by Julie Marden

While the school year may still have a bit of a “back to school” feel to it, area preschools begin their open house season this month for parents trying to decide where to send their children next year. Recently, we launched our occasional series of preschools in the greater Boston area by highlighting five Boston nursery schools that represent different philosophies or approaches to education. Below is a calendar of these schools’ upcoming Open Houses and information on how to visit them. 

Being the weekend before Halloween, there's quite a bit listed on the events calendar. To make things easier for you, we've covered everything related to the holiday in a separate Halloween weekend post. You'll find family friendly events and great things to do including corn mazes and pumpkin picking.

For everything else that isn't scary or spooky this weekend read below for our family friendly picks. Fall foliage will be at its peak soon so make sure you take time out to enjoy it and there's still time for apple picking.  Feel like going to a museum in Fairfield County, we've got a few suggestions for you.  UniverSoul Circus is in town and the Danbury KidsFest is happening this Sunday.  Wishing you still had your speed skates? Take your kids to Ron A Roll for lessons on Saturday while you take a few rides around the rink yourself. This week is ADHD Awareness week and we posted great resources for anyone interested in the topic. Don't forget to like us on Facebook and Twitter where we update daily. Read more for this weekend's picks.

It's the second to last weekend before October 31, you know what that means: There's a ton of Halloween fun for New York City families, like free costume parades, no-cost festivals and more school fairs than we could ever list. There are also big annual Halloween events like the Queens Museum of Art's Boo! Spooktacular, the New York City Police Museum's Halloween Party and Central Park's Parade and Pumpkin Sail at the Harlem Meer.

If you're already feeling Halloween fatigue, there are plenty of other cool things to do this weekend that have nothing to do with ghosts, goblins or ghouls. Families can celebrate Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights at Asia Society, or head to Flushing Town Hall for a day of Colombian culture, art, music and food. The are also a bunch of cool concerts for kids, including the Little Orchestra Society's new season of classical performances, the retro R&B stylings of Shine & the Moonbeam's, Moey's power pop and the Dirty Sock Funtime Band.

And that's just a few of the great things going on this weekend. Read on for all of our picks and remember, you can find additional options in our Event Calendar and our Halloween Fun Guide.

Halloween is one of the most popular holidays of the year and we Americans like to milk it for all its worth. That's why we've done a round up of the spooky fun that is happening all over CT this weekend. For even more fun check out our posts on Halloween Train Rides, Pumpkin Patches and Corn Mazes in CT. For those in Fairfield County there's more events listed here. Events will continue to be added to the calendar so check back often. Some activites are free and others may not be age appropriate for your little ones. Check the listing for more details. Have fun choosing that perfect pumpkin for carving, making your own scarecrow or getting scared to death. You can do it all this weekend! Read more for a break down of events happening Friday through Sunday.

Old time Halloween fun, street fairs and fall festivals all await you and your family this weekend. If you'd prefer to take in some theater, The Little Mermaid and Goodnight Moon are some terrific options. We’ve got these fun events and more including a bat workshop and a workshop on wood. Read on to make your weekend plans. 

It's all Halloween all the time here in New Jersey and the events are flying fast and furious (on brooms, even.) Here are a few more haunted houses, a haunted firehouse, a few haunted towns, a scary aquarium and even a frightening cake contest. I'm terrified. Especially of the baked goods.

As you may already know, Mommy Poppins is growing, so we're looking for some new faces to join our team. We'd love to hear from writers who live in New York City, Westchester, Long Island and New Jersey, who want to help us create the best content for local parents.

We're looking for freelance bloggers to write reviews of local venues and events, as well as well-researched roundups of the top activities, classes and experiences for kids.

Read on for additional info about this opportunity, as well as instructions on how to apply.