FrugalNYC's ZulaWorld Giveaway!

Welcome back to another FrugalNYC Giveaway!

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The Number Generator has spoken, the winners announced in the last comment of this post

This one is for the kids, literally!  Well you adults can enjoy it too if you like spending some time with the kids.  If you have young children or have close relatives with young children, you likely have seen The Zula Patrol on TV.  It is an educational show and I've watched several episodes with my little ones.

ZulaWorld.com, is the new, out of this world, virtual destination being launched into orbit by the same masterminds who bring you The Zula Patrol hit TV series.  Developed in conjunction with IBM, at ZulaWorld.com, kids ages 5 and older, along with their parents and caregivers can enjoy interacting with other like-minded earthlings online in this new virtual world just for them!  In Zula’s unique universe, kids can create their own avatar, fly their own spaceship, and discover for themselves that when it comes to science, exploring is never boring.



The Prize

A copy of the latest The Zula Patrol DVD AND a one month VIP Membership to ZulaWorld.com

The Rules

The Rules are simple, just leave a comment on this post and tell us:

• How long you have been reading FrugalNYC and how it's helped you.
• Have you heard of The Zula Patrol before reading this post.

You can earn extra entries by tweeting about this post and putting a #frugalnyc hashtag on the tweet.  Each day you tweet, will give you an extra entry.

Make sure you send an email to FrugalNYC so we can contact you when you win.

There will be 3 winners!  Tell your friends and children's friends, they can all enter and win!

The winners will be chosen by random.org once again, and it will be announced on Friday Oct 2, 2009 here on FrugalNYC blog and via Twitter.

For additional links to frugal tips and tricks follow me on Twitter. If you would like to contribute to FrugalNYC in any way feel free to contact me via email.  Click here to add FrugalNYC to your RSS reader or Subscribe to FrugalNYC by Email.

Reading And Eating

Summer means children are out of school. Kids love it, parents - not so much. The summer means parents need to keep their children busy with activities. It also means that many working families have to spend a little bit more money feeding their kids. Luckily NYC has helpful resources for both Reading and Feeding.

The Summer Reading program is a welcome resources for educators, parents and to those who just love to read. The website is one resource to suggest book lists and other related helpful information, but I feel that children of all ages and adults should head to their local Library and take part in it socially as well. Many of the libraries hold special events related to the program. My daughter signed up for the summer reading program and even received a little toy from the librarian ;) To find out more, head to your local library or check out their website.

Many of you may already know about NYC's summer food program, sponsored by the NYC Department of Education. The program essentially gives children access to free breakfast and lunch from June 29, 2009 through August 28, 2009 this year. To find out where your the closest school site that offers this program, you can call 311 or click on this link.

Be a good parent and feed your children's body and mind this summer! These resources are free. I you have found this information helpful, please share this information with anyone who you think will benefit.

For additional links to frugal tips and tricks follow me on Twitter. If you would like to contribute to FrugalNYC in any way feel free to contact me via email. Click here to add FrugalNYC to your RSS reader or Subscribe to FrugalNYC by Email.

Photo courtesy of D'Arcy Norman

Free Games That Children Play

If you enjoyed my post 7 Super Duper Games For Free and you have young children, you'll love this post!

I have seen many children in the Queens Public Library's Flushing branch play many of these games. Each time I visit the library, I see a new game being played by young children. The waiting list for computer use, mostly for these games, can be a long time. In order to play your children must sign up with their own Queens Public Library card, you can apply for it for free if you are a NYC resident.

Below are a list of sites that contain children's games I have found thus far. So instead of waiting to play them in the library, which many kids opt to do, for the company, you can let them play in the comfort of your own home. I will update this post when I come across new sites or if you add comments to this post with them.

• Nick Jr. Games - You’ll find games with characters such as Dora The Explorer, Go Diego Go, Blues Clues, Wonder Pets, Miss Spider, Ni Hao Kai Lan and many other Nick Jr. Characters.
• PBS kids games - You’ll find games featuring famous characters like Big Bird, Clifford, Curious George and many others.
• Qubo games - Qubo is a 24/7 Children's television network. You can find it on channel 31-2 on DTV. On this site, you will find characters such as Vegetales, 3-2-1 Penguins, Babar, The Zula-Patrol and others.
• Sesame Street Games - You’ll find games for some of your favorite Sesame street Characters such as Elmo, Zoe, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Bert and many others.

