Maximize your three-day weekend by fitting in extra activities on Monday—we've found 17 things to do with kids on Columbus Day! It's also the perfect day to kick off your Halloween revelry by hitting a nearby pumpkin patch or corn maze, shopping for a costume or going on a fall day trip.

Of course even once school and work start up again, the fun doesn't need to stop. Our best bets for Tuesday, October 13-Friday, October 16 include a Minecraft club, a FREE storytime for tots, a teen night out at the Met and one of our top picks of the month, a multimedia anniversary screening of Back to the Future.

As always, you can find lots of other ideas in our Event Calendar and Fall Fun Guide.

As a native Angeleno, I pride myself on having been to most of our local venues at least once in my life, but recently I discovered one that is brand new to me: The Valley Performing Arts Center at Cal State Northridge. VPAC, as those in the know call it, is in fact a fairly recent addition to our cultural scene, having begun its inaugural season in 2011. VPAC is a light, bright, large theater with comfortable seating and easy and affordable parking (including a free shuttle for those who need it). While Valley residents must surely appreciate this addition to their neighborhood, those of us living on the Westside, Hollywood, or beyond can also enjoy it for years to come. Though Northridge sounds far away, it really took us less than half an hour to get there from the Westside and was well worth the trip—particularly for the debut a marvelous new family series, the VPAC Play Date, featuring a range of performances geared towards children and their families.

If you've got older kids (or a macabre Halloween side yourself), you know what a great job our LA and OC theme parks do of haunting those who love to be scared every October. But what about the kids who just like things mildly spooky - like maybe a couple of smiling ghosts and a spider or two? Sure, Disneyland has Mickey's Halloween Party, but that still involves staying up way past bedtime. If you have little ones you want to bring to a happy Halloween haunt without staying out past dark, where the scariest mummy looks suspiciously like Peppermint Patty, then Camp Spooky is the place you oughta be.

Few things will excite a kid more on a hike than the sudden roar of rushing water. They'll race toward the falls, eager to toss in a stick to see where it'll go, mesmerized by the crashing water. But really, encountering a waterfall deep in the woods is enchanting at any age.

Families can find a trove of gorgeous waterfall hikes easy enough for children tucked into the northern end of the Pennsylvania's Delaware Water Gap—less than two hours by car from Midtown Manhattan.

These nature walks are doable in a day, however, you might want to turn this getaway into a weekend by visiting the many other family-friendly attractions in the Poconos.

This post is sponsored by BASIS Independent School.

One thing all parents I know can agree on is that we want our kids to have the best education possible. While we might not always trust politicians with our education choices, when two parents—who also happen to be world-class academicians—decide to take matters into their own hands, that's worth knowing about. And that's the story behind our sponsor BASIS Independent Brooklyn, a BASIS.ed school that offers a world-acclaimed liberal arts STEM-focused curriculum.

Founded in 1998 with one school in Arizona and just a handful of students, today BASIS.ed manages BASIS Independent Brooklyn in Red Hook, along with two other private schools in Silicon Valley and McLean, VA, 16 charter schools across the United States and an international school in China. Its students consistently rank among the best in math, reading, and science—not just in the country, but the world over.

This weekend is going to be hot. So hot it sizzles. So hot you’ll think that you’re in that lava pit that (spoiler alert) Anakin fell into in Revenge of the Sith and not just reading about it. So hot you'll feel like you’re actually on the surface of Venus and not just talking to the rocket scientists who send probes there. So hot that people are going to say, "What are you? A Mommy Poppins mama?" Dudes, it’s going to be hot.

But that’s okay. We’re Southern Californians. It takes a lot to scare us. Like, you know, spiders, haunted ships, elephants eating pumpkins, and Mickey Mouse in a costume. Okay, what? Those last two aren't even scary. Just fun, seasonal frivolity. But that's life here. Always fun, always in season...

But enough with the hot already, okay? (Cue El Niño in 3, 2, 1...)

Keep reading for our hottest picks for this weekend....

Turkey trots and turkey races are a fun activity for Thanksgiving Day morning. Before you sit down to that delicious Thanksgiving meal, take the family out and trot like a turkey! Running is a sport everyone can participate in…it encourages health and fitness, can benefit a charity and doesn’t require great skill or practice. There are many “Turkey Trots” across the state of New Jersey, all of which are family friendly. Check out one close to you and burn some calories before you add more.

There are loads of fairs, festivals, and other fun events happening all over Connecticut this Columbus Day Weekend. Quite a few weekend-only events such as the Pumpkin Patch Train in Naugatuck or the Build-a-Scarecrow Workshop at Sam Bridge Nursery will be open for business on Monday, and if you're interested in celebrating Columbus, you have the option of attending parades on Sunday in New Haven or Stamford (for counterpoint, check out the "Who Discovered Whom" program at the Institute for American Indian Studies on Monday).

To start a Halloween tradition that's not candy-based (or to have an excuse to justify all that candy), check out our round up of Family Fun Runs Around Fairfield County. And, of course, we have plenty of candy, pumpkins, and haunted houses in our carefully curated list of Halloween Happenings and Parades in Fairfield County and Halloween and Fall Fun Guide.

Make sure that you subscribe to our weekly newsletters and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest so that you won't miss any of the Halloween fun! Read on for our highlights of events happening this Columbus Day weekend. For even more fun make sure to check out our daily listing of events on the calendar.