It's a great weekend for family theater, music and outdoor festivals. Lots of notable kids' shows debut this weekend, including two picks from our April NYC Go List: Wanda's Monster the Musical featuring songs by Laurie Berkner and TADA! Youth Theater's Adventures from Ezra Jack Keats, along with the kickoff of the second annual New York Children's Theater Festival.

There are also a slew of FREE Earth Day-themed festivals, like the art-filled St. George Day Festival on Staten Island, plus celebrations in Harlem's Marcus Garvey Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park and Union Square.

On a somber note, our thoughts and hearts are still with our friends, family and colleagues in Boston as they recover from Monday's attack. Sunday is Family Day at NYC's 9/11 Memorial and we suspect the organizers will do something special to honor the victims and survivors of the Boston Marathon bombings.

All of our best bets for the weekend are below. Remember, you can find additional ideas in our Event Calendar and our Spring Fun Guide.

Earth Day is Monday, April 22, and there is no better way to honor mother earth than by educating your children on how to keep her safe and clean. It is the largest environmental event across with globe, with over 100 countries participating. Our beautiful state has several events to mark the occasion. 

On Monday afternoon, inspired by the runners in the Boston Marathon, I started a Couch to 5K running program. When I got home after my first training session, I heard the terrible news of the tragedy at the marathon. At first, I thought about giving up on the 5K program. But then I made a completely different decision: Although I am in the worst shape of my life – I can’t even run a mile (seriously, but please don't judge) – I am going to start with a 5K, and then keep going all the way to next year’s Boston Marathon. Every race I run will be for all the people who are no longer able.

Races have always been a family affair for us. Over the years, my kids have done several fun runs and kids races  while one of the adults in the family runs the “big race”. I plan to continue our tradition. If you’d like to give a race a try, either just for fun, or in honor of the Boston Marathon runners and their loved ones, take a look at my round up of upcoming family-friendly races in Massachusetts this spring. 

In the age of digital everything you might think old-school DJing with those shiny black things we called records would be dead and gone. But not so. There are a number of DJ schools in NYC that teach retro turntable action as well as digital music mixing via state-of-the-art technology.

While most of these programs are primarily aimed at adults, three Manhattan schools also offer classes for junior DJs. Mixing, blending, scratching and beats are just some of what participants learn, and by the end they have their own professionally recorded demos. (Too bad they'll need to wait until they're 21 to actually spin at a club.) Here are the top DJ classes for tweens and teens in New York City.

You’ve spent three hours at the Boston Children's Museum exploring, dancing, climbing, banging and blowing, and now it’s time to fill those hungry bellies. There are a multitude of options for dining near the museum. We’ve narrowed down the best ones, plus bonus tips for adult-time munching, too.

Springtime is full steam ahead and New Jersey has plenty to keep families busy this time of year. Celebrate Earth Day with a festival at the NJ State Botanical Garden or a Native American craft at the Newark Museum. If you’re looking to introduce the kids to a classic, take in a performance of Charlotte’s Web or The Wizard of Oz. Read on for our top picks and find a listing of all NJ activities in our Event Calendar.

With the media focused on the awful events in Boston—our hearts go out to everyone there, especially our friends and family at our Boston site—we're happy to give you a bit of a break from bad news. Every single item in this edition of our biweekly links roundup is good. The long-delayed Asphalt Green Battery Park City is finally opening, a mobile market brings fresh veggies to the Bronx, District 2 residents get to have their say about a new middle school, and free comic books and doughnuts are up for grabs. Plus, we share a very funny (though profanity-laden) reaction to the STFU, Parents blog and book—a must-read for moms and dads who are tired of suffering the gripes of the childless.