Upper West Side Kids Neighborhood Guide

Enjoying a free alfresco film is a rite of summer in New York City. Even if you go to see a flick you've watched a million times at home, it's a totally different experience viewing it in the open air alongside a couple hundred other movie lovers. It ends up being a pretty thrilling communal event.

A few outdoor movie series, like RiverFlicks for Kids in the West Village, are aimed specifically at children. But even the big grown-up ones like Bryant Park and Brooklyn Bridge Park's Syfy Movies With A View include a family-friendly screening or two. Plus this year, the Central Park Conservancy is asking New Yorkers to pick which movies they want to see for the park's annual August outdoor film festival!

Movies usually begin at dusk between 8-8:30pm but make sure you arrive early: The well known series fill up fast. Plus, sometimes there is cool, pre-movie entertainment. So pack a picnic, bring your blanket, sit back, relax and enjoy the show at one of these outdoor summer movie series in NYC.

While lots of New York City's fantastic summer performance series are kid appropriate, children know when an event isn't aimed directly at them. So while we totally encourage you to bring your preschoolers to hear the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera perform in Central Park, make sure you take them to a few outdoor concerts just for them, too.

Happily, that's easy to do in this town. NYC's kiddie music scene seems to get bigger every year. In fact, this season, there are almost as many free outdoor performance series for kids as there are for adults! We’ve got the scoop on the coolest under(play)ground concerts in New York City's parks, playgrounds and plazas. So grab a blanket, score a good spot and enjoy the tunes, weather permitting.

I was born in the former Soviet Union and grew up speaking Russian with my parents in the U.S. Once I became a mom, I wanted to pass the language and culture on to my three children. But with a dad who only speaks English, that's proven to be tougher than I'd expected. On top of that, the age difference between my kids (the eldest is in eighth grade, the youngest kindergarten) means they're rarely interested in the same activities, so finding an all-ages Russian activities has been a challenge.

However, after years of personal research and experimentation, we've found several great programs that teach a combination of Russian language, Russian culture and even Russian-Jewish culture. Since June marks NYC's 11th annual Russian Heritage Month, this seems like the perfect time to give Russia some love. Here are five ways kids can experience Russian culture in New York City.