This past weekend I took Verizon’s new smart phone app, Verizon VZ Navigator, out for a spin on my way from Manhattan to Shelter Island. The app was easy to download and very straightforward to operate. It could access my address book and provide maps of where my friends lived.  It also provided weather and traffic reports, and a directory, almost a complete yellow pages, for all sorts of useful information based on my location.  I could find movie and concert listings, restaurants by cuisine, banks, stores, lodgings and much more all neatly organized by type of venue.  Very handy indeed.  Alas, I then discovered that the “premium” route planning and step by step navigation features only worked on Verizon phones.  Sadly I was locked into an AT&T contract.

This event has reached capacity but don't worry, we'll be hosting additional events soon! Since 2007, we've been telling you about the best things to do and places to go with kids in NYC. Starting this year, we're doing one better: We're planning a series of live events for families at our favorite New York City spots, and our first one is coming up next Friday, February 1 at New York Kids Club.

Join us for a few hours of fun at one of the best places for kids to get their ya-yas out: New York Kids Club. This is a free event but reservations are required. Space is very limited and we expect the event to fill up quickly. But don't worry: We'll be organizing many more events over the next few months. Following us on Facebook is a great way to make sure you get early notification of an upcoming event.

Read on for additional details and RSVP now.

It’s already the last weekend of January, and our calendar is filled with things to do with kids in Boston. From the opening of Wheelock Family Theatre’s production of Oliver on Friday to the Wingmasters Birds of Prey demonstration on Sunday, we’ve got you covered.

Families can enjoy other events like a film festival at the ICA, magic with Matias, and a performance of Skippyjon Jones. The annual Bread and Puppet Theatre performance - The Circus of the Possibilitarians - is an entertaining option for families and a personal favorite. Note: this is not your traditional puppet show! Read on for all our picks for the weekend, and visit our Events Calendar for other events.

With February vacation less than a month away, we’ve rounded up some terrific vacation week programs for creative kids who like to craft, draw, create virtual worlds, or sing and dance. And if you’re planning a winter birthday party, Tara’s 5 Great Indoor Places to Have a Kid’s Birthday Party in Boston will be very welcome, especially as we endure this cold spell.

Enjoy!

Oh, how lucky we are to live in Southern California. At a time when the rest of the country is dealing with temperatures represented in numbers you need an advanced degree in mathematics to understand, our biggest concern is the possibility of rain. But never fear; we have plenty of indoor adventures awaiting us in the event of such utterly inclement weather. You can hunt for faeries, meet time-traveling artisans, enjoy the films of animation master Miyazaki, and visit more than a dozen area museums for f-r-e-e. Or, if it's nice out, you can play in the snow.

I'm not normally one to name drop (just ask Justin and KPat), but this is a big weekend for celebrity sightings. Your kids will have stars in their eyes after sharing storytimes with such literary luminaries as Madeline and the Wild Thing (and perhaps a friendly sea squid). They can sing alongside a cast of princesses, or watch future rock stars strut their stuff. They can build with Bob. The Bob, of building fame.

And, of course, it wouldn't be a weekend without a few holidays to celebrate. This weekend, families can join together in recognition of Tu B'shevat, the Lunar New Year season, and, that most reverent of days, Zimmerpalooza.

Keep reading for our favorite picks for the weekend...

This weekend, kids who love building and LEGOs can partake in a Bricks 4 Kidz demo class at Rolling River Day Camp. Also going on: a magic musical family show with Jester Jim at the Hicksville Public Library; a performance by kindie rocker Mista Cookie Jar at the Long Island Children's Museum (my son's favorite museum!); pizza making with the Baking Coach at the Center Moriches Public Library; and a book reading and signing with Scott Starkey, author of The Call of the Bully, at Book Revue. As always, please check out our events calendar every day for fun activities for the family.   

Even though we're back to a regular two-day weekend, there are plenty of fun and enriching activities to fill it up. Families can get creative at the Brooklyn Inventgenuity Festival, hit the Brooklyn Botanic Garden for a day of do-it-yourself activities or enjoy a variety of snowy sports at Central Park's Winter Jam. There are lots of arts and culture options, too, like the Whitney Museum's family opening for American Legends, an elephant-themed family day at the Bard Graduate Center's Circus the City exhibit and a performance by the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers at Theater for the New City.

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.

There's no topping that feeling after you've thrown a fabulous kids' party, entertaining every friend in a two mile radius and blissing out the birthday child. And that's just the problem: there's no topping it. The moment Mom achieves a memorable birthday party, the bar gets set a little higher for next year. To help alleviate that birthday party stress, Mommy Poppins offers the LA Kids Birthday Party Guide - an ever-growing resource of places to party indoors, places to party outdoors, and professionals to help make any location a smash hit.

Tribeca may be a playground for adults with its upscale nightlife scene, but it's also a pretty awesome neighborhood for kids who want to run around, both indoors and out. We continue our month-long focus on Tribeca with a roundup of our favorite play spots for kids in the area. In addition to two great outdoor parks, we found a nice selection of indoor options, too, including drop-in spots, kiddie gyms and members-only play spaces.