Summer is half over, but don't despair: There’s still plenty of summer fun for Westchester kids happening in August, and we’ve rounded up some of the things we're looking forward to most this month.

At the New York Renaissance Faire, Elizabethan England is recreated with a decided sense of humor and frivolity, along with rides, games, food, roving monarchs, and gads of entertainment. There are lots of other summer fairs and festivals to enjoy, including the sprawling and multi-faceted Dutchess County Fair.

Have earthy fun at the Muddy Puddles Mess Fest, or look to the sky at the New York Air Show. The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival Family Shows provides outdoor theater intended for an all-ages audience, plus pre-show theater workshops for kids.

Read on for our top picks for the month, and consult our Event Calendar and Summer Activity Guide for many more options.

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While some New Yorkers like to skip town in August, there's tons of must-do summer fun left if you're sticking around for a staycation, including the summer's last FREE outdoor movies and summer family festivals. There's something FREE to do every day in August, and plenty of time to tick off a few more items on your NYC summer bucket list before fall.

Our top family event picks for August include annual favorites like Manhattan's car-free but activity-filled Summer Streets, the incredible Sand Sculpting Contest in Coney Island, and the colorful Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in Queens' Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

Find more fun things to do in our continually updated NYC Event Calendar.

The final full month of summer won't feel so final with our jam-packed roster of awesome August activities. There are tons of fairs and festivals on tap this month, from the Middlesex County Fair to the Canal Day Music & Craft Festival. You can climb a lighthouse on National Lighthouse Day, march in a Butterfly and Bug Parade at the annual Watershed Butterfly Festival in Pennington, and hang out with pirates at Seafarers' Weekend at Historic Cold Spring Village. 

If you haven't made it down the shore yet or are looking for a new beach to visit, check out the Best Jersey Shore Beaches for Families, and find lots of other ways to stay cool and have a blast in our Summer Fun Guide. There's still time to squeeze in a super-fun summer day trip, or a visit to one of NJ's awesome amusement parks and water parks. 

Give your wallet a break and check out one of NJ's many free summer movies, or take part in lots of other free summer fun. 

Read on to find out what we're most looking forward to this month. And don't forget to check our Event Calendar, updated daily with summer happenings across NJ.

They call them the dog days of August, when it might seem impossible to enjoy yourself in the hot and sticky outdoors of a Long Island summer. Nonsense, we say. In fact, we here at Mommy Poppins think there’s plenty to bark about in the final full month of summer.

This month, we’re highlighting family events such as street fairs and summer festivals, family days, cultural celebrations, history, and more. Discover nature at Garvies Point in Glen Cove, watch as your kids cast a line at Captree State Park, or perhaps return to a time when games were played minus the iPad.

So, we blinked, and now August is here! But summer isn't over yet, so there is still time to catch a free movie or an outdoor concert. The Houston International Jazz Fest is coming up, and there are plenty of farmers markets around town to get your fix for fresh produce. Don't forget on the first Saturday of every month you can enjoy events like Marine Biologist for a Day, Arts Market in The Heights, and head to Tomball on the second Saturday of the month for games, music, and food.

Check our calendar every day for great things to do with kids all around Houston. And without further ado, here are the best things to do around Houston with kids this month.

August in Boston is free and festive for kids and families! There are free summer festivals almost every weekend in August, plus lots more free fun throughout the month. We've also picked a few activities that require a visit to the piggy bank, but we think they're well worth checking out—especially if you have an insect enthusiast or young astronomer in the house, or might be thinking about taking the kids camping for the first time. 

We hope you'll be able to squeeze a few of these top picks for hometown fun between summer day trips and weekend getaways before the kids head back to school.

Summer is a great time to throw an outdoor birthday party, but if you don’t have the space (or the desire) to host a bunch of high-energy kids at your house, one of Westchester's beautiful parks can be a great alternative.

Whether you’re looking to have a small party or a big bash, there are lots of parks in the area to accommodate your needs—and many have tons of fun amenities too, from splash pads and swimming pools to playgrounds and soccer fields. Here, we’ve rounded up eight of our favorites.

Looking for even more fun birthday party ideas? Check out our Kids' Birthday Party Guide for Westchester Families, and sign up for our newsletters!