If you've got a pop-culture nerd in your household (in my apartment, there are three of us), then you probably already know about this weekend's four-day New York Comic Con (NYCC) at the Javits Center. Comics are just a part of this massive geek gathering. Movie studios and TV networks promote (and sometimes screen) their upcoming projects; celebrities meet and greet their fans (this year, Luke Skywalker himself will be in attendance); vendors sell all kinds of collectibles, and attendees hit seminars on everything from self-publishing to wizard wand dueling.

Sound overwhelming? Well, it can be—but it's also great fun for families, especially if you go on Sunday, October 16, which is Kids' Day. In addition to a bunch of activities aimed specifically at children, everyone under age 13 gets in free. Granted, adults still have to pay, and it's not cheap: $45 per person for the day. But if your kids (or you) are really into something, be it Harry Potter or Star Wars or Star Trek or Spider-Man or Archie (my daughter is nuts for that last one—it's how she learned to read), then NYCC is worth every penny.

We've got the scoop on all of the special Kids' Day programming as well as tips on how to survive the day. My husband, daughter and I have attended every single NYCC, and we've learned quite a few things.

As we mentioned in our weekly wrap up on Friday, we'll be spotlighting one NYC neighborhood a month in a series of posts. That way we can really explore an area, and let families know about all of its kid-friendly attractions. We decided to start with Chinatown because it's such a fascinating and vibrant place. Last week, one of our bloggers took her family on a walking tour of the nabe. Today, we're taking a closer look at the Hester Street Playground, which is the premier play spot in the area.

My husband grew up in Chinatown in the '80s, and he remembers when the spot was a rundown mess of a park. (In fact, Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe once said that it "might have been the worst playground in the City of New York.") Thanks to last summer's $5 million renovation, it's now a state-of-the-art Destination Playground for local kids and visitors.

We really love the shows put on by Atlantic for Kids. That's because they tend to be as much fun for parents as they are for children. I saw lots of adults cracking up at the theater troupe's latest family musical, a stage adaptation of author Jon Scieszka and illustrator Lane Smith's twisted take on The Three Little Pigs. In their version of the old tale, the Big Bad Wolf just has a big bad cold that leads to the swines' untimely demise. To say more would give too much away.

Even though the The Three Little Pigs is usually thought of as a story for very young children, this show isn't for preschoolers. Officially aimed at kids ages 5 to 12, I actually think it's best for tweens and up. It's very campy, and you need a wide frame of reference to get most of the jokes. Even though my six-year-old really enjoyed the show—she insisted we buy the book afterward—I definitely laughed a lot more than she did.