Winter Jam 2011. Photo by Alison Meier via Flickr.

Bad news for all of us who count on Prospect Park for our free outdoor winter sports fix: the New York City Parks & Recreation Department has been forced to cancel its annual Winter Jam, scheduled for February 4th, because “it is simply too warm to make snow.” No, it’s not that they were expecting natural snow and there’s none in the forecast. The air and ground will actually be too warm to make FAKE snow.

Climate change is a real downer, and now that you can’t repurpose trash bags as sleds (greener than buying a new plastic sled) this February, it’s up to all of us to keep the winter spirit alive… or completely give up and pretend it’s spring!

As an alternative, the Parks Department suggests going skating instead — but wait, Prospect Park’s Wollman Rink is closed for renovations. Is it time to shlep out to Abe Stark skating rink in Coney Island? Anyone been?

Red pandas share a branch at the Prospect Park Zoo. We can see where this is headed.

NSFW animal-mating demos are just one of of the attractions of a weekend-long love-fest sponsored by the Heart of Brooklyn, the partnership of cultural institutions near Grand Army Plaza. On Saturday, it’s love, family-style for stories and card decoration at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum’s “I love you because…” from 11:30 to 12:30 and 2:30 to 3:30. On Sunday, you can take free old-fashioned trolley rides through the neighborhood and Prospect Park from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., or glide hand-in-hand at Wollman Rink with half-priced admission from 10 a.m to 1 p.m. The Prospect Park Zoo is offering some less-wholesome (but still perfectly natural) amusement in their “Animal Dating and Mating” program from 2 to 3:30, which explores reproductive strategies, “why size really does matter” and a live animal demo! See HOB’s complete list of V-weekend events and attractions here.

Photo courtesy of Hollywood Masti Masala

All right, so we’ve got ice skating on the brain this week, but it is one of the best reasons to get out (and stay out) in the cold winter months. Our friend Jennifer just tipped us off to another rockin’ reason to lace ‘em up at Prospect Park: music-themed weekend skates—for the same price as the regular skates, when the music is actually pretty great to begin with. On Saturday (Jan. 9) from 10 to 1, the series kicks off with Beatles Skate!, when you can twist, shout and glide your way through Fab Four classics. And there are four more music days leading up to the Springsteen Skate season finale on March 7 (2 to 6). Show Tunes Skate is Saturday Jan. 23 from 10 to 1 (“boas encouraged”—really? on the ice?), Michael Jackson skate is Sunday Jan. 31 from 2 to 6, Disney Tunes (take one for the team) is Feb. 13 from 10 to 1 and Motown with the Temptations is Feb. 26 from 7 pt 9. $5 for adults, $3 for children and seniors. More info here.