Today
GAME ON: Get those thumbs ready for “IndieCade East” at the Museum of the Moving Image — a festival where kids (and grown-ups) can play more than 20 different games, meet creators, sign up to compete in an arcade-classics tournament and even show off their own playable games. Don’t forget to check out current exhibit “Spacewar!: Video Games Blast Off” while you’re there! Noon to 7 p.m., $9 to $30. 36-01 35th Ave., at 37th Street, Astoria; 718-777-6888, movingimage.us
MARDI PARTY: The Big Apple meets the Big Easy at Children’s Museum of the Arts’ “Arty Gras Festival & Parade.” There, kids can make masks, feather hats and noisemakers to put on their very own parade featuring live tunes from the Red Hook Ramblers and Dan Reitz. Free pizza from Two Boots, too! 10 a.m., parades at 11:30 a.m., 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. $11. 103 Charlton St., between Greenwich and Hudson streets; 212-274-0986, cmany.org
TOMORROW
EXIT THE DRAGON: Welcome the Year of the Snake at Chinatown’s annual “Lunar New Year Parade & Festival,” where (if you arrive early enough to get a good spot) you’ll see colorful floats, lion and dragon dancers, marching bands and more. 1 p.m., free. Parade begins at Mott and Hester streets; explorechinatown.com
AUSTRALIAN FOR FUN: Learn all about the animal wonders of Down Under when the New Victory Theater hits Barnes & Noble Upper East Side with “Grug New Victory Storytime,” inspired by Australia’s Windmill Theatre’s puppet-filled performance of the same name. 11 a.m.; 150 E. 86th St., at Lexington Avenue; 212-369-2180
MONDAY
COCOA BUFFS: What better way to spend a day off than brushing up on the “History of Chocolate” at the New-York Historical Society? Educators from American Heritage Chocolate will show kids how to grind up cocoa beans, add spices like red pepper, nutmeg and cinnamon, and make some Colonial hot chocolate to taste. Bring some home! Noon to 4 p.m.; $15 for adults, $10 for students, $5 for kids ages 5 to 13 (kids under 5, free). 170 Central Park West, between 76th and 77th streets; 212-873-3400, nyhistory.org