For additional links to frugal tips and tricks follow me on Twitter. If you would like to contribute to FrugalNYC in any way (guest posts, articles, ideas, interesting links, advice, financial assistance, or anything else), feel free to contact me via email. Click here to add FrugalNYC to your RSS reader or Subscribe to FrugalNYC by Email.

Screenshot from Nick Jr. website

Happy Lunar (Chinese) New Year 2009!

To all who celebrate Chinese New Year, I wish you a happy and prosperous New Year. It is the year of the OX and depending on which records you look at (according to Wikipedia) it could be "Chinese Year" 4707, 4706, or 4646.

There are many Chinese New Year festivities going on today in NYC and you can find a good deal of information for what's going on in Flushing today on about.com. You can also find more festivities in Manhattan. Celebrations in China and many other countries who observe the Holiday is held from the first to the 15th of the Lunar New Year.

If you have online resources you would like to share with us, please leave a comment with the links. Happy Chinese New Year! For additional links to frugal tips and tricks follow me on Twitter. If you would like to contribute to FrugalNYC in any way (guest posts, articles, ideas, interesting links, advice, financial assistance, or anything else), feel free to contact me via email. Click here to add FrugalNYC to your RSS reader or Subscribe to FrugalNYC by Email.


Photo from Wikipedia

Winter Jam NYC 2009 - Free Skiing!

This year Winter Jam NYC will be held on Saturday February 7, 2009 from 11 am - 4 pm at East River Park! Last year this event took place in Central Park. This event gives New York City's residents a chance to enjoy winter sports and other activities for FREE! So bring your kids and enjoy a day of free winter sports and other activities!

Activities include:

• Sledding
• A snowboarding competition
• Snowshoeing and cross-country skiing
• A snowman making contest
• Live music and many other activities

You can find out some additional details here.

Directions by Subway:

• Take the F or V to 2nd Avenue – Lower East Side, walk East on Houston, and cross the pedestrian bridge into East River Park.
• Or you can take the F, J, M, Z to Essex Street – Delancey Street, walk North on Essex, walk East on Houston, and cross pedestrian bridge into East River Park.

Hope you see you all there! If you were at last year's event, please share your experience in the comments. For additional links to frugal tips and tricks follow me on Twitter. If you would like to contribute to FrugalNYC in any way (guest posts, articles, ideas, interesting links, advice, financial assistance, or anything else), feel free to contact me via email. Click here to add FrugalNYC to your RSS reader or Subscribe to FrugalNYC by Email.

Photo by Jenny Downing

7 Frugal Ideas For Winter Fun With Kids

New York City has had its share of snow this winter. The cold weather can keep kids indoors most of the winter, and kids can get restless. Below are some ideas to keep your pre-school kids busy during the winter time. I've used most of these to some success and the variety of activities should keep most young children entertained for a little while. Older children may or may not take to these activities, let me know how it works out for you. Spending time with your children can help build their self confidence levels. I hope you are all doing your part in building the confidence in our future generations.

Without further ado, here are the ideas:

1. Crafts - Sock puppets, paper bag puppets, origami, are just the beginning. Kids have wonderful imaginations, just give them a bunch of cups and spoons and they can play restaurant owner for hours!
2. Puzzle books - My daughter has borrowed several puzzle books from the library recently. She loves them! We also have a crafts book that contains lessons in the alphabet and related activities she can work on. These activities include cutting out shapes, gluing, coloring, connect the dots, among others.
3. Baking and Cooking- Recently I decided to try making some noodles from scratch. Of course my daughter wanted to get her hands on some dough as well. Giving her a handful of dough kept her busy while I worked on my noodle making skills :)
4. Snuggling - Kids love to have one and one time with their parents, at least mine do. I have a feeling your young children also likes to have one on one time with you as well. Snuggling, hugging, or any close contact sport with the little ones can keep them happy and engaged. You'll run out of energy before they do, so you may want to use one of the other activities.
5. Watching movies / TV Shows - I have found the best shows for a pre-K child are on PBS. I've had great success with shows like Arthur, Caillou, Clifford, Curious George, Dora, Maya and Miquel, Sasame Street and many others. You can get most of these free over the air, or via your cable. Search for your PBS show times here.
6. Paint, Draw and Color - My daughter loves Dora the Explorer and Nick Jr. has some printable items for free. You can purchase a coloring book for a dollar at your local dollar store or discount store. This is great for kids who love to doodle and draw. A cheaper alternative is to just give your kids your used paper, the blank side makes for great scribbling paper!
7. Blanket Forts (caves) - My daughter loves to get under the sheets and play hide and seek under the sheets. Share some "quality time" with your kids and play with them under the sheets, it may bring out the kid in you as well!

