Weekend Planner: October 8-10

This week’s round-up of our
favorite family festivities starts with a friendly weather advisory: the
temperature is forecast to rise back up to the 80s! Say whaaaat? In other words, it’s time
to seize the day and enjoy all the fun this city has to offer. This time
around, we suggest venues for frolicking with pumpkins, bringing out your
creative side, and learning to love numbers. —

Fall has most of us thinking about pie non-stop (you too?), and this
weekend offers plenty of options for getting the entire brood into a pumpkin
mood. If carving out an entire jack o’ lantern seems like a a wee bit too much
work, kids can still tap into their artistic juices at Paint–a–Pumpkin at Moomah. Not in the pumpkin spirit? Paint a
haunted house or craft some monster hands and feet instead. For the best of
both worlds, the Haunted Pumpkin Garden at the New York Botanical Garden–with a scary puppet show, frightening
scarecrows and pumpkin playhouse–marries spooky fun with our love for the
yummiest fall gourd. Gourmand groups will love Sunnyside Gardens Park’s Octoberfest, Pumpkin Patch, and Craft Fair featuring German food in a typically
members-only space.

With Halloween approaching, we’re probably all thinking
about dressing up, too, but not all costumes have to be spooky. 92Y Tribeca’s Princess Katie & Racer Steve‘s Dress Up Jam! Family Concert is all about getting quirky and getting your
groove on–so come in your finest and strangest. Animal lovers can celebrate
their beloved pets at the Pet Parade in Hudson River Park, where your fluffy (or not-so-fluffy)
friend has a chance to win a best-dressed prize if they can’t take home gold
for their best pet trick.

As always, we also love a good dose of educational fun. The “Math Midway” exhibit at the Liberty Science Center makes
numbers fun this weekend with 21 interactive displays. Get creative and
creative a pen-and-ink drawing with a mechanical harmonograph or play with
plastic polyhedra and see that geometry doesn’t have to induce yawns. Math can
be fabulous, we promise!

Finally, there’s only one week left until the annual New Parents Expo,
the biggest event of the year for expecting parents and parents with infants
and toddlers. From expert panels to stroller test drives, the expo covers
everything you need to know until the preschool years. Get your tickets now and
use discount code NYFAM101 to get 20% off!