A recent initiative launched by the country's top environmental agency calls on parents who smoke to take their habit outside- away from their children.

Whether the kids are home for the whole summer or just a few weeks, there's always something to do and someplace to go. Following is a collection of activities, workshops, and entertainment for a range of ages and interests. They make the city a pretty tempting option for summertime diversions!

The Children's Museum of Manhattan has expanded up, down and sideways.

To help parents with various parenting/child care issues, we asked the following experts in their fields to help Big Apple parents...

Abigail Adams Smith Museum, 421 East 61st Street, (between First and York Avenue), (212) 838-6878, recalls the 1830s when the house was the Mount Vernon hotel, a country escape. In December, the house is decorated for the holidays, and on a couple of evenings, it's candlelit with musicians playing carols and traditional melodies on period instruments. Refreshments are served. Tickets required.

You've chosen the sleepaway camp, bought the clothes, arranged the hotel for visiting day ? now, you need to send a care package. The Wrinkled Egg makes it easy.

New York State law requires school bus operators to present their vehicles for DOT inspection every six months. According to Robbie Persaud, Intermodel Transportation Specialist One with NYS DOT, a bus earns either an inspection sticker or an "Out of Service" sticker. An inspection sticker, however, does not indicate that the bus is in perfect condition.

Tabitha Walrond, a 19-year-old mother from the Bronx, is living one nightmare after another. The story that will be heard in court is that after her newborn son, Tyler, was repeatedly denied medical care, he died in her arms of malnutrition at seven weeks. Now, she's being prosecuted for manslaughter and, if convicted, could serve 15 years in prison for her son's death.

Is there life without Ritalin? With more and more children being diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, there's an alternative movement afoot.

Get more information about learning problems from the Coordinated Campaign for Learning Disabilities.

Boarding school may be in your child's future, but how do you know which one will suit her ? and you ? best?

Crisp fall air, the leaves showing their boldest colors Ñ a perfect day for a family outing on bicycles! Now, where was that trail your friend told you about? Briarcliff, was it? Or was it Valhalla? And didnÕt someone mention Somers? Where does it start? Where does it end? And what do you do with the car once you find it? RENEE CHO provides the navigational logistics É

Do you want to help make a difference in a young person's life? Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City is looking for mature and responsible volunteers who can become a friend and can provide guidance to children in need of a positive role model.

Books, toys, TV, software, and Outings

Basketball enthusiasts of all ages have a new destination in town. Basketball City, overlooking the Hudson on Pier 63 at West 23rd Street, is fully equipped with six full-sized basketball courts with hardwood floors, glass backboards and electronic scoreboards.

The concept of how babies learn to speak is an elusive and mysterious one, even for scientists who yearn to understand how young children are able to master the complexities of language - a difficult enough task for the adult brain and the most powerful computers.

We've all been there. You're tired, the older kids need help with their homework, and the baby is screaming. It's his bedtime and he really needs to go to sleep, but you don't have time to put him down properly. Quickly, you get him in pajamas, kiss him good night, put him in his crib, and shut the door. Mercifully, he's quiet and you can get back to more pressing matters. What magic trick calmed him down? You put him in with his favorite nightcap - a bottle of milk.

Less well known, but more than 100 times more prevalent than hemophilia, von Willebrand disease (VWD) is the most commonly inherited bleeding disorder, affecting 1 to 2 percent of the population — or approximately 3 million people in the United States.

August is National Breastfeeding Awareness Month.

No event is more devastating than the loss of a baby before or shortly after birth. Now the March of Dimes is offering bereavement materials to help families cope.