 By Kimberly Rae Miller MommyPoppins 1. Organize a Candy Hunt
Go ahead and repurpose those plastic eggs you use at Easter as "pumpkin seeds" and take kids on a Halloween candy hunt in your home, yard, or neighborhood, depending on your comfort level. 2. Costume Parade ... At a Distance March in a socially distanced costume parade. Store-bought or homemade, nothing makes kids prouder than showing off their Halloween costume. If your neighborhood has a social media page dedicated to local parents, finding participants won’t be hard at all, after all, everyone is scrambling to make Halloween 2020 memorable. 3. Halloween Party with Your Pod By now most of us have settled into our own little social bubbles. If you have a small group of friends or family you’re comfortable socializing with during the pandemic, why not throw an outdoor (Halloween masks required) party that will outshine any day of trick-or-treating, complete with a pumpkin carving contest where everyone is set up at their own station. 4. Halloween Games Play the Mummy Wrap with masks or family only, set up a round of socially-distanced, outdoor pumpkin bowling among the neighborhood kids, or choose another idea from among these 25 Halloween games for kids. 5. Halloween Movie Night Stock up on popcorn, candy, and caramel apples and enjoy a night of at-home Halloween-themed entertainment. Disney+, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu, and Freeform are all loaded with family-friendly Halloween-themed movies. Drive-in movies are also still happening around much of the country, so you could fill those plastic pumpkins with your favorite treats and go out to the movies…from the safety of your car. Our events calendars are filled with local drive-in movie options playing throughout the fall, with family-friendly favorites like Beetlejuice, Hocus Pocus, Ghostbusters, Moster House, Goosebumps, and more. 6. Secret Pumpkin Draw Draw names among friends or neighbors ahead of the big day. Drop off Halloween care packages for your littles to open on Halloween. 7. Halloween Crafts Cut out ghosts, black cats, jack-o-lanterns, and witches' hats for a spooky craft to do together at home. Make a ghoul family with toddlers or popsicle stick monsters. 8. Candy Station Not up for going door-to-door, but still want to make sure the neighborhood kids have a solid stash of sugar to get them through the fall? Create a candy station at the end of your driveway with goody bag giveaways or create a PVC candy shoot so you can deliver candy without contact. 9. Schedule a Cameo Cameo is a service that puts real people in touch with their favorite actors, musicians, or public figures for a personalized shout out. Schedule a Halloween greeting from your kids’ favorite hero/ine or bad guys, like Kathy Najimy (Hocus Pocus), Kimberly J. Brown (Halloweentown), Jonathan Freeman (the voice of Jafar in Aladdin), or even the twins from The Shining (probably more of a treat for the grown-ups). 10. Halloween Decorations Crawl Scope out all the spooky Halloween décor your neighborhood has to offer by taking the kids on a frightfully fun scavenger hunt. Whoever finds the scariest stuff wins a King Size candy bar of their choosing. 11. Zoom Costume Party If you’re keeping things contained to immediate family, consider hosting a virtual costume party with your spookiest friends or just show off to the grandparents during a Halloween night Zoom call. Challenge your crew to stay in character the whole time. 12. Tune in Virtual Halloween Parades, Concerts, and More The best part about the proliferation of virtual entertainment is that we can suddenly join in with all sorts of events taking place in far-flung locations. This Halloween, join famed children’s musician Laurie Berkner for a Virtual Family Concert and Halloween Party. Kids should sign in ready to dance and with their favorite stuffed animals in hand. Teens will thrill to participate in the famed Village Halloween Parade and Ball. It goes virtual in 2020 with a Facebook Live party for all. Young theater lovers will enjoy the cabaret of performances by New York actors, dancers, and singers. Arrive in your most fabulous costume. 13. Drive-thru Haunted House Haunted houses are so 2019. In 2020, we do haunted drive-thrus. From New York to Orlando to Los Angeles, there are drive-thru spooky fests and haunted houses happening across the country. There are some big ones in Texas, too! Visit our events listings to find local haunted roads where ghastly ghoulies guide you through their spooky surroundings. Some drive-thru haunted houses offer a mysterious theme that allows you to play detective while a dastardly deed unfolds right outside your window. 14. Drive-by Trick or Treat Plan a reverse trick-or-treating block party. Kids can hang out on their lawn in their costumes while cars drive by and throw candy from a safe distance. 15. Make Your Own Haunted House Spend the day decorating the house with your kids and encourage them to plan a night of haunted hijinks. When the sun goes down, parents, grandparents, siblings, or friends can walk through this haunted creation for an at-home haunted house. By Katie Nave MommyPoppins Drive-Thru Halloween Attractions in New York
Drive-Thru Halloween Attractions in New Jersey
Drive-Thru Halloween Attractions in Connecticut
In-person exercise classes are popping up around New York City for you to get active and some fresh air. While our Zoom classes have been amazing keeping us active indoors and mentally sane, many of us still miss being able to go to our favorite studios and work out in person with others. Luckily, many studios have adapted to the outdoors and some indoor gyms are even getting ready to welcome their members back at limited capacity. If you are looking to get out for some exercise, browse through our roundup of outdoor exercise classes.
