Well, winter seems to be hanging on with its icy fingers, but we can still have fun, right? Especially with some of the cool (cold?) activities in New Jersey this weekend. Celebrate Albert Einstein's birthday with some pie on Pi Day in Princeton or Jersey City, catch Cesar Milan on his Dog Whisperer Tour, or build Montclair, New Jersey in Legos at the Montclair Art Museum. Read on for our top picks and find a listing of all NJ activities in our Event Calendar.

This weekend, head on over to the Suffolk County Farm and Education Center’s St. Patrick's Day Scavenger Hunt in Yaphank where you’ll partake in a pot o’ gold hunt, ride on a wagon, and feed some animals. At the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts in Greenvale enjoy a performance of Peter and the Wolf and Bark in the Park performed by New York Theatre Ballet. In Hempstead, Hofstra University is hosting its 15th Annual Irish Festival, complete with music and dance performances throughout the day, activities for children, more than 50 craft vendors, and authentic Irish food. At the NYCB Theater at Westbury, enjoy a performance of Strawberry Shortcake with the Doodlebops. Also on tap: Smithtown Township Arts Council Presents Mr. Mouse In Outer Space at the Mills Pond House in St. James, and Alexander & The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day at the Landmark on Main Street in Port Washington.  As always, check out our events calendar every day for fun activities for the family!

We're counting down the days until spring. Oh, it has nothing to do with the weather. We're just really excited about all of the cool things that are happening that season, like the reopening of the long-shuttered New York Aquarium, free indoor swimming lessons, a Glee star on Broadway in Annie and a pair of new Laurie Berkner projects. Hopefully all that happy stuff offsets the bad news, like higher MTA fares and the passing of a famed NYC children's storyteller.

The last time I checked the calendar, it read October. Today, it tells me spring lurks around the corner and just over three months stand between me and the end of school! After recovering from that sobering realization, my thoughts turned towards warmer weather, vacations, and those inevitable moans and groans of summertime boredom. In my house, idle kids mean an unhappy Mom, so summer day camps abound! Luckily, here in New London county, our neck of the woods boasts plenty of opportunities for our creative kiddos.

El Capitan is already our favorite place in LA to see a kids’ movie; but sometimes you want to go that extra mile. Or in this case, that extra meal. Character breakfasts at the Disney Soda Fountain & Studio Store turn a day at the movies into a full-fledged special event. Kids get to spend some one-on-one time with a beloved Disney princess (or pirate or monster) and take home a commemorative photo - plus the whole family gets to fill their tummies.

If your toddler is anything like mine, she probably has a borderline manic obsession with all things Elmo.  What it is about that red furry monster who speaks in the third person I may never know; but because he makes my daughter smile, I’ve become a bit of an Elmo-stalker myself.  So you can imagine my delight when I saw that he was co-starring in a mini film at the Museum of Science Planetarium: One World, One Sky: Big Bird’s Adventure.

Did you know that March is National Craft Month? In honor of the occasion, the folks at Artbeat Creativity Store in Arlington have issued a challenge – A Month of Creativity – and we’re taking it up a level. Inspired by cre8time.org, the challenge is to find 8 minutes every day, for 30 days, to devote to an art activity. We've added a Mommy Poppins twist: Spend 8 minutes each day working on an art activity with your kids. 

We’ve started the challenge, and so have many of our readers. We know you can do it – and we’ve got a whole palette of tools to help you succeed. Read on for a roundup of ideas to get you started, stores for art supplies, and places to make arts and crafts in and around Boston. 

Are you in?