This Week: Free Summer Kids' Concerts, Summer Camp Deals, Focus on Riverdale

6/7/12 - By Raven Snook

We had a lot of time off from school this week to enjoy some of the cool summer attractions we've been posting about. We made funky music by touching the sculptures in Madison Square Park's interactive art installation Pet Sounds, and spent a lot of time playing at a few of our favorite water playgrounds. Considering many public schools recently cancelled the two final full days of classes, it looks like families will have even more time explore early summer fun. However, if you're a working parent in need of child care and aren't sure what you're going to do, check out our camp sale. Fifteen programs are offering discounts of up to 65% and many are in session that last week of June. Hurry: The deals end this Sunday.

If you're looking to take a day trip, our Connecticut site rounded up summer fairs and festivals in both Fairfield and Hartford Counties, and we've got more of the same on our New Jersey site. Many of the fests take place this weekend, including the famous Rubber Ducky Festival in NJ's Berkeley Heights. Here in NYC, a few free summer culture series kicked off this week, including Celebrate Brooklyn! and SummerStage, which is hosting its first Family Day in Brooklyn this Sunday.

Here's what else we shared this week on our NYC site.

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Madison Square Park is one of our favorite summer spots, but we hate waiting on the Shake Shack Line. That's why we wrote about five other great kid-friendly restaurants near the popular green space.

Speaking of Madison Square Park, its fabulous free kids' concert series kicks off next week. We've got the scoop on the bands as well as other free outdoor summer music series for children in NYC.

June is Gay Pride Month and although some celebrations are adults-only, we found a few that are kid-friendly and welcome families.

Riverdale is our neighborhood of the month and we kicked off our coverage with a list of 30 things to do in the area with kids.

If you're planning a trip on the East River Ferry, be sure to pick up a copy of our brand-new free pamphlet, Fun Off the Ferry, featuring 101 things to do with kids along the route. It's the first time Mommy Poppins has been in print and we're very proud of the way it turned out.

In honor of Hudson River Park's Pier 54, which was recently designated as a learn-to-cycle zone, we rounded up our favorite places to bike ride with kids in all five boroughs.

Got a kid obsessed with tricks? Then check out our roundup of free and cheap magic shows this summer.

We also compiled a list of top-notch karate and tae kwon do classes for kids in the city.

Best bets for the weekend include many of our annual favorites, like the art-filled Figment Festival on Governors Island, the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party in Madison Square Park and the Egg Rolls & Egg Creams Festival on the Lower East Side.