Some ideas came from ABC2News' article by Sara Noel. All these activities require you to spend time with your kids, which I hope all you parents out there are doing. For additional activities, you can check out this blog post on KidCity Blog for free things to do with your Kids this winter! Thanks for contacting me with that tweet @nyc_mom!

What are your favorite indoor activities for kids? Share them with us in the comments. For additional links to frugal tips and tricks follow me on Twitter. If you would like to contribute to FrugalNYC in any way (guest posts, articles, ideas, interesting links, advice, financial assistance, or anything else), feel free to contact me via email. Click here to add FrugalNYC to your RSS reader or Subscribe to FrugalNYC by Email.

Photo by suneko

Five Great Reasons To Start Walking Today

Photo courtesy of Nattu

I'm still recovering from my cold. Thank you to all those who have wished me well and to Julie Cohen, from Vicks, who saw my post and sent me DayQuil and NyQuil! While I'm recovering from this cold, I started to think about walking and its many benefits. I walk for many reasons, among them are: to keep healthy, lower my travel costs, photography and numerous others. I walk about 5 to 10 miles on a weekly basis, which includes my weekly commute to and from work (I take mass transit). Sometimes I walk much more than this. Even doing the minimum 5 miles a week adds up to 260 miles walked yearly. By my estimates, I walk closer to 500 miles a year. Even if I only walked 260 miles yearly, it is still more than what the average American does. In a recent study about obesity rates, it has been found that countries with active commuters (walking, biking and mass transit) tend to have lower obesity rates. I think this is another reason why we should all take up walking.

To give you all the reasons why you should start walking, it would take a book, even a volume of books. So I will list five reasons to get you started.

Walk for your Health

Walking is a great way to start your excercise routine. Brisk walking can get your blood circulating and is a great way to warm up your muscle before other more strenuous excercises. How much you should walk depends on your current health status. Before starting any excercise regimen, you should check with your doctor, especially if you are concerned about your health. If you consider yourself healthy, start small and add more distance on a regular basis. On a recent post, I wrote about how I do brisk walking, about 8 times around a track field. This is nothing to those of you who are more fit, and this may be too much for those who are not used to walking regularly. The key is to start walking and keep at it. Like all good habits, be it for health or other aspects of your life, the key to success is starting and keeping at it.


Walk To Save On Travel Costs

Another great reason to walk, is to save money on your travel costs. If you are used to walking regularly, then walking five or ten blocks to your local supermarket or drugstore is not a problem. If you are not used to walking, perhaps it's time to get started on a healthy and more economical habit. Walking will save wear and tear on your automobile and any monetary costs associated with maintaining it. If you take public transportation to get to destinations under half a mile away, perhaps you can think about walking instead. In some circumstances, it may be faster than public transportation.


Walk To Reach Your Destination Faster

I've had occasions when I waited for a bus for half an hour. This is in my NYC neighborhood, usually on a weekend or late in the evenings. If you just missed a bus and need to get only a few blocks away, it is usually faster to walk. I've seen people who use the bus to get to the subway station during rush hour. They live only 2 blocks from the subway station, yet they wait for packed bus after bus, to take them to the subway station. I would just walk the two blocks and get to my destination faster.


