When did planning a kid's birthday party become so stress inducing? Every year, parents feel a certain amount of pressure to find the perfect birthday party place for their child's celebration. After all, you probably don't want to have it at the same venue as last year--or at the same place his friends have already had their parties.

Luckily, there are party places popping up all over Long Island. If you're looking for someplace fresh to host your child's birthday this year, check out these six locations. Whether it's new in town or just new to you, these places offer a variety of birthday fun. From fashion and princesses to painting pottery and sports, we've got you covered. 

And for more birthday party ideas, view our Long Island Party Guide.

Hello, March! As we bid freezing February goodbye, let’s hope the coming days bring milder temps and melting snow! The last few weeks of winter bring some neat activities, so check out all the family fun to be had in Jersey. Celebrate the end of maple sugaring season with the Sugar Maple Celebration at Duke Farms and the Maple Sugaring Fest at Reeves-Reed Arboretum. Or take a hike in the snow during a Family Nature Walk at Basking Ridge Environmental Education Center and build a Winter Gourd Birdhouse at Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary. And if the thought of the chilly outdoors has you shivering, we’ve got you covered! Take in a new musical retelling of a classic story and see If The Shoe Fits: A Cinderella Story, get zany at Liberty Hall’s Dr. Seuss Birthday Breakfast or channel your inner engineer during the Kids Create workshop at the Roebling Museum. For even more weekend fun, check out the full list of weekend activities in our Event Calendar.

When it comes to birthday parties, I am all for the spirit of inviting the whole class. There is no worse feeling than being excluded or not making the A list, and encouraging our kids to be inclusive is surely the right thing to do. However, public school class sizes being what they are, this can sometimes be an unmanageable proposition. And most of our kids have lots of other friends from other places, too, like pre-school or extracurricular activities. If you approach your child’s party with the good intention of inviting everybody, the guest list is likely to have at least 20-30 kids on it. So, if you don't have an acre of rolling lawn behind your family estate, how is this remotely feasible on a budget? We've got 10 great ideas that don't cost a bundle.

Summer camp is a place where kids can truly come into their own, spending the school break exploring interests, developing new passions, learning valuable skills, and creating life-long memories. And if that camp also happens to be situated on 100 acres of beautiful land in the Santa Monica Mountains, even better, right?

Our sponsor Tumbleweed Camp is a place where children ages 4-14 enjoy the wonders of nature just minutes from Brentwood. And while there are plenty of fun programs for campers to enjoy, the focus is on more than just keeping them occupied; each activity is designed to teach creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication—important attributes for when they get into the “real world.”  

The tiny town of Boonton, New Jersey just might have it all. This bedroom community, located in Morris County, is known for its beautiful open spaces and rural character. Throw in a vibrant downtown (named one of NJ's Best Downtowns by New Jersey Monthly Magazine), streets lined with 18th and 19th century homes, views of New York City and an actual waterfall and you can see why Boonton is a day trippers dream. Once a thriving factory town, Boonton has gone through a revival in the past several decades, morphing into one of New Jersey's coolest destinations. Read on to learn more about what makes Boonton so special. For even more great small towns in Northern New Jersey, check out our Small Towns Guide.

Believe it or not, there’s less than a month 'til spring and an actual end to the subzero temperatures! Meanwhile, take advantage of all the warm indoor fun throughout New Jersey this week. Explore the arts without spending a dime at Little Rocker’s Free Music Trial Class and Whole Food’s free Painting Fun workshop. Experience more creative fun at Kayla’s Creative Art Studio’s After-School Art Class and Kids Art Hour at the Monmouth Museum. And don’t forget to check out our event calendar for even more weekday and weekend events.

A week designed for builders and creators of all ages, National Engineers Week is one event, but it's celebrated in two locations in the Southland. The Discovery Cube in Orange County and its newly opened sister branch in the San Fernando Valley both have many interactive activities aimed at young engineers and scientists, including the not-to-be-missed egg dropping contest. For those more interested in the natural world, there are two free aquarium opportunities in Santa Monica and Long Beach, and the one in Santa Monica comes with free food for our kids.