Giveaway: Win a Kids' Yoga Birthday Party at the Brand-new Yogi Beans Studio

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It's not surprising that yoga is becoming increasingly popular in New York City. Life here, as wonderful as it is, can be seriously intense—especially for kids. While lots of NYC adult yoga studios offer specialized classes for children and families, only a handful cater to kids all the time. Yogi Beans, which just opened its first freestanding studio on the Upper East Side, is one of these programs.

Recently, I took my six-year-old daughter—who may dress like a pink princess but has a lot of what people call "boy energy"—to a Yogi Beans class. She's taken yoga before and it's one of the few activities that gets her to calm down, focus and follow directions. I was really impressed with what I saw but perhaps the biggest endorsement comes from my daughter, who's now begging for me to sign her up for the semester.

We've got the scoop on everything Yogi Beans' new studio offers, including awesome looking birthday parties. In fact, one lucky reader will win a Yogi Beans birthday party for 12 kids valued at $625!

Mother's Day Giveaways!

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As mothers we experience the essence of life on a daily basis. We care for, nurture, dream, create, feed, dress, bandage, mourn, love, teach and protect our babies (no matter what age they may really be). We learn and grow and fight and love. Hopefully we become better people. Celebrate your mother, your mother's mother, your friends who are mothers and especially celebrate all that you do every day in your role as a mother. It's well deserved and oh so worthwhile! Our CT readers love the great giveaways we do so we thought we'd surprise you with 2 giveaways in one post! And since you ALL are winners, you get a special reader discount for comfy and stylish maternity and lounge outfits by belabumbum.

Tenement Museum: NYC History Kids Can See, Touch and Experience

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Having emigrated to the United States from Russia in 1976 rather than 1916, the closest I got to the classic Lower East Side Jewish immigrant experience was reading Sydney Taylor's All-of-a-Kind Family book series—first as a kid, then later to my own children. So my family and I were really excited to visit the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side so we could get a chance to see how immigrants lived a century ago.

This profile of the Tenement Museum is the second in a series of posts spotlighting kid-friendly NYC historic sites vying for Partners in Preservation grants. Read on to learn how you can take a trip back in time at the museum and support some of our city's most valuable cultural destinations with the click of your mouse.

Grand Palladium Jamaica All-Inclusive Resort & Spa Photo Slideshow

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The Grand Palladium Resort & Spa in Lucea, Jamaica is an all inclusive resort on the northern coast of Jamaica. While it is a prime destination for elegant weddings and romantic retreats, it does have amenities to make it an enjoyable family vacation destination as well.

The water sports beach offers catamaran sailing, kayaking and snorkeling included. A kids club will entertain small children for a few hours so parents can have some down time and in the evenings children's entertainment and a disco is offered.

This Week: May Festivals and Street Fairs, Focus on Chelsea, Star Wars Fun for NYC Kids

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No, the kids in the picture aren't caught in a net. They're playing in the new Ernesto Neto exhibit down in Chelsea, one of the cool things we posted about this week. Speaking of Chelsea, we'll be exploring this super-family-friendly area throughout May and we kicked off our coverage with our top 50 things to do with kids in the neighborhood. We also rounded up the best outdoor festivals and street fairs going on throughout the month, and we profiled the Queens County Farm Museum, one of 40 historic NYC sites vying for grants from Partners in Preservation. You can help pick the winners by voting for your favorite spot on our Facebook page.

Outside NYC, our New Jersey site has lists of the best family-friendly biking routes and hiking trails in case you're looking for an active day trip. Our Boston site has suggestions for easy-to-make homemade Mother's Day gifts. And our Travel site has a review of the Malibu Dude Ranch in Milford, Pennsylvania.

Here's what else we shared this week on our NYC site.

Top NYC Family Portrait Photographers — Deals for Mother's and Father's Day

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There's nothing as priceless as family photographs that capture your beautiful children before they grow up. It's one thing that can't be put off until later; you've got to grab those cherubic faces before they change. Professional family portraits are a wonderfully special gift for family members. With Mother's Day and Father's Day right around the corner, we asked some of NYC's top professional photographers who specialize in family portraits to offer deals just for our readers.

GIVEAWAY! Interview with The Imagination Movers and WIN FREE Tix to Rock-o-Matic Tour!

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My kids were beside themselves when they found out that I was interviewing Rich Collins from The Imagination Movers. When I asked them what burning kid-question I should pose to Mover Rich, they both chimed in "Can we come and meet Warehouse Mouse?" The Movers aren't worried about being upstaged by their furry "second banana", however; their Emmy-winning TV show and wildly popular tour and CDs are testament to just how popular these four imaginative dreamers are, for kids and parents alike. Read on for my interview with IM Rich Collins, details about their NYC and NJ shows, and a chance to win a Family Four Pack of tickets to the May 10th Rock-o-Matic show at The Count Basie Theater in Red Bank!

Long Island Kids' Activities May 5 and 6: Cinco de Mayo Celebrations, Spring Festivals, Peconic Family Fun Day, and More!

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(Photo courtesy of Benner's Farm)

Hold on to your sombreros! This weekend is chock-full of events for kids and families. There are Cinco de Mayo events (don't forget to enter for a chance to win a family four-pack of tickets to WBLI's Family Fiesta), Huntington's Tulip Festival, Hofstra's Dutch Festival, and Peconic Family Fun Day at the Children's Museum of the East End. Both Suffolk County Farm and Hallockville Farm are also having special spring celebrations, there's a fair at South Shore mall, and Saturday is I Love My Park Day: Take the family to Hempstead Lake Park, put on some gloves and help clean it up. Whew! Good luck choosing which events to attend!

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