3 hr. ride from Northern NJ
 

Looking for something within a 2-3 hour ride of Northern NJ. Not skiers, but like sledding, horse back riding, sightseeing. Looking for the Christmas Vacation, which in our school district is from Christmas to Jan. 4th. Two children, boy 8 and girl 11. Any ideas will be greatly appreciated. TIA.

You have so many great options.
There are wonderful family eals at the Mohonk Mt. (New Paltz, NY)
Pennsylvania Dutch area
Philly
Cape May and a Ferry trip to Lewes DE
if you are willing to go one extra hour DC (Congress is out of session, but you would have a great chance to see all of the museums)
Day trips (NYC- Wicked would be a great play for the whole family) Rock-Center, the 5th Ave windows, followed by a day of the family providing community service to a soup kitchen, or a senior citizens shared housing facility ie: preparing lunch or dinner).
Rhode Island - holiday programs in Newport

You could do the Philadelphia sites (Liberty bell, Betsy Ross House, Franklin Institute) and then take the ferry (if it still runs in the winter) over to Jersey and check out the Battleship New Jersey and maybe the aquarium.

A lot of the ski places in the Poconos have sledding areas, big tube sledding and things like that.

Good luck!

Thanks I'm relocating with my 7 yer old to Northern NJ I really want to move to a great little bustling town with cafes bistros art boutiques good restaurants that you can dine outside and a lot of activities culture and diversity..any ideas I heard Ramsey, or Ridgewood?

There's not a lot of "outdoor" dining in northern NJ mainly because for 5 or 6 months out of the year the weather is not really condusive to dining al fresco. That doesn't mean you can't find such places but rather it's not the norm.

Ridgewood does have a very nice "downtown" area but it is also very expensive as far as real estate is concerned. There are lots of towns in northern NJ that have what you might describe as "bustling" but you won't find too many with a great selection of art boutiques. Towns in northern with better than average shopping areas (that are not to "seedy") include Teaneck, Ridgewood, Dumont, Closter, Westwood, Park Ridge, Tenafly and Englewood.

If I was relocating to the area with a 7 year old I'd concentrate my efforts on identifying a town with an above average school system or in close proximity to a first class private school (depending on your particular desires) rather than chose a new home town on the basis of cafes and art galleries.