Thomas the Train wants to play with you!

Thomas and his friends are having a play date at Toys R Us stores on Saturday, April 17th from 11am - 1pm. Long Island Toys R Us stores are listed here. Call to confirm that the store closest to you is participating.

There will be Thomas story time, games, trivia, coloring and free gifts. The play date is for children 3 years old and older. Giveaways are limited to one per child, while supplies last. Parental supervision is required at all times during the play date.

Mega Block Thomas & Friends Busy Day at the Quarry Play Set will be on sale on April 17th only. Here is a $5 off coupon.

This Examiner has gone to these events in the past and would suggest getting there a bit early because it will get crowded. Also be prepared for the store to have Thomas toys on display for sale. So your child may go into the "Mom I want that" mode. If you don't mind the chaos, your child will enjoy a great afternoon with Thomas the Train!

Trick or Treat Trail in Bayport

Halloween is almost here and kids love to wear their costumes any chance they get. For the next three weekends The Girl Scouts of Suffolk County are doing their Halloween Trick or Treat Trail at Camp Edey in Bayport. It is for boys and girls ages 4 to 10. There will be a bunch of Halloween activities for the kids to do, along with a Fun Maze, games and treats at each station. Every hour there is a costume pageant, so make sure the kids are wearing their Halloween best. They will have other refreshments available and a coupon for popcorn online.

Cost is $10 per child - adults are free. The Trick or Treat Trail goes on rain or shine.

The Trail is from 10am - 3pm on the following days -

Saturday, October 17th

Saturday, October 24th

Saturday, October 25th

Saturday, October 31st

For more information -

Camp Edey

1500 Lakeview Avenue

Bayport, NY 11705

631-472-1625

GirlScouts@GSSC.US

Kidsday is calling all artists!

Give a child anything and they will make artwork out of it. Like yogurt on a table with a spoon! Looking for something easy, quick, fun and free to do with your kids this long Columbus Day weekend? Release for their inner Picasso with Kidsday.

Kidsday is the section of Newsday that is dedicated to children. It's a fun little column that has been around for 31 years. Kidsday illustrates their column with drawings it gathers from the children of Long Island in their annual art contest.

It does not matter how old you are or what your skill level is - they want all kids ages 16 and younger to enter. Children compete within their own age group. There are seven categories for the theme of your child's drawing - Animals, Cartoons, Computer Assisted, Getting Along, Music, Portraits and Sports. The winner of each category will be featured in the Sunday, December 27th issue of Newsday. Even if you don't win, there is still a chance that your artwork will be in a future edition of Kidsday throughout the year. And there is a chance to win a Kidsday T-shirt.

Create a masterpiece for Kidsday! The deadline is Friday, October 23, 2009.

Here are the rules -

* Kids through age 16 may enter.

* Entries must be postmarked by Friday, October 23rd. Each drawing must include your name, age, address, phone number, T-shirt size and category.

* Drawings must be done in a black felt tipped pen or ink. You can color in your drawings.

* Enter as many categories and drawings as you like, but make sure to label each one with your info and category.

* Make your drawings on white, unlined 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper. No drawings larger then this will be accepted.

* All drawings must be original - no copying of any kind is accepted.

* In each category, prizes of Kidsday T-shirts will be awarded in these four age groups - 0 to age 6, ages 7 to 9, ages 10 to 12, ages 13 to 16.

* Artwork will not be returned.

Mail drawings to -

Kidsday Art Contest

Kidsday Newsday

235 Pinelawn Road

Melville, NY 11747-4250

Sand, not pumpkins - Long Island fall family activities

Fall is here and everyone loves to go pumpkin picking, jump on a hayride and run through a corn maze with the family. But on Long Island, one of the best things to do in the fall is to go to the beach.

Sitting on the ocean is not what first comes to mind with the crisp fall weather. This time of year may just be the best because the beaches are not hot, crowded and noisy. You will get to soak up the beautiful scenic views of the ocean in peace and quiet. The ocean is actually the warmest in the fall. It takes all summer for it to slowly heat up. So go and frolic in the waves.

It is best to dress in layers, especially for the kids. Your first layer should be your bathing suit. A bathing suit in October? Trust me - this Examiner has had her kids in bathing suits on the beach in the fall. With the warm ocean breezes and sun, it may get that warm. Plus, with very few beach neighbors, your kids will be doing lots of running and exploring without getting sand on someone else's blanket. Don't forget the sand toys for the kids. They will enjoy digging on an empty beach.

The other plus to enjoying Long Island's beaches in the fall, is you may not have to pay for parking. It depends on what ocean beach you visit. My fellow Frugal Examiner will like this. Smith Point in Mastic Beach is a county park and they do not charge for parking after Labor Day. It also has a boardwalk nature trail through the dunes, which is the perfect for a hike. There is no charge for the trail and your kids talk to the park rangers on duty.

