This Week: Best March Events for NYC Kids, Summer Camp Directory, Drop-in NYC Play Spaces, St. Patrick's Day Celebrations

2/27/14 - By Raven Snook

March arrives this weekend and there are lots of cool things to look forward to throughout the month, including the (alleged) coming of spring. But since it feels like winter right now, we're continuing to update posts in our Inside Activity Guide, like our comprehensive roundups of drop-in indoor play spaces in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn.

Skipping ahead to summer, camp seems to be all anyone is talking about (I made the mistake of trying to involve my eight-year-old in the camp choosing process this year—it's taking forever!). If you're still figuring it out, too, our Camp Guide is here to make your life easier. We just relaunched our new and greatly improved camp directory, where you can browse programs by type (arts, sports, sleepaway, etc.), location and age range. It really helps you sort through all of the amazing options out there. Find a camp that piques your interest? Be sure to check our lists of camp open houses in NYC, Westchester, New Jersey and on Long Island—meeting the directors and seeing the programs in action is quite informative.

And a few other posts from across our sites that may be of interest to NYC folk: Our LA site has a lovely review of the Oscar-nominated animated family film Ernest & Celestine, which happens to be one of the offerings at this year's New York International Children's Film Festival that starts next weekend. Long Island has a roundup of awesome museum sleepover that are a lot less pricey than their NYC counterparts. And New Jersey has a post on dine-in movie theaters—the Dunellen Cinema Cafe, which is about an hour by car from midtown Manhattan, looks particularly spectacular.

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

OUR LATEST VIDEOS

Get out your calendar: Our March Go List of the best things to do throughout the month includes the new Cirque du Soleil extravaganza, Macy's Flower Show and the New York International Children's Film Festival.

We finished up our series of posts on Flushing, Queens with a roundup of places to play in the neighborhood, both indoors and outside.

Ringling Bros. isn't the only big top in town: Ten other circus spectacles are set to hit NYC over the next few months.

Is your apartment packed with too many toys? Consider renting playthings Netflix-style from one of these national toy rental services.

If you're looking for an indoor romping spot, head to Brooklyn. We found 19 drop-in play spaces in the borough, including places that have fun attractions for older kids.

And for those of you with two (or more) young children, we rounded up NYC play spaces that offer sibling discounts or flat family rates.

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day family-style at a slew of kid-friendly parades and festivals.

Staten Island's brand-new state-of-the-art library is a real beauty, as you'll see from our slide show.

This week's WeeWork posts include easy-to-make mug cakes and straw-blown paintings.

Best bets for the weekend include the Kids Food Festival in Bryant Park, the opening weekend of the Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden and early St. Patrick's Day celebrations.