Toby B

Toby is our uber-busy events editor for Mommy Poppins LA. Feel free to email Toby about events for our LA area calendar.

Latest posts by Toby

New Year's Eve Weekend in Los Angeles: Countdown to 2026

Submitted by Toby B on Tue, 12/30/2025 - 9:48am

Welcome the new year with a 12pm slime party at the SlooMoo Institute. Photo by Elaina Bellis courtesy of BFA.com

Looking for the best things to do in Los Angeles on New Year's Eve weekend to ring in 2026? Here are some events and activities to add to your list for this holiday weekend.

Get out your party hats, folks; it's time to celebrate making it through another year. When celebrating New Year's Eve with little ones, a daytime countdown like Noon Year's Eve at the Discovery Cube LA is the way to go. The New Year's Eve fireworks of Marina del Rey's New Year's Eve Fireworks + Glow Party are timed to both 9pm and midnight.

For me personally, nothing beats New Year's Eve at Disneyland for greeting the New Year with joy. And to start 2026 in the most Southern California way possible, grab a spot on Colorado Blvd to watch the Rose Parade usher in the new year with a cavalcade of flower-strewn floats: this year's Grand Marshall is LA's own Magic Johnson!

Top Free Things To Do with Kids in Los Angeles in January 2026, According to MP Editors

Submitted by Toby B on Sun, 12/28/2025 - 8:00am

Welcome the Year of the Horse at the Oshogatsu Family Festival. Event photo by Doug Mukai for JANM

Free things to do in Los Angeles always provide a nice break to your wallet after the spending spree in December, and lucky for us Angelenos, there are plenty of them in January. From walks in nature to the Oshogatsu Family Festival to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day parades and days of service, January's best events are 100% FREE! So, give your credit cards a rest while enjoying our top picks for free activities in Los Angeles with kids.

For more free things to do in Los Angeles with kids, visit these always-free, kid-friendly LA museums, discover free museum days for kids in Los Angeles, and browse our Guide to Free Things to Do in Los Angeles with Kids.

Christmas Weekend 2025 in Los Angeles Top Things To Do: Theme Parks, Holiday Concerts, and More

Submitted by Toby B on Tue, 12/23/2025 - 9:55am

Enjoy Holiday in the Park before it's gone! Photo courtesy of Six Flags

Looking for the best things to do in Los Angeles over the Christmas weekend? Here are some events and activities to add to your list for this holiday weekend.

Merry Christmas weekend, folks! The gift to us all in 2025 has been the abundance of activities to enjoy in Los Angeles, including holiday festivities, light shows, Nutcrackers, and theme park celebrations everywhere you turn. A few suggestions that'll make spirits bright over the Christmas weekend: many theme parks are open on Christmas Day, like Holidays at Disneyland Resort, so there's still time to catch these holiday favorites before they're gone for the season.

This weekend is also your last chance to ride The Southern California Polar Express Train Ride, or walk through the twinkling lights of Holiday Road Walk-Thru at King Gillette Ranch and Santa Anita's Enchant Los Angeles. However you choose to celebrate, happy holidays from all of us at Mommy Poppins!

Passport to Santa, Nochebuena Christmas Spectacular, and More Top Things To Do in Los Angeles This Weekend

Submitted by Toby B on Wed, 12/17/2025 - 12:40pm

Las Posadas is happening in DTLA this weekend, Photo courtesy of the City of Norwalk

Looking for the best things to do in Los Angeles this weekend? Here are some of our favorite events and activities to add to your list this weekend

It's the weekend before Christmas, and we are going all in on the holiday spirit. We've booked our Passport to Santa for a magical North Pole adventure to visit Santa Claus. Our holidays get a Mexican spin at the Soraya's annual Nochebuena Christmas Spectacular; this year's show welcomes Mexican actress & singer Ximena Sariñana. And we celebrate the last of Hanukkah's eight crazy nights, with menorah lighting ceremonies at Lomita City Hall, the Reagan Library, and more!

22 Best Things to Do in Los Angeles December 2025 with Kids

Submitted by Toby B on Sun, 11/30/2025 - 1:15pm

Disney on Ice: Magic in the Stars glides into DTLA. Photo courtesy of Feld Entertainment.

