Weekend Fun for NYC Kids: The Science of Santa, Christmas Caroling, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Live Onstage, Make Music Winter December 20-21

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It's the last weekend before Christmas and NYC is overflowing with holiday cheer, so there are lots of ways for families to get into the season spirit. Learn all about The Science of Santa; go Christmas caroling in Greenwich Village and Jackson Heights; enjoy multicultural celebrations like Mano a Mano's Posadas y Pastorelas and El Museo del Barrio's Parranda; or catch a stage version of the holiday TV classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

It's also a great weekend to hit all the seasonal sights before the tourists take over. So in between last-minute gift shopping, make sure you carve out time to see Santa, and gawk at awesome department store windows and over-the-top holiday homes.

All of our best bets for the weekend are below. You can find additional options in our Event Calendar and our Holiday Fun Guide.

10 Family-Friendly Restaurants in Gowanus Where Kids Can Enjoy Pickles, Pastries, Pie & Artisanal Ice Cream

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Our series of posts about Gowanus, Brooklyn ends with a roundup of kid-friendly restaurants in the area. Although Gowanus may not be the family foodie haven that is Park Slope, as more parents move into the neighborhood, new eateries are popping up to meet the demand. These mostly locally owned restaurants and cafes make the most of their transformed industrial spaces. Meanwhile, longtime old-school Italian staple Two Tom Restaurant offers the same hearty Italian eats it's been been serving up for decades.

Here are our top 8 places to eat with kids in Gowanus.

Day Trip: 5 Things for Long Island Families and Kids to do in Port Jefferson

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Most Long Island kids have two full weeks off for the holiday break, so parents will be looking for different ways to keep the little ones occupied. Why not take a little trip? A great escape doesn't have to be far away. With plenty of staycation destinations on LI, they're closer than you think. Nestled on the north shore of eastern Long Island, Port Jefferson boasts shoreline views, family fun, good eats and sweet treats.

And for more ideas this season, visit our Long Island Holiday Fun Guide.

Mostly Free & Fun Things to Do With NJ Kids This Weekend Dec 20- Dec 21: Adventure to Santa, Menorah Parade, A Christmas Carol & More!

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Here it comes- the first weekend of Hanukkah and the last one before Christmas. While you finish your shopping list, checking it twice, make sure spend time doing something nice! If you haven’t visited Santa yet, there’s plenty of opportunity at Imagine That’s Breakfast with Santa, Red Lobster’s Breakfast with Santa and Cherry Hill Mall’s Adventure to Santa. Take part in great museum programs for the family at New Jersey State Museum’s Story Time and Montclair Art Museum’s Family Art Adventure. And get in the spirit of Hanukkah and Kwanzaa at The South Jersey Annual Car Menorah Parade and Sweet Honey in the Rock: Celebrating the Holydays. For even more weekend fun, check out the full list of weekend activities in our Event Calendar.

Easy Cookie Cutter Ornaments Holiday Craft

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There is nothing cookie-cutter about these colorful ornaments.  Christmas cookies and ornaments are a holiday staple, so why not combine these two institutions and create your own cookie cutter ornaments!

If you have the cutters out, and your oven on, you are already halfway to making these treasures. Create this craft by adding Perler, or fusible, beads to metal cookie cutters.  Perler beads are inexpensive little plastic beads that stick together like magic with a little bit of heat. The end result is stainedglass-like ornaments that will look as pretty catching light in your window as they will on your tree. 

Spectacular Holiday Lights in Westchester: Three Must-See Holiday Displays Within an Hour of NYC

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The holidays are a truly magical time of year in New York City, Westchester and beyond. Everywhere you look there are FREE seasonal sights like illuminated Christmas trees, amazing department store holiday windows and over-the-top seasonal displays.

For years, we've raved about the jaw-dropping holiday homes in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn and the Bronx Christmas House in Pelham Gardens. But Southern Westchester is also home to three must-see holiday houses that are so incredible, my kids and I visit every year. Best of all, they're all located within 15 miles of one another so you can easily hit all of them in one night by car.

Liberty Science Center's New Infinity Climber: a One-of-a-Kind Experience for Kids

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The endlessly entertaining Liberty Science Center has unveiled its brand-new Infinity Climber just in time for the holiday break. Suspended like a pristine spider web 35 feet above the Center's atrium floor, the Climber is the world’s first suspended climbing play space. Even better: It is an activity that parents and children can enjoy together. My kids and I were lucky enough to be invited to experience Infinity firsthand—and it did not disappoint.  

Taylor Swift: Shake It Off at the GRAMMY Museum with LA Kids

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The opening of the new Taylor Swift Experience, combined with the presence of 'tweens in my world, made a vist to the GRAMMY Museum at LA Live an absolute imperative this past weekend. Luckily we're big fans of the GRAMMY Museum at Mommy Poppins; hey, any museum that keeps the whole family singing and dancing all the way through is worth the price of admission in my book. I've enjoyed recent exhibits aimed at the parental generation, like Ringo Starr: Peace and Love and California Dreamin'. And while I don't fit the demographic of the "Swifties," I was quite willing to suffer through a little Top 40s stuff to rack up a couple of Cool Mom points.

It turns out no suffering was required. I may have arrived in a cloud of toleration, but I left a total Taylor fan! (And it's not just because that tune Shake It Off will now never leave my head.)

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