With the pandemic changing the structure of many people’s working lives and forcing working parents to get creative to keep kids busy during office hours, the recently opened Brooklearn in Carroll Gardens offers a bit of a reprieve for local families. The combined play space and coworking facility caters to caregivers with children up to age 5 who are juggling jobs alongside childcare duties.

Read on for our review of this innovative, family-friendly, hybrid coworking and play space, which is surely a welcome addition to our list of the best things to do with kids in Carrol Gardens and its sister neighborhoods.

A cup of molten chocolaty goodness is one of the best ways to thaw out and warm up—in fact, it's one of the best things about winter in NYC. We took on the heinous job of running around Manhattan taste-testing hot chocolate (don't say we've never done anything for you) and narrowed it down to 14 of our favorites. These spots are definitely worth the brief trip out into the cold, so read on for our recommendations for cafes and restaurants that have turned hot cocoa sipping into a not-to-be-missed experience.

Find more great eats and sweets in our NYC Restaurant Guide for Families. If you'd rather stay in, we've got another treat: Follow this recipe for how to make hot chocolate bombs in five easy steps.

Lunar New Year is one of our favorite winter celebrations in New York City. After taking a hiatus last year, many museums, cultural institutions, and community groups are once again holding in-person celebrations to usher in the Year of the Rabbit, which officially starts on Tuesday, February 1, 2022, and is a public school holiday.

Often referred to as Chinese New Year, many Asian nations celebrate the Lunar New Year, and city kids can mark this cultural holiday with family-friendly celebrations throughout the five boroughs. The holiday provides an awesome opportunity to get out and explore a new-to-you neighborhood such as Koreatown and Chinatown in Manhattan, Flushing in Queens, and Sunset Park in Brooklyn.

New Yorkers just experienced their first significant snowfall to jumpstart the new year, and we have an entire season of cold weather days ahead of us. With temperatures hitting single digits and the luster of awesome holiday gifts wearing off, you're probably thinking about ways to keep your kids busy from now until spring without breaking the bank or losing your sanity. Fortunately, whether you're a resident or just visiting the city that never sleeps, there's no shortage of free things to do in NYC this winter.

In fact, we've found 25 free things to do in NYC, and there's truly something for everyone on our list of freebies, from exploring nature and outdoor family fun while kick-starting healthier habits to festive celebrations of the Lunar New Year, interactive and creative art installations, and activities that encourage future activists and celebrate the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. These engaging experiences don't cost a thing, and we've even found a collection of cool things to do indoors, too!

We'll just say it: Raising a kid is expensive. Weekend classes, summer camp, after-school care, sports, dance, and music lessons can add up. And let’s face it, as New Yorkers, we’re most likely paying much more than the average parent. That’s why we’ve rounded up a collection of FREE classes in NYC. These enriching activities lighten the financial load and all occur within free-to-access stores and public places, but there are also plenty of free and low-cost activities inside NYC museums and gardens, which make membership costs worth the splurge.

Read on for our picks for the best FREE classes in NYC and find more enrichment opportunities in our Guide to Classes and Activities for NYC Kids.

A new playground is always cause for celebration in our book, and the debut of the long-awaited Battery Playscape in Lower Manhattan brought a spectacular, new, expanded play area to the neighborhood. We recently checked out the 1.5-acre playground, which is destined to land on our list of the city's best playgrounds.

Read on for the details on this new romping spot and find more of our favorite places to play in our Guide to Parks and Playgrounds in NYC.

Governors Island has become one of our favorite places to take our tween and teenage boys when we need a reprieve from the hustle and bustle of city life. With 172 acres of things to do, we've enjoyed unwinding with family and friends across the water. From the summer art and performance festivals to the relatively new Pumpkin Point experience in October, it's a hotspot destination for tourists and locals alike, so we were beyond excited when we heard Governors Island would be open all year round and welcoming the holiday season with a new Winter Village—complete with an ice skating rink.

The Winter Village experience makes perfect sense, especially as the temperature drops and families are looking for safe, outdoor fun and affordable ways to keep kids busy this season. Read on for our review and find more seasonal fun in our Guide to Winter Activities.