If you've got an animal-crazed kid, it's time to consider a zoo party. From the Bronx to Staten Island, each of the five boroughs has a zoo ready to host your next fete. The absolute best thing about a zoo party is the live animals who get to celebrate with you in the party room. We celebrated my son's fifth birthday at the Prospect Park Zoo where we were delighted to host an albino corn snake, a rabbit and a hissing cockroach for the kids to learn about and touch (well...no one touched the cockroach.)

Read on for the skinny on the party packages at each of the city's zoos, from budget-friendly to over-the-top all-inclusive, there's a party for every animal lover out there. 

It’s the week of Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, representing a time of service and remembrance for Westchester families. It’s also an abbreviated school week, so we’ve identified ways to keep kids busy during down time.

Though the full gamut of activities on our Event Calendar is quite varied, our top picks for this week include two themes: crafting and spa indulgence. Back by popular demand is Teen Day of Beauty, and younger kids can get a piece of the self-soothing action at DIY Bath Salts. There are plenty of other DIY options to choose from as well, but if you still have a case of Star Wars fever, may The Force be with you at Jedi Academy.

Read on to learn about crafting, entertainment and other enriching opportunities for your kids this week, and refer to our January GoList to plan ahead!

We've rounded up fifteen of the city's best winter happenings for the preschooler and toddler set from hot-ticket kid spectacles like Daniel Tiger and Sesame Street Live to a low-key Greenpoint sock puppet show, an always catchy Music for Aardvarks concert and an upcoming Mo Willems exhibit that truth be told, might be more for mom and dad. 

Winter can feel mighty long when you're cooped up indoors with an antsy preschooler. So go ahead and bundle them into that winter gear to hit up these must-do January-March 2016 activities. We promise, we only picked options worth the winter gear struggle. 

Even more family winter entertainment ideas can be found in our Winter Guide or our just released 2016 GoList, covering the best events all year. 

This week kicks off with Martin Luther King Jr Day on Monday so you'll want to check the operating hours of your usual weekday haunts before you set out. Some libraries are offering special holiday programming while others are closed. We have a guide to some of our favorite events honoring Dr. King, including the special day of programming at the Bruce Museum described below.

There are some terrific library events all over the state this week, whether you're interested in Star Wars, a little paper circuitry 411, or  a tea party. For more fun things to do, check out our Event Calendar which we continue to update throughout the week. 

Ah, the good ol' days. Remember roller-skating, ice cream sodas and drive-in theaters? These simple pleasures can still be found all over New Jersey. Relive your childhood while introducing your kids to some new-old activities this summer. We’ve rounded up 25 great ideas to get you started, everything from vintage train rides to living history farms. So put down that smartphone and step back in time. There’s plenty of old-fashioned fun to be had in NJ!

There are many perks to living in New York City, and now we can add to that list getting up close and personal to one of the largest dinosaurs ever discovered on Earth.

A 122-foot-long titanosaur, an herbivore from the Cretaceous period, went on display Friday, January 15, on the dinosaur-packed fourth floor of the American Museum of Natural History—and, happily, it really does live up to the hype. It is massive! Preschoolers to teens will love walking around and underneath the life-size skeleton cast. Read on for more details on this must-see new exhibit, including a video showing its construction.

Parties center around food anyway, so why not let the kids cook and bake?! The birthday boy or girl with their posse of sous chefs will get their hands in the mix, cooking up all flavors of fun. Some options are solely for sweet tooths, others provide full-course meals. All of them take the mess off your hands, whether it's held in your home or on site in Fairfield County.  Best of all, this kind of party suits any age -- everyone's gotta eat! For even more fun party ideas check out our Party Guide!

We love checking out NYC's newest and coolest indoor play areas, so we couldn't wait to drop in to the recently opened Giocare Play Spot in South Park Slope, Brooklyn. Catering to infants, toddlers and preschoolers, Giocare offers drop-in play sessions, classes, storytimes and more.

We've got the scoop on Giocare and everything you need to know before you go—just in time for an NYC winter when we're all looking for new boredom-busting play ideas.