NYC's 8th Annual Juggling Festival!
Friday April 3- Sunday April 5, 2009
Pratt Institute, 200 Willoughby Ave, Brooklyn, NY
FREE

A three-day festival filled with juggling, workshops, games, shows, prizes, special guests, a raffle and more. Activities are appropriate for all ages and no experience is necessary. Go to watch, go to learn or check out the spectacular at the end of the festival.

Brooklyn World Record Day
Saturday, April 4, 2009
1pm - 4pm (registration begins at 12:30pm)
Brooklyn Lyceum, 227 4th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215
Admission is $5.00 per child. Proceeds will be donated.

Every kid has dreamed of breaking a world record and now's the perfect opportunity. At Brooklyn World Record Day, kids aged 7-17 will have an opportunity to break a personal record of their choosing and then work together to set a group record, the largest beatbox performance of James Brown's I Feel Good, led by pro beat boxers.

Find out more or make a reservation at BeamCamp.org

World Pillow Fight Day
On Saturday, April, 4th there will be massive pillow fights all over the world. Don't ask why, just grab an old pillow and head to Wall Street and Broad Street at 3pm. This is not a kid event and there will be thousands of people there (although moving it to Wall Street from Union Square may cut down the crowds somewhat.) I plan on going, if only to watch from the sidelines. I think kids will get a kick out of it.

Macy's Petacular Fair plus Flower Show
For another kind of mob scene, head to the Macy's Petacular where there will be a doggie fashion show, plus stage performances from Shrek, a recreation of Colonial Williamsburg and other random family-friendly activities with no other logical affiliation to a Petacular than that they were willing to pay to be there.

While you're in Herald Square, though, you might want to check out the Macy's Flower Show. You can see the full show on the Third Floor, or just take in the store windows which depict Floradora, an oversized plastic flamingo's, travels to gardens around the world. Both events are free and take place at Macy's Herald Square. The Petacular is from 11am-2pm.

Spring openings:

This weekend marks the openings of two great warm-weather destinations, Prospect Park and Coney Island, and both are having special celebrations.

This weekend the Prospect Park Carousel opens back up and there will be lots of activities to break the ark in. Besides the Little League Parade, you can go birdwatching or hiking. Find out about all the activities at prospectpark.org.

Coney Island Boardwalk Barrels of Fun
Saturday, April 4, 209, 10am-2pm

You know you're going to be going to Coney Island this summer and won't it be that much cooler to go and see the artwork that you created this weekend at the Boardwalk Barrels of Fun? This event is a community art competition that lets you paint trash receptacles on the Boardwalk with seascapes, landscapes and carnival themes. Anyone can enter and there is a category just for families. Register in advance, although they will try to accommodate late-comers. Also, Deno's Wonder Wheel Park will be opening at noon so you can get an early taste of summer fun.  Find out more and register here.

See our calendar of events for more weekend activities, also this is the first weekend of the month. Check out which museum do free first weekend events for families.