Although every pocket of Queens has a neighborhood playground, we’ve taken the time to scout the cream of the crop for NYC kids. Whether you're visiting from another borough or just want to explore a new-to-you-neighborhood, here are 12 of our favorite romping spots in Queens, from Astoria to the Rockaways. These parks offer clean, safe equipment with innovative and fun details that go beyond the jungle gyms of the past, like kid-sized Ferris wheels and super cool sprinklers.

Find more playgrounds across the five boroughs in our guide to NYC Parks & Playgrounds.

Looking for the 2022-2023 NYC Public School Calendar? Find it here.

If you've got a child in public school, you live by the public school calendar, and after a year of fits and starts, delays, and COVID-induced quarantines and closures, parents are wondering what the new school year will bring. With less than three weeks before the first day of school, we're republishing the public school calendar. Many local NYC preschools follow the public school schedule, too. The New York City Department of Education's calendar for the 2021-2022 school year is below, and you'll want to bookmark it now for reference—and to help with planning family vacations and school break camp coverage.

One notable change for the upcoming school year: There will be no snow days. Plan on logging your kiddos on for a day of remote learning whenever buildings are closed for snow or other emergencies.

These are all of the dates you can count on your kiddos being out of school during the 2021-2022 school year.

There's so much to see and do in New York City on any given day that it can be a little overwhelming. There are world-class museums, restaurants, and attractions in every borough. Special events are a seemingly everyday occurrence, yet New Yorkers can be guilty of avoiding some of the city's best attractions—labeling them as just for the tourists. But, we're here to tell you those tourist attractions are part of the allure of living in this metropolitan mecca, and to prove it, we've come up with this list of 20 tourist attractions even jaded locals should visit regularly.

When out-of-towners ask me how I have managed to stay sane with three kids in Manhattan, my answer is always easy: Central Park. It's been our family playground for more than a decade. My son's first steps were taken there, and every day of elementary school in our house has started with a trek across the urban oasis. Our afternoons just don't feel quite right without a stop at the East 110th Street Playground, where my daughter finally conquered the monkey bars.

Central Park is our family's collective happy place, thanks in large part to its diverse array of playgrounds, which always keep us coming back for more (sanity-saving) playtime. In the spirit of our posts ranking the playgrounds in Prospect Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park, and Riverside Park, we present our top playground picks for Central Park. Find more places to play in our Guide to NYC's Top Playgrounds.

Pixar fans take note: You can now interact with some of your favorite movie scenes thanks to Pixar Putt, an immersive, interactive, pop-up mini-golf experience that's taken over Pier A in Battery Park for a limited time.

I recently played the 18-hole course with my trio of kids, and we've got a sneak peek at the fun that awaits. Whether you want to walk in the shoes of The Good Dinosaur, sail away with Up, or whack a golf ball a little too hard at a creepy Benson doll bust, Pixar Putt is a fun addition to the city's mini-golf scene, but act fast: Your favorite characters are only in town until Halloween.

Fans of Friends—both fanatic and fair-weathered—can flock to an immersive, interactive pop-up to see sets, costumes, and memorabilia from the '90s sitcom that launched "The Rachel." Since viewers can now watch Monica, Chandler, Ross, Joey, Rachel, and Phoebe nightly in reruns or through streaming services, the show has found a younger fan base. For both original fans and new ones, The Friends Experience: The One in New York City does not disappoint.

We checked out the two-floor experience—the flagship location and largest of several related Friends' experiences that have popped up nationwide—to see if it's worth visiting and just how kid-friendly the throwback attraction is. Find more family-friendly local outings in our roundup of 25 indoor places to play to beat summer's heat.