Yep, it's definitely winter now!  Although this seasonably cold weather has my family spending lots more time inside, I also find this time of year to be perfect for slowing down and focusing on family bonding.  This weekend in New Jersey there are lots of great indoor options where you can connect AND have fun with your kids. From unique (and many FREE) music and theater shows to a celebration of marine mammals to a sensory-friendly planetarium show, read on for all of our picks and remember, you can always find additional options in our Events Calendar. Have a fantastic wintery weekend whatever you chose to do with your family!

The weather’s looking a little cloudy this weekend, so why are hordes of locals heading to the beach? For the opening weekend of Cirque du Soleil’s Ovo, of course! As we told you last week, we’re giving away a four-pack of tickets to the show, and you’re in luck: you have until Tuesday, January 24 to get your entry in.  

Without a doubt, Mommy Poppins is your number one source of the coolest, most enriching, and just plain awesome things to do with Southern California kids.  However, if there’s ever a day that our calendar of weekly events fails to provide you with the perfect activity to do with your kids (unlikely, true, but it could happen) no worries, we’ve still got you covered. Our latest post reveals our list of 100 Things to Do in LA with Kids Before They Grow Up. I for one can't wait to go skydiving at Universal Citywalk.

Keep reading for our favorite choices for this weekend, and to find out how a rainy day could be a winning proposition for you.

it’s all about animals this weekend!

Dragons put in an appearance, as celebrations of the Chinese New Year begin. Events like The Monkey KIng puppet show at the Peabody Museum, a Chinese New Year celebration at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, and a book launch of Dumpling Days at Porter Square Books help welcome in the Year of the Dragon. Clifford, the Big Red Dog (in costume character form) visits the Harvard Coop for Kids, Rainforest Reptiles slither and crawl to the Children’s Museum, and birds of prey swoop in on the Ipswich River Sanctuary. Read on for our weekend picks, and check our Events Calendar for more options.

We also continue our Summer Camp series with a focus on summer camps in Boston, Brookline and Cambridge. We’d love include your favorite camps in future posts - please let us know about them!

Enjoy!

Even though we're back to a regular two-day weekend, there are enough cool activities to fill many more days. The Kids Food Festival serves up culinary fun in Bryant Park. The Bronx's beautiful Wave Hill celebrates the season with its weekend-long Hibernators Pajama Pop-In. And families can catch new puppet shows in Brooklyn and Manhattan, including the debut of the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre's Little Miss Muffet’s Monster Sitting Service.

Tweens and teens can get creative at the third annual Brooklyn Inventgenuity Festival and kids of all ages will enjoy celebrating Chinese New Year (the Year of the Dragon officially begins on Monday). Plus, there are a couple of cool kids' concerts, an awesome circus show, museum programs for kids with special needs, major discounts to Broadway and Off Broadway shows, and a lottery for free swimming lessons throughout NYC.

Those are 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.

Next Monday, the American Library Association will announce the 2012 winners of various youth media awards, including the recipient of the Caldecott Medal. Named after 19th-century English illustrator Randolph J. Caldecott, this prestigious honor has been given to one distinguished children's picture book per year since 1938. You've probably heard of some of the titles (we're guessing Where the Wild Things Are makes you want to rumpus), but others aren't as well known, even though they deserve to be.

So for our January Little Lions post, Jenny Berggren, the Senior Librarian at the New York Public Library's Yorkville branch, has compiled a list of her favorite Caldecott Medal winners of all time. Get ready for some award-winning reading!

January 23, 2012 marks the start of the Year of the Dragon for the official Asian New Year day known as “Tet”. In the Hartford County area there are many ways for families to ring in the Lunar New Year and learn about the Asian culture. Immerse yourself in the traditions and celebrate with some of the various activities that are taking place in the traditionally two week long celebration ending February 6. 

One of the best things about 3 day weekends is that the following weekend seems to get here that much faster. Despite being back to the normal 2 days there's lots of fun to cover this weekend. We have Chinese New Year events and activities for both Hartford and Fairfield this week. Are your kids tired of the same old thing in their school lunch box? Maybe a bento box could help. Check out our post on getting your Bento Box supplies. Looking to get cooking with your kids but not in your own kitchen? Have fun in one of these Fairfield County locations. For those who'd rather get crafty we covered some great options in Hartford County. Stepping Stones Museum has a great new exhibit that opened this week called Run! Jump! Fly! Adventures and we are giving away 4 tickets to attend. Just subscribe to our newsletter or like us on FB and you'll be entered. This weekend take the kids to see motocross racers do daring jumps and scary tricks in Bridgeport. There's a magic show at both the Danbury Library and the Westport Town Hall. What if Mozart Played Guitar Hero? will be performed in New Haven. Check out our calendar of events for a full listing of fun things to do with the kids this weekend. Hope you make some good memories!

January is a time for new beginnings, and we've got a bunch of those in this installment of our biweekly news roundup. We have info on a new Williamsburg play space, a new start for an old museum, a cool new iPad app for creative kids, and a new celebrity baby whose birth created quite a stir. (Unless the cold is giving you a serious brain freeze, we're sure you know who we're talking about...but did you hear what our Mayor said about the whole controversy?) Plus, kindergarten applications, breastfeeding on TV and a little boy who needs your help.