If your kids haven’t yet seen the ever jolly, toy-toting, white-bearded man this season, he’s making a trek from the North Pole to spend time at various spots around Long Island for the next few weeks. Here’s a list of where the omnipresent, effervescent Santa will be available to pose for photos with the little ones — and even with the four-legged kids — at various price points. Mazelis Gifts and Gardens Sip some hot chocolate, drop off your letter to Santa and take a photo with the big guy...

The Whaling Museum & Education Center in Cold Spring Harbor will kick off a new series of holiday walking tours on Dec. 10. The tours will start at the museum, where people will be welcomed with hot chocolate and cookies, notes Brenna McCormick-Thompson, curator of education for the museum. “We’ll give a little introduction into what holidays people were celebrating back in the 1800s,” says McCormick-Thompson. “The Cold Spring Harbor Whaling Company operated from the 1830s to the 1860s, so that...

Melissa Famiglietti can’t wait to go back to Old Westbury Garden’s Shimmering Solstice light show. “We’ve done a couple of the local light shows and I liked the aspect of walking through it as opposed to driving through it,” says Famiglietti, 43, a stay-at-home mom from Port Washington, who describes it as an "immersive experience." "There was music playing, the lights were moving, there were things to interact with,” she says. This year, the Famigliettis will kick off the holiday season with a...

No matter how much we try to protect our kids, we never quite know when trouble could be brewing. Around Long Island, there are programs and classes for kids and families, from swimming lessons to babysitting training, that will help ensure young ones’ safety and well-being. Here’s a look at eight to explore: “We predominantly teach one-on-one lessons, where we allow the child to work individually with their instructor, so that we can build a relationship and develop their ability to learn...

Did you ever spot some tasty looking berries in the woods and wonder if they were edible — or, possibly, poisonous? You can learn about and take home some wild plants that are both safe and delicious at the Vanderbilt estate or at one of the other "Foraging With the Wildman" adventures with Steve and Violet Brill happening around Long Island this spring. "Foraging With the Wildman" is one of several horticultural programs planned for the spring/summer as the historic gardens are restored for...

If it's that time of summer when the kids are getting restless and you’ve run out of things for them to do, you might want to explore some of Long Island's parks and nature preserves. Here are a few off-the-beaten spots that are definitely worth the trip. WHAT The preserve features a wide, circular 1.25-mile trail with grasses, marshes and a scenic overlook at the end to wetlands and Reynolds Channel. As part of the Atlantic flyway, the migratory route for birds heading south in the fall...

To mark the end of the school year, Wantagh's Katherine Schilling gathers her husband, John, 51, a road construction laborer, and their kids, John, 15, and Sarah, 13, and lights up the chiminea in their backyard. The fire does double duty. The family makes s'mores — then burns flyers and notices that have come home from school. After a year filled with lots of hard work, the ritual feels like a relief, says Schilling, 52, a phone company technician. Noting that she works from the 4-to-midnight...

Start your day in this musical mecca at Music & Arts (30 W. Main St., Ste. 101, 631-727-2897, stores.musicarts.com/riverhead), which rents and sells instruments. "We've got guitars and amps, we have drums, we've got everything," says manager Don Norton. Kids can try out any instrument they'd like, says Norton. If it's Sunday, don't miss a stop at the aptly named Sunday Records (125 Roanoke Ave, 631-599-3918), where parents can turn their kids on to some of the favorite tunes from their youth...