Walk To Improve Your Relationships

In the movie "Click
", Adam Sandler plays a your typical guy who wants to skip through the inconveniences of life. When he gets sick, he fast forwards, when he gets into an argument he pushes the fast forward button. At the end of the movie, he realizes he has skipped through some of the best parts of his life. Don't be like his character in Click! Many people talk about lack of time to spend with their loved ones. We are a modern society that makes work number one and family often comes second. We should do everything we can to improve our relationships and walking is one of the best ways this can be done. Instead of jumping in a car or waiting in line for a bus, walk! Walking with a friend or family and having a meaningful conversation, or even just a relaxing one, is one of the best ways to improve your relationships. Often you will get to your destination before you know it, time flies when you are in the middle of a good conversation. When was the last time you walked for 20 minutes with your husband/wife/girlfriend/boyfriend? This may even give the two of you time to relax and forget about everything else. It doesn't matter if you are walking to exercise or walking to get to a common destination, having company during your walk is sure to improve and strengthen your walking habits, not to mention your relationships. So why don't you take half an hour this weekend and walk with your husband/wife?


Walk To Improve Your Photography

Taking life at a slower pace can make it more enjoyable, this can show in the results of your photography. Whether you are taking up photography as a hobby or if it is your profession, you will end up with better photos if you take the time to notice the details. Focusing on your subject and studying it before snapping the photo can do wonders to improve your photography. This is especially true for novice photographers, such as myself. Take the time to walk and study your surroundings, you will develop your photographic eye as you walk and study your subject from various angles.

There you have it, five great reasons to start walking today! I'm sure many of you have your own great reasons to start walking. Please share your thoughts in the comments. I hope you have enjoyed this post. Thanks for visiting. Follow me on Twitter for additional links to Frugal tips and tricks. If you would like to contribute to Frugal NYC in any way, articles, ideas, posts, interesting links, advice, financial assistance, or anything else, feel free to contact me via email. Click here to add this to your RSS reader.

Our Visit To The Queens Zoo

Photo courtesy of law_keven

Last Saturday, December 6, 2008, started out as usual. I took my wife and older daughter to Chinese school. I made use of the 2-3 hours by reading and doing some excercises, not to mention a bite to eat from Carnation Bakery. I wanted to finish reading The Gargoyle, so I sat in the car to read for the first hour or so. I read up to the final chapter, but decided to stop. It was getting cold, I decided a bit of physical excercise would help. I walked to the nearby track field in front of the school and started doing my 8-lap brisk walk. When I finished all 8 laps, I felt warmer, and class was about to end for my wife and daughter.

My wife wanted to do something, so I suggested we visit the Queens Zoo. Since we were in Flushing, it was not very far away. We picked up some food and then drove to the Queens Zoo. Since it was my first time there, I got a little lost. After about 10 minutes of back and forth on the streets, I found my way down 111th street in Flushing, Queens. We found the parking lot that was adjacent to the zoo and parked there.

Until now, we have visited all the other NYC zoos, except the Queens zoo. We've been to the Bronx zoo, Central Park zoo, Prospect Park zoo, The New York Aquarium (where our 2008 zoo adventures all began), and now the Queens zoo. Its ironic that I've lived most of my life in Queens and this is the first time I have visited the Queens zoo.

Cost

Visiting the Queens zoo is not even that expensive. Adult admission is $6 and children's tickets are only $2. Children under 3 years get in for free, and seniors 65+ get in for $2.25. Admission includes a map of the zoo plus a red decoder card that helps explain what you are seeing at some of the exhibits. Since we are members of the WCS, our admission was free. I have mentioned it before but its worth repeating, I encourage you and your family to join the WCS. Membership will help enable your family visit the NYC zoos more often and also help fund the preservation of animals all around the world.

What You Will Find

So what animals can you find at the Queens zoo? Surprisingly, more than I thought I would find. The first exhibit we saw were the ducks. This stood out for me because I saw many mallard ducks that I'm used to seeing, but among them was one white feathered one. So I did what many people would do, I took a photo snapshot. We moved on to see what I thought was a bobcat, but it turned out to be a lynx. We visited some pumas, then noticed an exhibit about extinct animals, the dodo bird was among them. Next came an aviary that stood out, it was a spiraling path that led up, twisted around like a pretzel and then came back down. You can view many species of birds while walking along this spiraling path, watch out for bird droppings! We also saw pumas, bears, sea lions, among other animals. Then we walked over to the domestic animals section to do some feeding, the animals, not ourselves. We left the zoo happy but cold, which may have been the trigger for my current condition.