**Please check the website for updates before heading to a class.**  Until November 1!
Six Flags Great Adventure is still bringing back the boos this Halloween with the spirited fun of HALLOWFEST, presented by Snickers®. Our haunted experiences are happening September 18 through November 1, plus October 12. The park will operate from 2 to 10 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, and from 5 p.m. with varying closing times on Friday evenings, so mark your calendars (if you dare) for the spookiest season of the year as ghouls take infiltrate the park! When leg day rolls around, it can be tempting to play it safe and stick to what you know. Squat, lunge, press, repeat. But there are a ton of other moves out there that are equally beneficial and, arguably, way more fun. Plus, we all know that a workout routine is only as good as it is varied. To really challenge our bodies and bring about change, it’s imperative that we switch things up both in the gym and at home. (It’ll also help you avoid injuries, as well as the dreaded workout boredom.) So, if you’re in need of a little inspiration, we’re happy to oblige. Here are 34 lower body exercises you can try right now. Choose a handful you love and let’s get moving.
By Robert Pozarycki AMNY
NYC's Only Corn Maze
The Amazing Maize Maze – Glen Oaks, Queens Fridays and Saturdays beginning Friday, September 18; Friday, Saturdays, and Sundays from Friday, October 2-Friday, October 30; Maze is also open on Columbus Day, Monday, October 12 Pumpkin Patches in New York City Decker Farm Pumpkin Picking Weekends – Richmond, Staten Island Weekends October 3 through October 31 Pumpkin Patch – Glen Oaks, Queens Weekends October 3 through October 25, plus Columbus Day Carnegie Diner Pumpkin Patch – Midtown West Daily through Saturday, October 31 NYC Fall Harvest Festivals Annual Harvest Festival – Upper East Side Saturday, October 17 Old Home Day – Richmond, Staten Island Sunday, October 18 Boo at the Zoo – Bronx Park, the Bronx Thursdays-Sundays, October 1-November 1, plus Monday, October 12 Seaport Cinema screens family-friendly (audience selected) films on the rooftop, featuring themed food, cocktails (for adults), and surprises throughout the season. Advance reservations are required.
1. Check for freshness — eggs last longer than you think!
The dates stamped on the carton only tell you when eggs are at peak freshness; they're fine to eat for longer than that. A true test uses a simple glass of water: Fill a pint glass or mixing bowl halfway with room temperature water and place an egg in it. If the egg stays horizontal at the bottom, it’s very fresh. If it starts to bob and tilt, it’s around 10 days old; if it floats vertically, it’s stale. Why’s this? Eggs have porous shells. So, over time, the water inside the egg starts to evaporate, and to maintain equilibrium, it takes in air. This isn’t all negative, though. Older eggs (ones that tilt) are actually great for making hard-boiled eggs, because the extra air pocket makes them easier to peel. 2. Center your yolk: A quick fix It can be frustrating to make a batch of deviled eggs and not know where the yolk will settle when you boil the eggs. When they rest on their sides during cooking, the yolks follow gravity and the whites are pushed aside, leaving thinner areas of white. After peeling and cutting the eggs in half, sometimes you’ll get broken sides of the whites that aren’t strong enough to hold the filling. To prevent this, molecular gastronomist Hervé This has a very simple solution: Just stir the eggs around in the pot a few times during cooking. A slow centrifugal force will keep the yolk from leaning one way or the other. 3. Get rid of the dreaded green ring When you make hard-boiled eggs, you’ll sometimes see a green-grey ring around the yolk. It’s harmless, but unsightly. The ring appears in over-cooked eggs when the sulfur in the egg white reacts with the iron from the yolk. It also smells a little funky — like hot springs — because of the sulfur. One way to avoid the ring is to “shock” the eggs by placing them in a large bowl of ice-cold water immediately after boiling. This will stop the cooking process right away. Another way is to reduce the intense direct heat of boiling by using a gentler cooking method. Steaming or pressure-cooking the eggs are good alternatives. Make sure the eggs are completely shocked and cooled before storing in the refrigerator for up to a week. |
