Show off your talents: FREE art classes & chances to perform Got a high schoolers who loves making art? City Art Lab is offering a FREE after-school program at the City College of New York in Harlem to help students build their portfolios. The classes meet every Wednesday for 12 weeks beginning February 12, and focus on a variety of media from printmaking to drawing to sculpture to interactive art, culminating in a gallery exhibition. Participants must be able to attend every session. Applications are due Friday, January 31 and can be submitted online.

Do your kids dream of running away and joining the circus? Well now they can... at least for one afternoon. The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus is looking for variety performers under age 21 for its upcoming Cavalcade of Youth performance at Coney Island USA on Sunday, March 23 at 4pm. Young acrobats, jugglers, clowns, hoopers and novelty acts welcome. If your kids think they've got what it takes, email stephanie@bindlestiff.org with your name, age, act description and any questions. No audition required! No pay, either, beyond minimal tips and lots of applause. That's Mommy Poppins blogger Raven's daughter performing at a previous Cavalcade in the pic above. As you can see, participants have a blast.

Or maybe mom wants to show off her onstage talents. Shari from our New Jersey site is co-directing this year's edition of Listen To Your Mother, an annual storytelling performance at Symphony Space when writers, performers and amateurs share their real-life mothering adventures. The performance takes place on Sunday, May 4 at 5pm and auditions are being held on February 23-25. You don't need to be a pro to apply, just an original short story. It can be funny, moving, crazy or all of the above.

Mark your calendars... On Monday, February 3, tickets go on sale for two big winter happenings: The New York International Children's Film Festival featuring four weekends of awesome family flicks from around the globe March 7-30, and Off Broadway Week, which gets you two-for-one tickets to a host of shows between Monday, February 17-Tuesday, March 2. Tickets for both tend to go very quickly, so sign up for updates for NYICFF and Off Broadway Week to be reminded when they go on sale.

And here's an important deadline if your child was born in 2009: Public school kindergarten applications for this coming September are currently being accepted online via the controversial Kindergarten Connect through Friday, February 14. Rank all your school choices in order, including dual language, unzoned and magnet programs (but not Gifted & Talented or charter schools; those require separate applications), and you'll will be notified about placement in the spring. Reportedly, if you don't get your first choice, your child will be placed on a waiting list for all schools ahead of the one you're assigned. We're interested to see how this new process works... or doesn't. If you're going though it now, share your thoughts in the comments below. Update: The deadline to apply to kindergarten has been extended to Thursday, February 20.

Openings, relocations & closings Get ready to scream for new ice cream: Super-popular Prospect Heights' parlor Ample Hills Creamery is opening a second location in Gowanus, Brooklyn this May. The new outpost is actually being added on to the creamery's 3,600-square-foot manufacturing space and will feature indoor, counter and outdoor seating, as well as a second floor for private parties and ice cream making classes. In case you want to cram in advance, the owners have a cookbook coming out, too.

Special needs music program Daniel's Music Foundation is opening its brand-new East Harlem studio this Saturday, January 25. Our special needs blogger, Michaela, has raved about DMF in the past. In honor of the grand opening, interested families can attend a FREE open house featuring tours and demos. Advance registration is recommended.

You've heard of mom-and-pop stores. Well newish Park Slope children's boutique, Beva, is a mom-aunt-and-son operation. The shop specializes in handmade hats, backpacks, booties, sweaters, and other gear and accessories. The owners hope to launch kids' classes in the near future.

After 15 years, the Brooklyn Children's Museum is saying goodbye to its resident Burmese python, Fantasia. She is moving south for her old age... to the Staten Island Zoo, which can better meet her dietary, medical and space needs (remember when she escaped last summer? Clearly she needs more room to roam). Families can bid adieu to Fantasia at her Bon Voyage Party on Sunday, February 9.

Odds & ends Ellen Jacob's photo exhibit Substitutes featuring portraits of NYC nannies is creating quite a stir. The pics seem to evoke a wide range of emotionally and politically charged reactions. You can see them in person at Soho Photo through Saturday, February 1.

Finally, we teased this news in our winter theater for kids post but it's worth repeating: Disney's Frozen is heading to Broadway... eventually. Execs said the project is in early development, meaning by the time it gets there your princess-obsessed preschooler may be a disaffected teen. Time will tell.