One of our January Go List picks! Head to Symphony Space to catch the eye-popping Lightwire Theater in this high-tech stage spectacle, which brings the extinct creatures to life via illuminated costumes and puppets. My son and I saw the troupe's wonderful adaptations of The Ugly Duckling and The Tortoise and the Hare back in 2012 and were wowed by the special effects and simple wordless storytelling. $25 for adults, $15 for children

Winter Family Festival at ACT – Morningside Heights
Come see everything this after-school and summer camp program has to offer at its annual open house. Activities include a bouncy house, a circus performance, a balloon twister, crafts, face painting, games of gaga and a chance to see old camp friends or make new ones. FREE

NYC Audubon Bird Call Workshop – Hudson Square
The NYC Audubon Society is hosting bird-call workshops in conjunction with the Children's Museum of the Arts' exhibit Tweet (about birds not social media). While there, you can also check out the second weekend of the museum's jam-packed Asian American Festival. Both activities are first come, first served. Free with admission: $11.

Live Wolf Encounter – Upper West Side
Hit the American Museum of Natural History for face time with Atka, an Arctic gray wolf from the Wolf Conservation Center, and learn all about the endangered species. Afterward, check out the museum's brand-new 3D IMAX film Mysteries of the Unseen World for an additional fee. $12 for the wolf presentation; movie is free with General Admission Plus One: $27 for adults, $16 for children ages 2-12

Family Art Labs: Sanskranti, Indian Kite Festival – Chelsea
Head to the Rubin Museum to celebrate Sanskranti when kites are flown in many parts of India. Explore the exhibit Allegory and Illusion: Early Portrait Photography from South Asia and then hit the studio to craft paper flyers inspired by the work on display. $18 per adult-child pair

The Dark Crystal – Midtown East
Catch the classic Jim Henson film at no cost at the Sony Wonder Technology Lab. Don't expect the cute and cuddly Muppets. It's rated PG and is a Lord of the Rings-style adventure-fantasy best suited for children ages 7 and up. Reservations recommended: Call 212-833-8100 and select option 3. FREE

Songs of Freedom – Jamaica
Honor the legacy of Martin Luther King at the Queens Central Library with an a cappella concert by Robbi K and Friends. The band will perform tunes associated with the Civil Rights movement like If I Had a Hammer and We Shall Overcome. FREE

See all Saturday events.
 

Sunday, January 12

WinterGreen Festival: A Tu B’Shvat Celebration – Lower East Side
Celebrate the Jewish New Year of Trees at the Museum at Eldridge Street with planting projects, green arts and crafts, genealogy workshops, bialy making and a Bash the Trash concert with recycled instruments. $10 for adults, $6 for children 3-17

Sunday Movies at the Palace with Lin-Manuel Miranda: The Muppets Take Manhattan – Washington Heights
Tony Award-winning songwriter and performer Miranda (of In the Heights fame) returns to his home neighborhood to present a series of NYC-centric movies. It kicks off with The Muppets Take Manhattan but you get a lot more than a screening. The film will be introduced by Miranda and his pals John Tartaglia (Johnny and the Sprites and a longtime Muppeteer) and Lonny Price who co-starred in the 1984 film. It's also a chance to see the stunning interior of the United Palace Theatre. In advance: $10 for adults, $5 for children; at the door: $15 for adults, $5 for children under 12

Broadway Playhouse: Comden & Green – Upper West Side
Introduce the kids to the brilliant songs and sketches of the late Comden and Green. The duo wrote the lyrics and librettos for some of the best movie and stage musicals ever including Singin’ in the Rain, The Band Wagon and On the Town. Catch some of their greatest numbers in this interactive Broadway Playhouse family concert. $20

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day – Flatbush
Catch a live musical adaptation of the popular children's book at the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts. The show was written by the original author, Judith Viorst, so expect a faithful interpretation! $7

Gingerbread Lane Giveaway – Corona
It's the last weekend to marvel at Chef Jon Lovitch's 300-square-foot Gingerbread Village at the New York Hall of Science. The enormous display will be dismantled on Sunday at noon and the pieces will be given away to visitors. Arrive early: The line starts forming at 10am. Free with admission: $11 for adults, $8 for children ages 2-17, free to all between 10-11am on Sunday

See all Sunday events.

Don't forget: We have additional activity options in our Event Calendar. Before heading out on your adventures, be sure to download our FREE Mommy Poppins Kids on the Go app so you can find the best family destinations wherever you happen to be in NYC.