Location

The Queens zoo is located at 53-51 111th Street in Flushing, NY 11368. It is open 365 days a year, you can find the hours of operation on this page. As of today, it is open 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Do you love animals? Would you like your children to experience the joy of seeing animals in real life, not just in books and museums? I encourage you to join or contribute to the WCS. If you are a member of other wildlife groups, feel free to chime in and make yourself heard in the comments. I hope you enjoyed this post. Thanks for visiting, follow me on Twitter for additional links to tips and tricks. If you would like to contribute to Frugal NYC in any way, articles, ideas, posts, interesting links, advice, financial assistance, or anything else, feel free to contact me via email. Click here to add this to your RSS reader.

10 Frugal Things To Do This Winter In NYC

Photo courtesy of Lida Rose

Sure, winter is a cold and you may not want to be outside. Most people tend to do less, and stay indoors during the winter. However, New Yorkers usually don't let the weather stop them from doing what they want. Whether you are a New Yorker or you are visiting NYC, if you are looking for ideas on things to do this winter, you've come to the right place! Most people are on a much tighter budget these days due to the downturn economy, I've listed ten things you can do this winter and hope you can contribute to this list in the comments!

1. Ice Skating at Bryant Park - It's free, its fun and its excercise! Need I say anymore?
2. Take a Stroll in one of the venues mentioned in my Central Park Series . Today may be a good day for those wishing to visit Central Park's Strawberry Fields, since it is the 28th anniversary of when John Lennon was shot.
3. Visit Gracie Mansion and enjoy a walk at Carl Schurz Park by the East River
4. Visit Grand Central Station at 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue, there are many shops and kids love to see Trains! Many events take place there, check them out.
5. Start taking winter photos throughout the city. Winter brings certain charm and is a great time for Black and White photos, especially when it snows.
6. Take a free ride on the Staten Island Ferry. You can relax for an hour during your back and forth ride and take a break from the fast pace of NYC.
7. Visit a Library, read, borrow DVDs and attend events at the libraries. See my post about Libraries for more details.
8. Take a break from work and chores and pick a good DVD. I highly recommend It's a Wonderful Life (60th Anniversary Edition)
9. Visit Rockefeller Center, there are many events there this time of year! Take a picture of your family by the Christmas tree, I do this nearly every year - it's a great keepsake and memory.
10. Visit the Sony Wonder Technology Lab with your kids! As I mentioned before in my post 10 Free Places to Visit In NYC Today, this is a great visit for those who are interested in technology's history and future.

This is my list of ten things to do this winter in NYC. What are your favorite things to do in the winter time? What are some of your suggestions? Let us know in the comments! Thanks for visiting, follow me on Twitter for additional links to tips and tricks. If you would like to contribute to Frugal NYC in any way, articles, ideas, posts, interesting links, advice, financial assistance, or anything else, feel free to contact me via email. Click here to add this to your RSS reader.

5 Ways To Reuse That Chinese Takeout Soup Container

Photo courtesy of Ned Raggett


5 Ways To Reuse That Chinese Takeout Soup Container

I'm a bit of a pack rat and tend to save things that have potential use to them. One such item is the soup container. There are numerous potential uses for these containers and they don't take up too much space to store. Since you can stack them up inside each other there is minimal storage that's needed for these containers. I have quite a few of these containers at home and we tend to put leftovers in them. They are very sturdy and can be used for many things aside from holding soup and left overs. I'll give you some ideas on what other purposes these containers I use them for.

1. Use them as molding bins for building sandcastles at playgrounds and the beach
2. Store sugar in them for the short term, instead of leaving your sugar in the original paper bag.
3. Store leftovers after a meal
4. Use them to scoop water into bigger pails, buckets, pots and pans.
5. Use them as bath toys for young kids. Kids love to scoop water around during a bath and the containers play well with the rubber duckies.

