Imagine walking into a building and suddenly you’re 500 feet high, clinging to the narrow ledge of a skyscraper. Minutes later you’re defying the laws of gravity and physics, walking on the ceiling or shrunk to the size of a mouse. Hollywood’s Museum of Illusions doesn’t literally give you those supernatural abilities, but the dozens of pictures you’ll have after your visit sure makes it look real. Taking the family for a fun outing in Hollywood to play tourist in our own town is a real pick-me-up.

Check out more of the Top Attractions in Los Angeles for Kids in our Los Angeles Visitors' Guide for Families.

If your family has exhausted Chicago's best winter outings and cabin fever is starting to set in, there’s a quick fix less than two hours away. Take a day trip just over the border of Wisconsin to explore the shores of Geneva Lake with kids. Along the way, you’ll see historic homes, lush gardens, boats, and wildlife in the crystal-clear water. My family and I have been coming up to Lake Geneva for years from Chicagoland to walk the shore path and explore the lake. Here are my inside tips to making this a day trip your kids love so much it becomes a tradition for your family, too. Read on for the best starting points, must-see sights, and the low-down on strollers, bathrooms, and pets.

Festive car parades may have stood in for your child’s birthday party last year due to the pandemic, but this year they probably want the real thing: a celebration with friends and family. And, although we’re not quite back to normal, things have opened up somewhat, so a birthday party is possible—it just may look a little different.

Keeping in mind that the only guests may be your immediate family or your close-knit pod, we've rounded up a dozen venues offering birthday parties right now. From venues that let kids get creative to boats that take you on a seal-watching cruise and animal encounters, both real and virtual, our party ideas give you many ways to celebrate right now.

For more ideas and party planning tips, be sure to check out our Birthday Party Guide for Long Island kids.

Looking for a unique spot to host your child's next birthday party? Venues with both hands-on fun and enough space to blow out the candles with your bunch safely? We've rounded up 15 exciting options throughout NJ that your birthday kid will love, from private movie theater rentals to heart-pumping go-kart racing.

If you're more comfortable staying in, see our list of virtual and social distancing party ideas for kids, and be sure to visit our Birthday Party Guide for even more ways to celebrate.

Just because birthday parties might not look exactly like the big blowouts of years past doesn’t mean there aren’t lots of other ways to celebrate—from hiring a virtual performer to finding birthday party venues that can cater to our new normal.

And thankfully, there are lots of birthday party options in Westchester, whether your artsy kid wants to try their hand at making slime or pottery or you want to go the route of setting up a ninja course in your backyard with the help of some professionals. Here are nine local venues and vendors helping make sure kids' birthday party dreams (still) come true.

Looking for more kid-friendly party ideas? Check out Party Guide for plenty of options.

With some light finally emerging at the end of the tunnel, families can now start looking beyond Zoom parties to celebrate birthdays. While many of our favorite indoor spaces still aren't open, more and more play spaces and venues are opening their doors for small-group celebrations while taking all necessary COVID-precautions. But, time marches on, and you need a place to celebrate now. We've rounded up 15 unique places citywide where you can host birthday parties now, both indoors and out. 

Remember to keep your group small and wear masks. If you're still not keen on venturing indoors, check out our roundup of virtual birthday party ideas and the best virtual party performers, and find more party inspiration in our Guide to Kids Birthday Parties.

At every birthday party, the cake is one of the stars of the show—and that's never been more true than it is right now. So we've come up with a list of the very best birthday cakes in LA for kids that will make any birthday party special. No matter what you're looking for, this list has the perfect cake. There are LA institutions, there are show-stopping cakes, and cakes that taste better than the ones Grandma makes (honest!). There are even gluten-free cakes and vegan cakes for kids that are so good, no one will ever miss what’s missing.

These birthday cakes for kids are so incredible they will make up for having a virtual party (again) this year, and floor every kid (and parent) at next year's big bash. Now you just need to make the ultimate choice: what flavor?

Los Angeles parents are blessed with the widest range of summer camps choices imaginable (just check our camp guide and directory!). Kids who are driven to spend their summers focusing on musical theater, art, surfing, science, horseback riding, or even making movies have all the day camp options in the world, right in our backyard. But sometimes, summer needs to just be about being a kid and having fun. Kids need to let loose and play, play, play. At these traditional outdoor summer camps from Santa Monica to Altadena, that's exactly what they can do.

For more summer camps in Los Angeles, including picks for preschool summer camps in LA and the best free and cheap day camps in town, be sure to bookmark our Los Angeles Summer Camp Guide and our Camp Directory, where you can search for camps by type, age, and town.