Lots of town beaches that have restricted parking during the summer, have no parking rules in the fall. There will not be any lifeguards, so just splash around in the waves by the shore. Other beaches, like Robert Moses still charge $8 to park all year long, but that is a bargain afternoon out with the family. And a lot less stressful then getting stuck for hours in pumpkin traffic out east. Make some different fall memories this year and head off to the beach.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs in Sayville

It did rain this past weekend, but not meatballs. When it's raining outside, that is a great time to take the kids to the movies. And one of the best kept secret is Sayville Cinemas - just off Main Street in Sayville. Most moms of school aged children know about Sayville Cinemas, but if you have younger kids or even if you don't have kids, it's a great and cheap place to see a movie.

Sayville Cinemas ticket price everyday, including weekends and holidays, before 6pm is $5 per ticket - for adults and kids. And all day and night on Tuesdays it is $5 a ticket, they call it Bargain Tuesday. If you miss the $5 time slots, regular priced movie tickets are $7 for adults and $6 for children. Still a great deal! Going to those new fancy movie theaters with 16 screens will cost you a fortune. Stay local in Sayville.

Sayville Cinemas has not changed much over the years. You get a hometown, Mom and Pop feeling when you go there. They have four screens, lots of parking and all the same first rate movies as the big chain movie houses. Their treats are very reasonable too. A large popcorn is $4.75 and a box of candy is $2.75 - you cannot find these prices at other movie theaters.

And now for the movie we saw at Sayville Cinemas - "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs". It was a great movie and the kids really enjoyed it. And it is a movie that adults will like watching too. This movie is rated PG, but this Examiner did not feel there was anything in the movie that was inappropriate for kids. In our group there were children ages 3 to 6. If you have read the book "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" as a kid or to your kids - the only thing that is the same as the movie is food falling from the sky. So even though the book is different from the movie, both are entertaining for your children.

Sayville Cinemas, 103 Railroad Avenue, Sayville, NY 631-589-0232

SayvilleCinemas.Com

Advance purchase of tickets available in person and online

Birthday parties and gift certificates

For more info on cheap things on Long Island - check out Keeping it Frugal.

Go High In Sayville And Fly A Kite

Have you always planned on taking your children out on a windy day to fly a kite, but never did? Here's your chance. On Saturday, September 19th from 10am-4pm, it's the 2nd Annual Kite Festival at the Long Island Maritime Museum in West Sayville. Kids age 5 and under are free, for everyone else admission is $2. That's a deal!

We went last year and it is truly a very nice event. The kids talked about it all year long and are very excited to go again. You must, must, must buy the kite making kit when you first get there. The kite kits are $5 each. As cheap and cheesy as these kites look - buy one for each kid. They are really plastic garbage bags made into a kite, but they fly like no other. These kites also are long lasting because we still have ours. The kids get to decorate their kite with magic markers and the big decision is what color to make their kite tail. If you already have a kite, you can bring it too.

Then take your kite out onto the humongous, tree free and windy lawn at The Long Island Maritime Museum right on The Great South Bay and fly! Your children will have a blast flying their own kite that they just made. Plan on staying for awhile because the kids will not get bored. Last year there was a DJ playing kite flying music, there was a snack stand with picnic tables and you can also wander through the museum exhibitions. Professional kite flyers were on hand too and danced their huge colorful kites in the wind. All these things will be at this year's festival too.

Some suggestions - bring a blanket or beach chair to be comfortable watching the kites, pack a snack and drinks (if you do not want to spend extra money at the snack stand) and take your camera. Let's go fly a kite!

Long Island Maritime Museum, 84 West Avenue, West Sayville, NY 11796, 631-HISTORY LIMaritime.Org

Scream For Your Own Ice Cream

I got this recipe from a library class for making fast and fun vanilla ice cream with the kids. You will amaze them!

1 tablespoon of sugar
1/2 cup of milk
1/4 teaspoon of vanilla
6 tablespoons of salt
1 pint size zip plastic bag
1 gallon size zip plastic bag
ice

Fill the large bag half full of ice. Add the salt and seal the bag. In the small bag put milk, vanilla and sugar. Seal this bag and put inside large bag and seal it too. Shake bags until mixture is ice cream - about 5 minutes. Wipe off top of small bag really good and then open. You will have enough ice cream for a small bowl.

Just make sure you really clean off the small bag - if you don't your ice cream may be a bit salty, but still good. Make some now - you know you have all the ingredients! =)

Volcano In The Backyard

Something to do with the kids! We got a book about volcanoes out from the library and in the back there was instructions on making your own volcano. You may remember this from when you were little, but it is so fun to do again and so simple.

Do it outside. It really does not make a big mess and does not stain clothing. We used plastic water bottles cut in half and the kids put clay on the sides to make their volcano. You do not have to get that fancy - any container will do.

Fill the container with some water. I forgot the measurements, but it really does not matter because the kids will just kept pouring it in. Add some baking soda then pour in white vinegar. When the vinegar goes in, your volcano will bubble and foam and overflow. The kids love it!

When it dies down and just kept adding more white vinegar and baking soda to make more bubbles. This combination is also a great cleaning solution and so cheap to buy. I now have the cleanest outside table in the Bayport Bubble! Any white residue just cleans up with water. It was a nice project that kept them busy for a few hours. Try it!
=)