What uses do you have for your Chinese soup containers? Let us know in the comments. Follow me on Twitter for additional links to tips and tricks. If you would like to contribute to Frugal NYC in any way, articles, ideas, posts, interesting links, advice, financial assistance, or anything else, feel free to contact me via email.

Holiday Stress For Kids

This was a tip I received from my Centrum mailing list. I thought it was a nice short tip for those with kids. The upcoming holidays may be hard on many families due to the current economic situations. Sit tight and do your best, things will work out for you. Here's the tip.

Holiday Stress for the kids.

With all the excitement and anticipation, kids can stress out over the holidays, too. But you can help them cope if you stick to normal routines as much as possible (that includes regular mealtimes) and remember to share lots and lots of hugs and laughs.

Who's that at the dinner table?

Holiday feasts can mean stress for kids if they have to meet lots of new people. To help them feel more relaxed, show them pictures of or tell them stories about any unfamiliar guests. Then when they do meet Aunt Alice or cousin Fred, the kids will feel more comfortable.

Thanks for visiting regularly. If you have other tips to reduce stress for kids or the kids at heart, let us know in the comments.

6 Keys To Building Self Confidence In Children

Photo courtesy of Kris Litman

As a parent of young children, I have learned how important it is to teach them to be confident in themselves. Most children are curious from birth, they start learning senses and as soon as they are mobile and they will explore EVERYTHING. At this point, many children are held back for their own safety or other reasons. You don't want them to get hurt, so you say "don't do that". After a while a some children will be less prone to explore, for fear of disapproval.

You want your children to grow up with as few restrictions as possible. You want them to succeed in life. This is why it is so important to instill self confidence as they learn from a young age. Below are six keys to building confidence in children. They are a starting point for you to help your children start life in the positive direction.

1. Let your child know you love them. Children and even adults often need reassurances. Doing this from a young age will help them overcome any future hurdles in their emotional development.
2. Form a close bond. Allow your child to form an attachment to you.
3. Be a good model for self-esteem, don't put yourself down. Always practice what you preach.
   
4. Praise effort as much as results. You need to do this so children are not afraid to fail. Failure is a part of life, what is important is to learn from the failures and build upon the experience toward future success.
5. Identify and recognize special talents. Everyone likes to feel special. Knowing you can do something others cannot can help boost your confidence when faced with hurdles in life.
6. Find a distinguishing trait and praise it. Make them feel special. Building upon number five, knowing you have a special talent may not be enough. You need to build a habit of praising children and yourself for the special trait or talent you have identified. Constant reminders will keep you from falling into an emotional slump.

Do you have other tips for building self confidence in Children? What are your experiences with teaching children? You can find parent to parent advice on Minti. Hope you have found this post helpful. What are some of your suggestions? Let us know in the comments! Thanks for visiting, follow me on Twitter for additional links to tips and tricks. If you would like to contribute to Frugal NYC in any way, articles, ideas, posts, interesting links, advice, financial assistance, or anything else, feel free to contact me via email. Click here to add this to your RSS reader.

ParentJobNet

I attended a Parent meeting a few days ago regarding Gifted and Talented programs in the NYC area. I saw a sign with a website and got curious. Its called ParentJobNet and its a non-profit organization aimed at helping parents connect with job and other opportunities.

Below is from their website's about page:
ParentJobNet is the only known school-based and community networking program and job
preparation program for parents and caregivers. A 501(c)3 non-profit organization, ParentJobNet is based in and operated by NYC parents. It supports parents in their everyday professional and personal life situations.

Cost
This program is FREE to all parents and caregivers.

How Do Parents Benefit?
Parents benefit through our free job posting network, networking programs, job preparation and
development workshops, ESL classes, e-newsletter, and other job-related resource to:

• Connect with job opportunities
• Help find jobs
• Build contacts or get referrals
• Find candidates
• Promote talents/advance professionally
• Explore new career fields
• Access job and career resources
• Help improve everyday work-life
• Lend a helping hand to other parents
• Donate or exchange merchandise
• And much more....

So if you are a parent, and are looking for another way to network or find a job. This might be a good place to check. Taking an active part in your child's life and education is important and this is an opportunity that may help you further that as well.

Are you a member of ParentJobNet? If so, please tell us your experience being a member.

