Sally Chaffin Brooks

Latest posts by Sally Chaffin Brooks

Best Outdoor Restaurants in Queens for Kids and Families

Submitted by Sally Chaffin Brooks on Mon, 06/23/2025 - 11:46am

Start your day with brunch in the sun or wind down with dinner under the stars at Veranda.

Nothing beats dining at an outdoor restaurant in the warmer months, especially with kids in tow, and in family-friendly Queens, there are plenty of spots where you can enjoy alfresco eats. We don't mean a sidewalk table or two—we're talking an actual yard with ample seating and room for families to enjoy a meal. Outdoor restaurants often provide a more relaxed atmosphere, where kids can be entertained by simple pleasures like a passing butterfly or flowers on a nearby plant, and city noises offer cover for little ones who may forget to use their indoor voices.

We've highlighted several Manhattan eateries with outdoor seating options in the past and a whole slew of outdoor restaurants in Brooklyn, as well as exceptional spots where kids and families can eat and play. Read on to take a closer look at our picks for the best outdoor restaurants in Queens with backyards for kid-friendly dining.

Easy Pumpkin Carving Ideas and Pumpkin Carving Stencils for Halloween

Submitted by Sally Chaffin Brooks on Tue, 10/01/2024 - 12:33pm

Which pumpkin carving idea will you choose? Spooky or sweet?

Halloween kicks off with your best pumpkin carving idea... The cornerstone of any great Halloween display—the jack-o'-lantern—is always one of our favorite things to do with kids in the fall, right after the apple picking and a pumpkin patch outing. Pumpkin carving is one of those rare activities that every member of the family can enjoy: little kids love the mess, big kids love the chance to wield a knife, and parents love to show off latent creative skills. From easy to timely to spooky pumpkin carving ideas, we’ve rounded up 20 of our favorite pumpkin carving stencils, all of which include a link to the FREE pumpkin carving stencil design.

Be sure to check out our Halloween Guide for loads more ideas for Halloween fun: We've got over 100 ideas for kids' Halloween costumes, scarily funny Halloween jokes for kids, Halloween movies for the whole family, and so much more.

And for Halloween activities near you, check out our Local Halloween Fun & Activities Guide!

Baby Shark Live! Tour Hits the Stage This Fall

Submitted by Sally Chaffin Brooks on Thu, 08/01/2019 - 2:08pm

Join the Baby Shark gang at its first live show, opening in October. Image courtesy of Pinkfong

Baby Shark Live!, a stage show based on that viral earworm of a song, is gearing up for a U.S. tour, hitting a city near your family this fall. Just in time for shark week, tickets for this fully-immersive concert are now on sale. We suspect seats will be going fast in cities such as Philadelphia, Boston, and NYC.

So what are you and your kiddos doo doo doo doo doo doo-ing this fall? The very first Baby Shark Live! tour will initially stop in over 30 cities and eventually 100. It's presented by the geniuses behind the sensational song, South Korean educational brand Pinkfong, and Round Room Live, the company behind Yo Gabba Gabba Live and PJ Masks Live. As if we all didn’t already have the insanely catchy song permanently stuck in our heads, there's definitely no hope for us now!

11 Queens Water Playgrounds and Sprinkler Parks

Submitted by Sally Chaffin Brooks on Fri, 07/05/2019 - 1:00pm

Rockaway Beach's 30th Street Playground is a refreshing blast on a hot day. Photo courtesy of NYC Department of Parks & Recreation

Let’s face it, sometimes you just don’t want to live by the schedule of open swim hours at your local NYC pool. Sometimes you just want to tire your kids out so they sleep until 6 (or even 7) in the morning. And sometimes you just want to relax outdoors with iced coffee and a book, but your children aren’t as into that idea as you are. This is why water playgrounds were invented...we're pretty sure, anyway.

While we already have profiled some of the top water playgrounds in other parts of the city as well as some of the top fountains for splashing, we can't forget our Queens families. So in the interest of parenting solidarity we’ve put together a list of eleven spraygrounds and water playgrounds in Queens. They’re all FREE, and as an added bonus most usually have an ice cream truck in the area—for the children, of course, totally for the children.

Check out our NYC Beaches, Pools, and Water Parks Guide for more summer splashing, or our Summer Fun Guide for more seasonal activities for the kids.

Crazy Awesome Pool Floats for Kids and Babies This Summer

Submitted by Sally Chaffin Brooks on Thu, 06/13/2019 - 10:42am

A unicorn float makes time in the pool extra fun!

Long gone are the days of the boring rectangular pool float that popped almost as soon as you finally filled it with air. Today's kids can hit the pool with a fabulous float in almost any design they can imagine, from the Millennium Falcon to a giant slice of pizza to adorable unicorn floats. The best part? Parents can order these pool toys all online and have them delivered right to your doorstep. Check out our list of 11 crazy awesome pool floats for babies, kids, and teens in the summer.

Find all the summer fun near you in your local Summer Fun Guide, and more great ways to cool down this summer in our Beaches, Lakes, and Pools Guides.

The Top Baby Names of the Next Decade Are Here

Submitted by Sally Chaffin Brooks on Tue, 11/13/2018 - 9:41am

Picking out a name is one of your first parenting milestones. Photo via Bigstock

Doesn’t everyone wish for a crystal ball during the baby naming process? Aren't we all looking for that perfectly unique but not too weird baby name? Just us?

Well, Nameberry.com just released its list of the baby names it expects to be the most popular in 2028. So get ready all you expecting parents! Pull up a chair and scroll through this futuristic list to see which baby girl and baby boy names are rising to the top in the next decade—and which are tanking. For those who have already gone through the baby naming milestone, Nameberry's list might just give you a hint as to whether or not your little Olivia or Oliver will be sitting next to half a dozen other kids who share their name come schooltime.

Disney Princess Subscription Boxes Arrive Just Before Holidays

Submitted by Sally Chaffin Brooks on Mon, 11/12/2018 - 11:08am

Disney has just launched a brand-new princess subscription box filled with tiaras, tulle — and fairy tales, of course. With the holidays right around the corner, and many kids (not just ours, right?) already working up their wish lists, we suspect this latest, kid-targeted subscription service will land at the top of a few most-wanted toys' lists.

Promising to deliver this Disney magic straight to your favorite princess-loving kid’s door for either a year, six months, or month-to-month, the first boxes will make it in time for Christmas delivery, we're told.

How to Get the Most Out of a Nanny or Babysitter Interview

Submitted by Sally Chaffin Brooks on Mon, 08/06/2018 - 4:02pm

Prepare in advance for your caregiver interview with key questions about expectations, fit, and experience.

Whether you’ve found them through personal recommendations, a nanny agency, a local parenting website, or even a chance encounter at the playground, you’ve narrowed your potential-Mary-Poppins list down to a few great choices. Now it’s time to conduct the in-person interviews. But can you really figure out, in one meeting, which caregiver will be the best fit for your kids—and for you? With preparation and some self-reflection, you can use a caregiver interview to help decide whether this is someone you feel not just comfortable with, but excited about. Read on for the top eight interview questions to ask in a caregiver interview.

Latest posts by Sally Chaffin Brooks

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