Giveaways

Being the cynical New Yorker that I am, I am not an immediate fan of all things Disney. But while the plastic-y toys and princess cartoons may leave me cold, I'm learning that there are some things that Disney does better than anyone else: creating magical experiences for kids and families.

Dear Edwina is a show about a girl who performs a musical advice column out of her family's garage. Praised for its wonderful musical numbers, the Drama Desk Award-nominated Dear Edwina's creators just won the prestigious Fred Ebb Award for Excellence in Musical Theatre Songwriting. Dear Edwina is recommended for all ages from 5 and up. Shea saw the musical  last year and she and her boys loved it. You can read her full review here.

We're giving away a family four-pack of tickets to see Dear Edwina. We also have a promotion to share.

You have until 8PM on Tuesday (Dec 8, 2009) to enter our They Might Be Giants Giveaway, but we have another tremendous giveaway today. One lucky family will win four tickets to Sesame Street Live: When Elmo Grows Up at Madison Square Garden's WaMu Theater.

Plus we have a great PROMO CODE if you want to buy tickets: Grown-ups go free!

This week is our Big Holiday Ticket Giveaway. Each day this week we'll be hosting a giveaway post for at least one show. Check every day to make sure you don't miss out on a chance to win tickets to some great shows like Sesame Street Live, Wintuk, and more. The first giveaway in our great week of Holiday Ticket Giveaways is for a They Might Be Giants Benefit Concert this weekend

One of the things I enjoy more than anything else that comes out of this blog is when I have a chance to use it to make a difference in the world. A year ago, with just one post to our readers, we helped provide over $1000 worth of school supplies for NYC children who had none. This weekend we are hosting (with A Child Grows in Brooklyn and Kidville) a toy swap which is not only going to be lots of fun, but promises to provide hundreds of toys for children this Holiday season. Now I have a new opportunity that I am very excited to be part of and you should be excited too because it involves great prizes.

New York City is filled with incredible artists and, as parents, we are lucky that many of them make their talents and their services available to families: the concert pianist who teaches children, the painters and photographers who do portraits, artist who create wonderful and imaginative murals, and lots and lots of craftspeople of every stripe. We have created a new page to help these artists connect with the families that can use their services.

This week we've been posting about fun stuff to do with your kids all summer long and giving away great prizes. But let's not forget, it's summer for grown-ups too. If you've been digging through our Summer Activity Guide, running all over the city trying to keep one step ahead of the heat and bored kid syndrome, then we have a treat for you (are you sitting down?).

We're giving away 10, count 'em, 10 dinner parties catered by Susie's Supper Club for you and nine of your friends plus the kids! What could be better for a summer evening than chilling out with friends over a meal you didn't cook (or pay for)? I can't think of anything.

We recently reviewed Sahara Sam's Oasis, a new indoor water park in New Jersey and have heard from some of you who were inspired to check it out that you enjoyed it as much as we did. So it sounded like a great prize for our summer kickoff giveaway to share Sahara Sam's with even more of you.

We're giving away a free family 4 pack of passes to Sahara Sam's Oasis. Read on for more details:

Kick off your summer with great prizes for summer fun. Our first Summer Kick-Off GIveaway is a day at Playland! We're giving away 5 family 4 packs of Playland Fun Bands this week. Read on to find out more about America's first planned amusement park and how you can win. And come back tomorrrow for our next one:

There really is no place quite like Rye Playland Amusement Park in Westchester. So close to New York City, Playland is more than an amusement park, there's also a beach on the Long Island Sound, a pool, a lake with pedal boats, a boardwalk, mini-golf, an indoor skating rink, daily entertainment and more. All those amenities just add an extra layer of fun to a day spent riding roller coasters, the log flume, ferris wheels, Super Flight, plus all the kiddie rides in Kiddieland.

The cherry blossoms have faded, but we're still enjoying their beauty thanks to the all the wonderful entries we got to the Kids of Hanami Photo Contest we ran with the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. It took us a little longer than expected to get all the entries together and pick a winner, but we finally have it done and are happy to share them with you.

Even if you didn't enter, you're going to want to watch the slideshow. The photos are beautiful (both the flowers and the adorable kids). Click through to see the slideshow and our winning picture.