Free Ice Skating

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The Pond at Bryant Park, is back this year! It's the first and only free ice skating rink in NYC. The Pond is one of NYC's best frugal destinations. You can enjoy a day of family skating, celebrate the holidays, or join in the many special events and ice activities, The Pond will be a favorite destination to many.

Dates and Hours:
Open daily October 24, 2008 - January 25, 2009
General Admission is FREE
Skate Rentals: $12

You can get to The Pond via subway (B, D, F, V) and MTA busses. Have you been to The Pond? Share your experience with us! Which ice skating rink in NYC do you like best?

Recipe - Pumpkin Seed

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I went pumpkin picking with my daughter a few weeks ago. She loved the experience at the Queens County Farm Museum. We went on a hayride, she milked a cow and saw many other farm animals. At the end of the visit, we went to the pumpkin patch (just a stack of pumpkins) and picked out a pumpkin!

What to do with the pumpkin? Eat it! My wife cooked the pumpkin in a sweet soup and we roasted the seeds. We sat around a table talking and reading while eating the seeds, its a great family activity.

To cook the pumpkin seeds:

• Cut open the pumpkin, remove the seeds and wash out the stringy core.
• Let seeds dry (optional). We boiled the seeds for a little while to help it cook.
• Add salt or other flavorings that you like.
• Heat Oven or toaster over to 400 degrees.
• Toast in over for about 20 minutes or until shells are slightly dark.

Enjoy over a nice Fall time conversation! Here is another toasted pumpkin seed recipe I like or you can search Google for Pumpkin Seed Recipe. Have you been pumpkin picking? What other fall activities have you been involved in? Have you visited the farm museum? If so, share your experience!

Diana Ross Playground

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I've been in the neighborhood of the Diana Ross Playground, but I've never gone into the playground. It is located in a very nice area and is definitely worth a visit. From all the descriptions I've gathered, I'm tempted to make a visit in the near future. Most likely I will visit next summer. Have any of you out there been to this playground with your kids? Now on to post!

The Diana Ross Playground is located in Central Park near the corner of West 81st Street and Central Park West. It is at the foot of Summit Rock, the highest natural elevation in Central Park, at 141.8 feet from sea level. To the east, is Tanner's Spring, one of two remaining natural springs in the park. I've yet to discover a spring at Central Park, so I will be looking for the spring upon my visit.

It is named after Diana Ross, the recording artist. She donated several hundred thousand dollars toward the re-building of this playground in the 1980s. The playground is equipped with wood climbing structures, tire swings, a tube slide, a corkscrew slide, and a mushroom water spray. It is open from 7:30am to dusk. You can find a picture of the playground from boldt.us and Central Park 2000 websites.

References: Wikipedia, Central Park 2000, Central Park Conservancy

Have you visited any of the 21 Central Park Playgrounds? Have you check out my other posts about Central Park? Share your experience at the Diana Ross Playground in the comments. Thanks again for visiting my blog and for your feedback and comments!

Crib Recalls

I was sent a link about Crib Recalls. Knowing several new parents and having gone through the baby raising stage a couple times myself, I thought I'd share this information with my readers who are new parenting.

If you have any of the equipment listed on this recall, be sure to take precautions and make the appropriate changes for your baby.

The link is here on Parents.com

Central Park Conservatory Garden

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All five New York City boroughs each have a Botanical Garden. The Central Park Conservatory Garden is the Botanical Garden for the Borough of Manhattan. It is an ideal location to view the fall foliage in the city.

This garden hosts weddings by reservation, and is an ideal place to sit and relax with a book. The six acre garden houses three styles of landscaping: English, French and Italian. Each style is in its own garden. In each of the three different style gardens, you will find different plants in bloom almost year round.

Most visitors do not know that on the walkway under the pergola, in the Italian garden, are thirteen medallions inscribed with the names of the original thirteen states. So be sure to look for them when you visit.

There is a fountain in each of the gardens. There is a geyser in front of the pergola in the Italian garden. The French Garden has the Untermyer Fountain of Three Dancing Maidens. The English Garden has the Burnett Fountain depicting Dickon and Mary from the book "The Secret Garden".

