Whether your family celebrated Independence Day last weekend, on the Fourth itself, or is taking advantage of the mid-week holiday to get a full week’s time off, we hope you had a happy and safe Fourth of July.

Although summer officially arrived over two weeks ago, many summer programs move in to gear in the days ahead. We’ve highlighted several of these programs below, and be sure to check our posts about outdoor movie screenings, free museum admissions, and our list of 50 free things to do this summer for more ideas. It’s also blueberry picking season (have you tried our blueberry buckle recipe?), and Tara has a review of the new World’s Only Curious George Store - if you find yourself with a free afternoon, it’s worth the visit!

As always, you can find more things to do by visiting our Events Calendar.

Enjoy!

I don't know about you, but as I plan for this weekend, I still have a little bit of a fireworks hangover. You know: echoing booms and elusive flashes of light around the edges of my vision. No worries - the fun that's in store for us this weekend will make all those red, white, and booms a thing of the past.  We've got multi-generational drum circles,  movies for everyone from tots to tweens to polar bears, stories from the Silk Road, magicians, puppeteers, and cowboys.  We've...hold the phone...

Okay,  that's weird. Could have sworn I saw a Jedi in a track suit.  Perhaps those fireworks addled my brain more than I realized. Anyway, did I mention the music festivals?  There's LevittLA and Manhattan Beach; and Santa Monica Pier's Twilight Dance begins this Thursday,  and ...

...There!  On the Pier!  You can't tell me I didn't see that: Jabba the Hut is stretching his hamstrings!  There can only be one explanation: a 5-day light saber relay from Santa Monica down to San Diego. The Course for the Force raises funds for Make-A-Wish Foundation and gives aspiring Jedi a chance to strut their stuff. Now if only the room would stop spinning.

Keep reading for our favorite picks for this weekend...

If your family is into music, you have a lot of rocking activities to choose from this weekend. SummerStage hosts its free Central Park Family Day featuring Justin Roberts & The Not Ready for Naptime Players while Celebrate Brooklyn!'s free Ezra Jack Keats Family Concert in Prospect Park stars Sweet Honey in the Rock. Plus you can catch a kid-friendly Fishbone concert in Williamsburg, the Hip Tot Music Festival in Gowanus and Danna Banana rocking out on a Circle Line Kids Cruise.

Other weekend highlights include free outdoor screenings of Grease on Roosevelt Island and Transformers in the Bronx, and Williamsburg's long-time tradition the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

All of our best bets for the weekend are below. You can find additional options in our Event Calendar and our Summer Fun Guide, which is packed with info on NYC's best pools, beaches, water playgrounds and other ways to cool off.

If I hadn't wanted updates from the people, places and businesses that I Liked on Facebook, I wouldn't have clicked Like in the first place.

Facebook, apparently, doesn't agree.

Do you remember back in April, when The Curious George Store opened with much fanfare? You didn't make it to the grand opening? Well, that's OK, neither did we. Mommy Poppins Boston got a sneak peek of the store before it opened, but we hadn’t been back until just recently. I thought the place looked like it was going to be quite fabulous, but I wanted to see it through the eyes of my children, so we recently hopped on the T and headed to Harvard Square for a summer field trip to The World's Only Curious George Store.

(Photo courtesy of Brookhaven National Lab)

​We hope you've marked your calendars with some of the fun and free activities for families that we've rounded up recently! We've highlighted some great opportunities to see a free movie in the theaters or even outdoors, kid-friendly outdoor concerts and some of the Island's bowling alleys that welcome kids to bowl for free.  Today we bring you a few more fun and free activities sure to captivate your budding artist or scientist, your train enthusiast, or your resident animal-lover. From a ride on a scale model train to a waterfront magic show, there's lots of free fun to be had for all fun-loving kids!

While we're all for enjoying outdoor summer fun, the season doesn't need to be a cultural wasteland. Many of NYC's museums are unveiling new family-friendly exhibits so kids can experience cool art—and cool air-conditioning.

Over the past few weeks, we've posted about a few new installations we've already visited, like Spy: The Secrets of Espionage and Terracotta Warriors at Discovery Times Square, Tomás Saraceno's climbable Cloud City on the roof of the Met and the Czech Center's Orbis Pictus - Play Well, where kids can play on funky, artist-made instruments. But we've found ten other awesome sounding summer exhibits, where kids can get up close and personal with live spiders, gawk at a real Space Shuttle, take art workshops with design pros and more.

Farmers markets are opening up all around the area allowing us to enjoy the bounty of summer products. Visiting a farmers market is a great way to teach your child about good nutrition and developing healthy eating habits. A special place filled with colorful fruits and vegetables, beautiful flowers and much more, you can let your child freely explore the delicious world of garden-fresh produce. Many of the farmers markets here in Hartford County provide fun family friendly activities to enjoy as well.