Happy New Year!

Boston offers families plenty of vacation week and weekend activities, plus some fun ways to ring out 2012 and welcome in the new year. Families can choose from kid-friendly celebrations at area museums, and the first-in-the-nation First Night celebration, plus ice skating and New Year’s Day hikes to start the New Year out on the right foot. Most of the holiday events of 2012 wrap up this weekend, and, if the ever-changing New England weather cooperates, local ski areas will be making snow and grooming their trails.

Still looking for things to do? This week, we introduce our 100 Things to Do in Boston with Kids - a bucket list of sorts that offers Boston families plenty of ideas. How many have you done with your family?

Read on for details, or visit our Events Calendar for more activities, and enjoy!

It's the final weekend of 2012 which means the holidays (and the year!) are quickly coming to a close. It's your last chance to enjoy all of the holiday fun New York City has to offer like outrageous Christmas lights, department store holiday windows, twinkling trees and a slew of seasonal shows.

Even though Hanukkah and Christmas are behind us, Kwanza is just beginning, plus New Year's Eve and Three Kings Day are on the horizon. And if you need a break from all the celebrating, the Parks Department is running a nature scavenger hunt in Fort Tryon Park and the Staten Island Zoo is hosting a special dinosaur demo.

These are just a few of the great things going on this weekend. All of our weekend picks are below. You can find additional options in our Event Calendar and our Holiday Fun Guide. Happy (almost) New Year!

The gifts have been opened and Santa’s come and gone, but if you’re looking to close out the holiday season with one more festive weekend, there’s still time to check out Storybook Land’s Christmas Fantasy in Lights and the Nutcracker 3D Planetarium Show. Ready to ring in 2013? Drop by Imagine That to make New Year’s craft or take a Pre First Day hike at the Cheesequake Nature Center. Read on for our top picks and you can find a listing of all NJ activities in our Event Calendar.

We hope you're having a happy holiday season, especially now that the big day has come and gone (no more shopping and wrapping—all that's left is to pay the credit card bills). While we're enjoying lots of family time this week just like you, the news marches on, and we've got plenty of interesting tidbits, including the launch of a pilot program that will allow parents in select districts to apply to kindergarten online, a brand-new film series for kids (and the end of another one), a possible school bus strike and a slew of new Times Square tourist traps... ahem, we mean businesses, including a big one for young horror buffs.

The latter part of 2012 has been difficult for Nutmeggers. The tragedy in Newtown and Hurricane Sandy's wrath has left many of us picking up the pieces of our lives, and others searching for ways to help those in need. For suggestions, check out our post on Ways to Help Sandy Hook Elementary School and the Newtown Community. 

As we turn to 2013, let us all be grateful for our blessings and hope for a happy, healthy and prosperous new year. We at Mommy Poppins CT are thankful for our readers and will continue being your top resource for events around the state. 

We've already told you about some fun things to do with the kids next week when they’re home with you 24/7, but we have a few more up our sleeve, everything from special stuff you can do together to cool spots where you can drop them off and enjoy some alone time.  Read on for our top picks, including museum adventures, day trips and several mini-camps to keep 'em busy.

Um... still have a to-do list that’s a mile long? We’ve all been there – too many things to get done and not enough time. So, while you were planning out your Christmas menu, we pulled together a list of last minute gift ideas, many of them New Jersey-specific. The best part – all you need is a printer to make most of these gift ideas come to life.

A decade after it was made, Monsters, Inc almost counts as a family classic, and a fun choice for the holiday season. Of course, just because a movie's been around for 10 years doesn't mean moms and dads have all had time to see it yet, so we thought one of our parent reviews might be helpful. What's it all about? Monsters generate their city's power by scaring children, but they are terribly afraid themselves of being contaminated by children. When a child enters Monstropolis, top scarer Sulley finds his world disrupted.