If you have a little train lover in your family, chances are you practically live on the Island of Sodor: humming along to the theme of Thomas & Friends™, and amassing more trains, tracks, and stations than you thought humanly possible.  Now Thomas the Train fans are in for a special treat. At Please Touch Museum’s latest exhibit, Thomas and Friends: Explore the Rails!, the entire family can enter their favorite world of make believe, practice STEM skills, and spark their imaginations with Thomas.  Read on to find out what makes this exhibit a must-do for Philly area families with tykes in tow. 

Who doesn’t love a good family dance party for shaking off the rainy day blahs? While you could always ask Alexa to crank up the tunes in your living room, it's even more fun to hit the dance floor with kids at a venue that caters to tail-shakers of all ages. You will be dancing the day or night away with a great family fun vibe. Who can resist that?

Read on for a list of venues in Manhattan and Brooklyn where families can get their groove on.

New Englanders big and small love their doughnuts. And while we’ve got nothing against Dunkin’, we really enjoy visiting local shops, which serve up everything from classic apple cider doughnuts to maple-bacon-flavored beignets. We can hardly think of a more kid-friendly food—especially when sprinkles and frosting are involved—so bring the whole family when you go sample of some of the tastiest treats in the city at a dozen of our favorite doughnut shops.

We do it every year, and happily so. A Christmas tree is a must, and so we head to the local lot and walk through the makeshift aisles of pre-cut trees in search of the perfect one. Or maybe we head a little farther out to cut our own. Once found, the tree is tied to our car and off we go, to wrestle it into a stand, shimmy it through the front door, and hope we remember to water it. After the holidays, we drag the once-vibrant-now-browning tree to the curb and vacuum up the trail of fallen needles.

It is hard to imagine Christmas without a rich smelling conifer, but it is also hard to ignore how unsustainable the system is: the tree is grown a thousand miles away, shipped here, driven to its destination, briefly enjoyed, and then discarded. Thankfully, here in Los Angeles and elsewhere, there is another option - a living Christmas tree.

Tucked between Central Park and Riverside Park, it’s hard to beat the family-friendly awesomeness that is the Upper West Side. The neighborhood boasts tree-lined streets with wide sidewalks, easily-accessible subway lines, more playgrounds than you can count, plus endless cafes, museums, kid-centric hot spots, and many of the best schools in the city. Though the Upper West Side spans over 40 blocks, it has a small community vibe that makes it particularly attractive to families with young children.

To add to the appeal, richly-appointed new boutique-style residences, like our sponsor 222w80, offer a long list of larger building amenities that are perfect for families. With a state-of-the-art fitness center and yoga studio grownups will love, a children’s playspace and arcade-like game room for the younger crowd, and an on-site bowling alley and virtual reality game room the whole crew can enjoy, you’ll think you’ve gone to apartment heaven.

Read on to find out why the Upper West Side has long been—and continues to be—one of the most sought-out neighborhoods by families in New York City.

The Doc is in the house! Well, at Liberty Science Center, that is. Doc McStuffins: The Exhibit is a real-life replica of Doc’s backyard clinic where she uses her magical stethoscope to fix hurt toys. Visitors to the exhibit, inspired by the Peabody Award-winning television series, are transported to the hospital where they can help Doc McStuffins and her friends take care of all kinds of dolls, gadgets, and stuffed animals.

My 5-year-old superfan was so excited to attend the exhibit’s recent grand opening that she wore a lab coat from last year’s Halloween costume. But don’t worry, there are plenty of white coats and stethoscopes to go around at LSC so that your kiddo can help care for toy patients like a pro. Feel free to bring your own “hurt” stuffed animal from home, too.

Read on for our tour of the highly-interactive Doc McStuffins' toy hospital where young doctors-in-training can perform check-ups and diagnose toy patients, while learning about healthy habits, compassion, and nurturing care.

For suburbanites, the Tenafly Nature Center offers a special treat: the chance for a real walk in the woods, without straying too far from civilization. On a recent visit with an 11-year-old and two 8-year-olds, the intervals when we could neither see nor hear other visitors were just short enough for my comfort level and long enough to make the experience feel like an adventure for the kids.

Read on for more about this Bergen County nature preserve, and check out other New Jersey Nature Centers here.

Even if you brought a bag full of snacks to your Brooklyn Botanic Garden excursion, kids will be hungry after all that time running through the grass, collecting sticks, and chasing butterflies.

The good news is that there are plenty of family-friendly options for a bite in the nearby Crown Heights and Prospect Heights neighborhoods, many with high chairs and changing tables available. These restaurants are also close to the Brooklyn Museum, and a short walk from the Brooklyn Children's Museum and Prospect Park.