December brings plenty of things to do in Los Angeles with Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Year's Eve. Don’t miss our favorite kid-friendly events and activities in Los Angeles this month.

Top things to do in Los Angeles and unwrap this December include Wicked at the Pantages, Manhattan Beach Annual Holiday Fireworks Festival (snow and fireworks!), and an entire fleet of boat parades, including Dana Point's Boat Parade of Lights, and LA County's Annual Holiday Celebration. Elsa, Ariel, and Moana skate into the Southland with a new Disney on Ice show, and the Skirball's annual Hanukkah Festival kicks off the Festival of Lights in the most kid-friendly way.

To end the month in style, ring in the new year at Gloria Molina Grand Park—or let the littles have their fun at the Noon Year's Eve Party at the Southern California Children's Museum. Keep reading to discover the best things to do in Los Angeles this December.

For even more fun things to do in LA this season, check out our Holiday and Christmas Activities Guide for LA Families—which includes a roundup of the Best Holiday Lights Drive-Thrus, Walk-Thrus, and Christmas Light Shows in Los Angeles, where to see The Nutcracker and other holiday shows in LA, and more.

Best Holiday Lights Drive-Thrus and Christmas Light Shows in Los Angeles

Submitted by Toby B on Fri, 11/28/2025 - 9:33am

Enchanted: Forest of Light is one of the best holiday light displays in LA. Photo by Kathryn Rapier, courtesy of the event.

Holiday lights twinkle extra brightly in a city known for Hollywood, glitz, and glamour. Holiday light shows and Christmas light displays are all over Los Angeles. These festive light shows dazzle and get you in the holiday spirit. Stroll through immersive light displays, wander through Christmas lights in gardens, zoos, and farms, climb aboard a holiday lights train, or enjoy a Christmas light show by the water.

If that's not enough holiday lights in Los Angeles for you, festive SoCal neighborhoods go all out with their annual decorating traditions to treat Angelenos to some incredible neighborhood holiday light displays. For even more holiday fun, check out our Guide to Holiday and Christmas Events in Los Angeles.

Thanksgiving Day Weekend 2025 in Los Angeles: Parades, Turkey Trots, and More Things To Do

Submitted by Toby B on Tue, 11/25/2025 - 9:43am

Earn those Thanksgiving pies! Photo courtesy of Turkey Trot Los Angeles

Looking for the best things to do in Los Angeles on Thanksgiving Day and all Thanksgiving Day weekend? Here are some events and activities to add to your list for this long holiday weekend!

We'll go ahead and say it—we’re thankful. Our Thanksgiving weekend calendar is stuffed with activities reflecting the season's joy: Take part in a Turkey Trot, visit a flurry of holiday light displays, such as Tanaka Farm's Hikari and Holiday Road at King Gillette Ranch, or check out Grinchmas and Super Nintendo World during Holidays at Universal Studios Hollywood. To top it off, on Sunday, claim a spot on Hollywood Boulevard to watch the Hollywood Christmas Parade.

Plus, discover all the activities and events open on Thanksgiving Day, find out which restaurants are open, and check out our Thanksgiving Activities Guide for Families for crafts, movies, and even Thanksgiving jokes. Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Mommy Poppins!

16 Must-Do Christmas Events and Holiday Activities in Los Angeles for Kids

Submitted by Toby B on Fri, 11/14/2025 - 1:30am

Try sock skating at Kidspace Winter Frolic. Photo by Jamie Pham courtesy of the Museum

'Tis the season for Christmas events and holiday activities in Los Angeles! From the hundreds of Christmas events and holiday activities taking place this year, we've managed to trim our list to the top family favorites.

This year, Santa's bag is overflowing with festive fun for families in Los Angeles. This holiday season's stockings are full of theme parks dressed up in their holiday finest, traditional holiday parades, only-in-LA holiday shows, and other beloved holly jolly traditions. We can barely keep up with all the fun Christmas events and holiday activities in Los Angeles this year.

For more holiday activities, don't miss our Holiday Events and Christmas Activities Guide for Los Angeles, packed with every possible holiday and Christmas light show, Nutcracker shows, Polar Express holiday trains, outdoor ice skating rinks, and so much more.

Toby B

Latest posts by Toby

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