This Week: Best Fall Kids' Theater, NYC Harvest Festivals, Family Guide to the Poconos

9/13/12 - By Raven Snook

We spent the week filling up our Fall Culture Guide and we're very excited about the season ahead of us. In addition to our roundup of the best family concerts that we published last week, we added posts about cool kids' shows and awesome harvest festivals right here in NYC.

Of course, if you want a truly authentic fall experience, considering hitting one of these huge harvest fests in New Jersey. Combine it with a trip to a NJ pumpkin patch and you've got the makings of a great fall day trip. If you're planning on going apple picking this season, we shared some easy apple recipes and crafts (better than letting them rot in your fridge).

With a four-day weekend because of the Jewish New Year and Columbus Day weekend on the horizon, be sure to check our Travel site, which just launched a comprehensive Family Guide to the Poconos with posts about the best restaurants, attractions and things to do in the area. Or how about Long Branch, New Jersey? Our NJ site posted about this often overlooked beach town that boasts lots of fun for families.

Here's what else happened this week on the NYC site.

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NYC may have lots of fabulous playgrounds but not all of them are special needs-friendly. Our new special needs contributor, Michaela, tells you how to find playgrounds for kids with special needs and shares a few of her favorites.

Harvest season is nigh, and NYC is about to be filled with apple festivals, pumpkin patches and harvest celebrations.

In honor of the anniversary of September 11, our founder, Anna, visited the 9/11 Memorial with her nine-year-old son and shared what you need to know before you go with kids.

The new fall kids' theater season looks great, with new shows like Fancy Nancy the Musical, The Velveteen Rabbit and typically offbeat New Vic fare.

We caught the arena show How to Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular when it played Long Island in August, and for fans it's an awesomely wild ride.

We continued our focus on the Upper East Side with posts about swanky indoor play spaces and free indoor activity spots like fun megastores, libraries and a hidden gem in Central Park.

Would you pay for someone to not watch your kid? That's what one mom and blogger wants you to do—but if you look beyond this publicity stunt you'll see she has a point.

Best bets for the weekend include the Feast of San Gennaro, the Upper West Side Soccer Fest, Flatbush Frolic and lots of ideas for how to spend Monday and Tuesday when public schools are closed.