Weekly Wrap Up: Halloween Haunted Houses, the New Children's Museum of the Arts and Pumpkin Patches Near NYC

9/29/11 - By Raven Snook

Saturday is October 1... do you know what you're doing for Halloween yet? If you've got kids then you know that the holiday lasts pretty much the entire month. In fact, a handful of annual Halloween happenings like the Bronx Zoo's Boo at the Zoo and Hudson Valley's Great Jack O' Lantern Blaze kick off this weekend. (Yes, the pressure is on.)

This week we started to update all of our Halloween posts so that we can share the most up-to-date information. We're still working on it, so if you're wondering about the various annual parades and festivals don't worry: We will have the 2011 details for you soon.

Of course we wrote about lots of other cool, non-Halloween stuff, too, like the Children's Museum of the Arts' brand-new space, which opens to the public on Saturday. Here's what we covered this week on Mommy Poppins in NYC, New Jersey, Long Island and Connecticut, as well as selected stories from our brand-new sites in Boston and Los Angeles.

OUR LATEST VIDEOS

New York City

Want to expose your tot to her first live stage show? Puppetonia was developed especially for young theatergoers.

If you're looking for a fun day trip (especially since public schools are closed Thursday and Friday this week), consider hitting a nearby pumpkin patch.

More out of town fun: Historic Hudson Valley offers four awesome Halloween experiences, including the Great Jack O' Lantern Blaze.

We chatted with prolific local children's book author and mom Charise Mericle Harper about how she does it all.

Looking for a little fearsome fun? We rounded up haunted houses for kids, from the tame to the terrifying.

Kids spending a lot of time on your iPhone or iPad? You can at least make sure they learn something with these educational apps.

If you're in the mood for some red meat, check out our picks for the best burger joints on the Upper West Side.

The best things to do this weekend include the grand opening of the new Children's Museum of the Arts, and annual favorites like Atlantic Antic, the Medieval Festival in Fort Tryon Park and the Blessing of the Animals.
 

New Jersey

Across the Hudson, autumn's on the brain. Check out a roundup of fall harvest festivals and pumpkin picking farms in the Garden State.

Our special needs writer reviews the new book Following Ezra: What One Father Learned About Gumby, Otters, Autism and Love From His Extraordinary Son.

Weekend highlights include Ridgewood Family Festival, Octoberfest in Roseland and the animal-themed Catoberfest in Ringoes.

Long Island

Over on the isle, get ready to scream! Our roundup of the best LI haunted houses is here.

Weekend events include the annual Long Island Fall Festival in Huntington, Pumpkinfest in Yaphank and the Country Fair Entertainment Park Fall Festival in Medford.


Connecticut

CT has been busy this week! If you frequent Litchfield County, you'll want to check out our roundup of 13 fun things to do with kids there this fall.

Attention math geeks: The Stepping Stones Museum for Children has a new interactive Cyberchase exhibit.

If you're looking for seasonal fun, we've got roundups of corn mazes and pumpkin patches.

Plus, we're got a list of spooky haunted train rides.

Best bets for the weekend include the annual Hawk Festival & Green Bazaar, the Haunted Graveyard at Lake Compounce and free play day at the Stepping Stones Museum for Children.

Los Angeles & Boston

If you happen to be heading to L.A. this month, our site there has great info on local apple picking farms and Halloween events for families.

And you'll find more great info up in Boston, like fall kids' culture series featuring performances and films just for families.