Join Mommy Poppins NJ at Metro Moms' Healthy and Green Halloween Bash (with a great GIVEAWAY)!

Submitted by Shari Simpson on

We love "green" and we love rhyming, so you bet we’re loving Green Halloween! Mommy Poppins NJ is excited to be participating in the Healthy and Green Halloween Bash with our pals, the Metro Moms. Dress the kids in costume for a weekend afternoon of healthy trick-or-treating, dancing, playing, games, natural organic products and treats, facepainting, arts & crafts and a super special secret GIVEAWAY just for MP NJ fans (read on for the super special secret details)!

MoMA Art Lab: People: Make Portraits, Puppets and People at the Museum's New Hands-on Art Studio

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Anyone with a child old enough to clutch a crayon knows that people can be artistically represented in a variety of ways, ranging from random slashes on a piece of paper ("It's you, Mommy!") to keenly observed portraits ("Mom, this is how your hair sticks out in the morning!") Now the Museum of Modern Art is inviting kids to create all kinds of people, realistic or abstract, in its brand-new interactive installation MoMA Art Lab: People.

We were big fans of MoMA's similar hands-on Material Lab, which recently closed after a 19-month run. It helped make a wonderful but not very interactive museum a lot more fun for children who'd rather create art than look at it. So I was really excited to take my kids to check out MoMA Art Lab: People to see what kinds of funky folks they'd come up with.

News: Harry Potter Exhibit Returns, Youth Circus Performers Needed for Coney Island Show and The Scream Live in Person

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Two scream-worthy exhibits are coming to town: A revival of the popular Harry Potter display at Discover Times Square, and Edvard Munch's signature painting, which is making its U.S. debut!

In other culture news, the Brooklyn Museum is making a big change to its free monthly First Saturdays parties. Plus we've got details about major G&T test changes, youth circus auditions and the return of the Boys Choir of Harlem.

At-Home Halloween Party: How to Throw a Frighteningly Good Celebration in a Scarily Small NYC Apartment

Stephanie Ogozalek's picture Submitted by Stephanie Ogozalek on

Most families host at-home holiday parties in December. But in my house (make that jam-packed two-bedroom apartment), Halloween is when we throw our big annual shindig. Although my Halloween parties have changed over the years from adults-only spooky suppers with deadly cocktails to more family-friendly affairs, the haunted holiday still gets my creative juices flowing. We host a kids' party every year, and my son and his friends always look forward to it—in fact they usually start asking me about it on the first day of school!

While some aspects of our party remain the same from year to year—revelers come in costume (yes even the parents) and candy is handed out—I try to switch up activities so it's never the same celebration twice. In a few weeks, we'll be hosting our seventh annual party, so I have a lot of tips and ideas for families who want to throw their own Halloween party—yes, even in a tiny New York City apartment.

Giveaway! The Boxcar Children Beginning

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This week promises to be a grand time for fans (or fans-to-be) of The Boxcar Children, with a festival this weekend in Connecticut and a book giveaway right here on Mommy Poppins Boston! Read on for more about the festival and how to enter the contest.

Halloween Train Ride Adventures in CT

Submitted by Katie McKnight on

Chug – a –Chug – a…BOO?  This Halloween train concept is a new one for me, and I can’t tell you how excited I am to check these out with my kids.  Last year my 4 year old and I took a Metro North train from Stamford to Greenwich (a ten minute ride) and she thought it was the greatest outing ever.  Wonder what she’ll think about some of these Halloween train adventures?

Step Into the Wild Fantasy World of The RAMMELLZEE Galaxseum at the Children's Museum of the Arts

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Think your kids live in a fantasy world? Just wait until you get a load of The RAMMELLZEE Galaxseum, the brand-new exhibit at the Children's Museum of the Arts. This retrospective of work by RAMMELLZEE—including paintings, action figures, comic books, videos and full-body costumes—is totally mind-blowing. The late NYC graffiti and hip-hop artist created his own highly-detailed mythology called Gothic Futurism featuring crazy characters engaging in epic intergalactic battles over letters, words and language. While RAMMELLZEE's wild style might be a bit intense for young children, it should appeal to school-age kids, especially those into comic books, fantasy novels or sci-fi movies.

This Week: Halloween Fun for NYC Kids, Bronx Zoo Boo at the Zoo Giveaway, Free Swimming Lessons

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This week we were all about Halloween. Not only have we updated most of the posts in our NYC Halloween Fun Guide, our New Jersey and Connecticut sites launched their own guides filled with the kind of holiday fun you can only find outside the city, like haunted train rides and massive corn mazes.

If the Bronx Zoo's Boo at the Zoo is on your must-do list this month, you'll want to enter our Boo at the Zoo giveaway—we'll be posting the winners on our Facebook page on Saturday, so make sure you enter by Friday! It's also the time to sign up for FREE fall swimming lessons for kids. The Parks Department is holding an online lottery for spots through Tuesday, October 16.

Finally, since we often look to our readers for inspiration, information and new ideas, we'd like to hear your thoughts about some exceptional events Mommy Poppins is planning on hosting in NYC. Please take our very short survey so we can find out what kinds of activities you're interested in and what neighborhoods are most convenient for your family.

Here's what we covered on the NYC this week:

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