It's a great weekend for family theater, music and outdoor festivals. Lots of notable kids' shows debut this weekend, including two picks from our April NYC Go List: Wanda's Monster the Musical featuring songs by Laurie Berkner and TADA! Youth Theater's Adventures from Ezra Jack Keats, along with the kickoff of the second annual New York Children's Theater Festival.

There are also a slew of FREE Earth Day-themed festivals, like the art-filled St. George Day Festival on Staten Island, plus celebrations in Harlem's Marcus Garvey Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park and Union Square.

On a somber note, our thoughts and hearts are still with our friends, family and colleagues in Boston as they recover from Monday's attack. Sunday is Family Day at NYC's 9/11 Memorial and we suspect the organizers will do something special to honor the victims and survivors of the Boston Marathon bombings.

All of our best bets for the weekend are below. Remember, you can find additional ideas in our Event Calendar and our Spring Fun Guide.

Our spring culture coverage continues with a look at the most promising family shows opening this season. Reading the papers, you might think the only great productions for kids are on Broadway. But while Matilda (it's dark!) and Cinderella (it's light!) command the media spotlight and cost big bucks, there are many wonderfully creative children's theater performances off Broadway and beyond.

The selection this spring is particularly intriguing and there are options for all age groups, including a few shows that are perfect for first-time theatergoers. The New Victory has a pair of plotless spectacles, one acrobatic, the other urban dance, and Making Books Sing and TADA! Youth Theater are adapting popular kids' books by Eileen Spinelli and Ezra Jack Keats. Plus the New York Children's Theater Festival returns for its second year on the Upper West Side, and the tenth annual International Toy Theater Festival takes place in Brooklyn. The one thing all of these shows have in common? You can take the kids to see them without dipping into their college fund—most are $20 or under and one is even FREE.

Midtown West may not be as chock-full of traditional play spaces as neighboring Chelsea or the Upper West Side, but there are still plenty of places where kids can run around indoors. Times Square has lots of fun interactive megastores like the Disney Store and Toys R Us, and Dave & Buster's is filled with new and retro arcade games. Plus there are three bowling alleys within blocks of each other, a lovely local library, a couple of kiddie gyms and other offbeat spots to romp or hang out.