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Free activities for Kids in NYC include the Children's Museum of the Arts, which has pay-what-you-wish Thursdays from 4-6pm. Photo courtesy of the museum

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This Week: Best Things to Do Thanksgiving Weekend with NYC Kids, Where to See Santa, Cut Your Own Christmas Trees in LI and NJ

11/28/13 - By Raven Snook

There's a lot going on this holiday weekend in NYC beyond Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Our Thanksgiving and Holiday Guides are packed with plenty of ways to celebrate the season including the best places to see Santa like Macy's must-see Santaland; festive Christmas tree and menorah lightings such as the big Friday night shindig at the South Street Seaport and the kickoff weekend for the jaw-dropping Dyker Lights displays in Dyker Heights.

There's lots of holiday fun in New Jersey, Westchester, Long Island and Connecticut, too. You can cut your own Christmas trees on LI and in NJ, see amazing holiday displays in Hartford, CT and check out tips for having an eco-friendly holiday from our Boston site, some specific to the area but easily adapted for families everywhere. Our giveaway this week is also good for families everywhere: one-year subscriptions to the meal-planning service Relish. Since we're giving away 20 of them, your odds of winning are pretty good.

Here's what else we covered on the NYC site this week. We hope you and your family have a happy Thanksgiving, Hanukkah or whatever you're celebrating!

OUR LATEST VIDEOS

We kicked off the week with a sneak peek at the floats making their debut in this year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

We started overhauling our Holiday Shopping Gift Guide for the season by publishing roundups of awesome seasonal deals like discounted tickets for the New York Botanical Garden Holiday Train Show, and online retailers who donate proceeds to charity.

Meanwhile, we added posts about NYC's best Christmas tree illuminations and places to see Santa to our Holiday Fun Guide.

Wondering what to do after your Thanksgiving feast? We've got the scoop on what's open on Thanksgiving in NYC, and if you're reading this on Friday, you may want to bookmark it for next year.

Our biweekly links roundup includes news about a 2-for-1 ticket deal to Newsies on Broadway, the death of Queens graffiti mecca 5 Pointz and a new early deadline for kindergarten applications.

Best bets for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend include Jim Henson's Dinosaur Train—Live, retro rides on the MTA Holiday Season Nostalgia Trains and a handful of Hanukkah fetes on Sunday.

About the Author

Raven is a writer, editor, performer and mom, who was born and bred in NYC, just like her husband, her mother and now, her daughter. In addition to Mommy Poppins, she has written about parenting and pop culture for New York Magazine, Time Out New York, The Village Voice, the New York Post, TV Guide and SheKnows. She's also the founder of Hot Mama Burlesque, the world's only all-moms burlesque show.

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