To enter the Conservatory Garden, you can come in through one of two entrances. From the east side enter at Fifth Avenue and 105th Street. The second entrance is at the 106th St. gate inside the Park.

One last thing, late October is the best time to check out the Chrysanthemum displays at the garden, and there is no entrance fee!

Happy visiting, and check back for my other Central Park posts. Have you been to the Conservatory Garden? What did you like most? Do you know of any other public botanical gardens in Manhattan. Please share you thoughts in the comments.

Carl Schurz Park and Gracie Mansion

Over the weekend I took my family to a New York neighborhood park for a spendid Saturday afternoon. Our objective was to go somewhere we have not been to. Though I have visited this park once before, my wife and daughter have never visited. There are a number of activities you can enjoy at this park, most of them are relaxing of course. So if you would like to enjoy a relaxing afternoon on a sunny day, perhaps you too can enjoy your time at Carl Schurz Park. Here is the official site for Carl Schurz Park.

The park entrance is located at East End Avenue and 86th Street in Manhattan, New York City. The park is also home to Gracie Mansion, home to NYC's mayor. This is a link to NYC's history of Gracie Mansion. You can reach it via the M86 bus and walk one block toward the river and park. Activities you can partake at the park include: sunbathing on the lawn, river side stroll, jogging, walking, biking, playground for kids and a dog park. We went for a stroll along the river, watching boats go by and having a great view of the northern tip of Roosevelt Island and its light house.

The playground in this park is great for young children and toddlers. On this early Fall afternoon, with great weather and the temperature in the low seventies, its a great day to be out in the park. I relaxed by a bench while my wife accompanied our daughter on the playground. After some time, my daughter settled in the sand box and remained there for the remainder of our visit. Activities at the playground include: monkey bars, swings, slides, towers to climb, pigeons to chase, build a sand castle and any other childhood sports you can think of.

If you have a low budget and would like to do something for a Saturday afternoon, why not visit this park? The only cost I incurred was for travel and any snacks we wanted. Pack a picnic and all you have to pay is transportation costs.

Have you been to Carl Schurz Park? What did you most enjoy at this park? Would you like to see more suggestions? Check out my other posts on NYC parks.

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Photo by Ed Yourdon

10 Free Places To Visit In NYC today!

Photo courtesy of mns007

Free is as frugal as you can get. If you have the time and interest you may enjoy this following list of places to visit in NYC, absolutely free! You will incur some travel costs, but they are minimal compared to visiting other places. If you have an unlimited Metrocard, I recommend this for anyone working and traveling in NYC, your trips are free!

1. Take Your Kids To Watch High Tide. I have seen a group of kids have tons of fun just watching the tide hit the docks in Jersey City (Exchange Place PATH Station). Hearing the water splish splash on rocks and watching it splash high can get young children very excited, they will scream and yell to their hearts content. Even better, in the summertime, they can get wet.
2. Governor's Island - Lots of activities here. Getting there is half the fun. See my post about Governor's Island here!
3. Staten Island Ferry - Enjoy an hour of free boat rides! See the Statue of Liberty!
4. NYPL - Visit The New York Public Library, the main library is right next to Bryant Park!
5. Visit Central Park - Climb Rocks, listen to music, bike, sunbathe, picnic, have a date, watch ducks, the list is nearly endless.
6. Apple Store - visit the 5th Avenue flagship store. Check your email, play with the latest iPod!
7. Sony Wonder - Children and even adults love this venue. You get to see all kinds of electronic gear and even make your own music video.
8. South Street Sea Port - Enjoy the Hudson River scenery and watch the boats go by. Lounge on one of the benches and doze away!
9. MoMA - Friday evenings are FREE!
10. Bryant Park - Free Movies on Mondays at Sunset, Free Ice Skating, Free Concerts, and have a picnic!
    

Did I leave out any of your favorites? Have you visited these places? Do you have a good time or recommend similar places to visit? Thanks for visiting. Follow me on Twitter for additional links to tips and tricks. If you would like to contribute to Frugal NYC in any way, articles, ideas, posts, interesting links, advice, financial assistance, or anything else, feel free to contact me via email. Click here to add this to your RSS reader.