Weekly Wrap Up: Spring Fairs and Fests, Indoor Water Parks and More for NYC Kids

We are so ready for the weekend. That's when we can start doing all of the cool things we wrote about on our sites this week! 

We're already spoken for on Saturday: The Mommy Poppins gang will be hanging out at the Tribeca Family Festival Street Fair. Drop by our tent for fun activities and awesome giveaways.

Sunday brings more seasonal fun, including festivals and fairs, Bike Month festivities and a slew of other family-friendly events.

And that's just a taste of what's going on. Here's what we covered this week on Mommy Poppins in NYC, Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Weekend Events in NJ, April 30-May1: Dinosaur Days, Earth Day Play and a FREE Arts & Music Fest!

April showers are over and May blooms are finally here. This weekend we're wrapping up Earth Day with a Wild Earth Fest in Mountainside and an Ar-B-Que in Short Hills. Outdoor festivals are all over the Garden State with the NJ Marathon (including kid runs) in Long Branch, Rutgers Day in New Brunswick and Piscataway, and the Hoboken Arts and Musis Festival. A sure sign of spring is that sheep shearing begins this weekend at the Cory Miller House in Westfield and the ponies are out and offering free rides at the stables in Basking Ridge. Finally, the Newark Museum and the Morris Museum both are hosting dinosaur days with fossil digs. Welcome, spring!

Things to Do for NYC Kids and Families April 30-May 1, 2011: Tribeca Family Street Fair, Cherry Blossom Fest and Kindiefest

Do you enjoy making decisions? We hope so, because there are so many amazing activities this weekend, including highly anticipated annual favorites, you've got some tough choices ahead of you.

Festivals are the big draw. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Sakura Matsuri: Cherry Blossom Festival, the Hippo Playground Spring Fair, the Five Boro Bike Fest and a couple of better-late-than-never Earth Day celebrations are all happening this weekend. For many, the main event is the legendary Tribeca Film Festival Family Street Fair on Saturday. If you attend, make sure you drop by to say hi to the Mommy Poppins team: Our tent will be located on the west side of Greenwich Street at Jay Street.

There are also a lot of rockin' concerts this weekend, including Kindiefest, David Weinstone and Music for Aardvarks, Junior Jam and Recess Monkey. (Check out our Poppins Perk deal for half price tickets to the Junior Jam show)

Speaking of monkeys, you can also check out what's new at the city's six zoos (we're counting the Aquarium), the highlight being the Bronx Zoo's annual Animal Tales Extravaganza fest.

And if that's not enough for you, the Mommy Poppins Events Calendar is full of other options like storytimes, stage shows, exhibits and more. Whatever you end up doing, we wish you a fabulous weekend! 

Find the Mommy Poppins Team at the Tribeca Family Festival for Fun and a Chance to Win Universal Orlando Tickets

After many years of attending the Tribeca Family Festival Street Fair, we've decided to join up! Mommy Poppins will be hosting a tent on Greenwich Street at Jay Street, just south of the first stage with lots of fun and big giveaways. 

What will be happening? Lots of cool stuff. Raise your heart rates with fun activities sponsored by eXerBlast, or relax in our BlastDown Zone (you know you'll need it after tromping through the fair). While there, enter for a chance to win one of our great giveaways, including four tickets to Universal Orlando. Plus you get to meet the Mommy Poppins team, and we get to meet you. Read on for details about everything we'll have going on.
 

New Jersey Summer Day Camp Guide

Now that we've put away the winter coats (tentatively), thoughts of warm weather and the many, many school-less days coming are filling our heads. We hope that we can take the edge off with our New Jersey Summer Camp Guide, chock-full of choices from your basic outdoors swim-and-frolic Day Camps to budding thespian Performing Arts Camps, from cool Museum and Zoo Camps to unusual and creative Indoor Camps, and from see-ya-later-mom-and-dad Sleepaway Camps to wonderful Special Needs Camps. Dig right in and see if you can't find the perfect fit for your potential camper. And enjoy the thoughts of sunblock and watermelon, of pools and sports, of warm nights and long days and... well, you get it. Summer.

GIVEAWAY! “Rated P (For Parenthood)”: The New Musical Comedy at SOPAC

RATED P: The Musical” is the new SOPAC musical comedy exploring the wonders and lunacy of raising kids from conception to college drop-off. Starring local Broadway veterans, RATED P brings the audience on a hilarious and touching journey of both the joys and the drama of parenthood. Teresa Sellinger interviewed Sandy Rustin, the book/lyrics writer, whose own parenting experience served as the impetus for Rated P. (And keep on reading for a special giveaway for opening night tickets!)

Animal Tales Extravaganza and Things to Do at NYC Zoos in Spring 2011

Don't wait for summer to head to the city's zoos. Spring is the perfect time to visit. The animals are friskier in the cooler weather, and the crowds haven't yet hit.

Plus the zoos are bursting with special spring programming. Visit with new baby animals, like the goats at the Central Park Zoo and two new wallabies at the Prospect Park Zoo's recently reopened Australian Walkabout exhibit. The Bronx Zoo is throwing its fantastic Animal Tales Extravaganza festival, featuring costumed characters and other activities. The New York Aquarium just cut the kelp on its Conservation Hall exhibit, where you can marvel at amazing marine life. The Queens Zoo is hosting its first-ever sleepover and has a new Lynx on view.

And that's just a handful of the things that will make you go wild at the zoo this season.

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