This Week: Best July Events for Kids in NYC & Beyond, July 4th Weekend Fun, Free Summer Festivals, Summer of Play Giveaway

7/3/14 - By Raven Snook

What's the worst thing you can do before a three-day summer weekend? Write a really long blog post. So I'm going to keep this brief since I know we're all ready to start our holiday. NYC is filled with patriotic fun in honor of July 4th from Macy's iconic fireworks to sparklers in Coney Island to a kid-friendly Independence Day parade in Harlem. If your weekend is already booked, all of our sites published July Go Lists this week so you can find out about the best things to do with kids throughout the month in NYC, Westchester, Long Island, New Jersey and beyond. Many of our tri-state area family event picks are worth traveling for, like this weekend's Hudson Valley Balloon Festival in upstate New York, the New Jersey State Ice Cream Festival on July 19 and the Ice Cream, Blueberries and Bluegrass Bash on July 20 at Connecticut's Fort Hill Farms, which is also a great place to pick your own blueberries.

If you're looking for summer vacation destinations, check out our Travel site. This week we shared brand-new posts about the best attractions for families in Yosemite, California; Richmond, Virginia's top-notch children's museums and historic Maymont mansion; and a roundup of summer family travel deals all over the country.

And no matter where you spend this July 4th weekend, be sure to share your family's playful pics on social media for a chance to win great prizes in our SUMMER OF PLAY CHALLENGE, our season-long initiative encouraging families to spend quality time playing together.

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

OUR LATEST VIDEOS

Get out your calendar: Our July Go List highlights the top 13 things to do with kids in NYC this month, including annual FREE favorites like City of Water Day, the New Museum Block Party and this Sunday's SummerStage Global Family Day in Central Park.

We finished up our month-long focus on the Financial District with tips for visiting the recently opened 9/11 Museum with kids.

Our SUMMER OF PLAY initiative continued with a guest post by our partner, KaBOOM!, about the inspiring winners of the org's America's Most Playful Family contest.

The Unicycle Festival on Governors Island, the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in Flushing and the Upper East Side's Bastille Day fete are just three of this summer's fabulous and FREE fetes for families.

Kid need a new 'do? We rounded up the best places for kids haircuts in Queens to complement our posts about Manhattan and Brooklyn children's salons.

Macy's 4th of July Fireworks may be the season's most famous display but there are lots of other FREE fireworks shows throughout the summer

This week's WeeWork posts included two great holiday projects: a sparkler wand craft and a patriotic no-bake icebox cake.

Best bets for the weekend beyond Macy's fireworks include Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest, the activity-filled 4th of July bash at the New-York Historical Society, and daily concerts by LA rockers Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band at the Bronx Zoo.