Raven Snook

If you're looking to see America's melting pot reputation in action, take a family trip to the Lower East Side. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the neighborhood's tenements housed waves of immigrants from a variety of backgrounds, notably Germans, Italians, and Eastern European Jews. Although this Manhattan neighborhood has undergone a major transformation in recent years, with spots for knishes and cannoli being replaced by craft cocktail bars and boutique hotels, there are still remnants of its multicultural history that are great fun to discover with kids.

The Tenement Museum and the Museum at Eldridge Street both offer engaging peeks at the area's past, along with frequent family programming. Sara D. Roosevelt Park hosts celebrations for Asian holidays in honor of the nearby Chinatown community. The neighborhood's restaurants reflect the area's diversity with dim sum houses, delicious delis, pizzerias and the oldest candy store in NYC all vying for your appetite.

Of course there are cool, new kid-friendly attractions, too, including a pair of cat cafés, the New Museum, which offers FREE admission for children under age 19, and much more. Stretching from Houston Street to Canal Street and East Broadway between the Bowery and the East River, the Lower East Side is small enough for families to explore on foot in one day, and boasts lots of places to play, both indoors and out. Read on for 40 places to explore in this culturally rich, uniquely New York neighborhood.

Autumn marks the start of a new theater season, but you don't need to shell out big bucks on Broadway shows to give your kids a memorable live entertainment experience in NYC. In fact, this fall boasts more high-quality theater productions for young audiences than ever—so many in fact, we have a whopping 24 picks, and that's after whittling down the contenders.

Preschoolers will be excited to see a slew of puppet shows, a stage adaptation of Peter Pan, and the unstoppable Baby Shark Live!. Older kids can check out the return of The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical and the silent spectacle of Mummenschanz. Plus everyone in your family can enjoy the Big Apple Circus. Best of all, many of our picks are $25 or less per ticket.

Taking kids to a Broadway show is an exciting and memorable experience. It's also a pricey one. That's why it's worth looking beyond Broadway, where you'll find some long-running, kid-friendly shows that are less expensive, more offbeat, but just as special.

From a surefire toddler hit to a Harry Potter parody for tweens to those world-famous blue dudes, there are options for all ages and interests. We've even shared ways you can snag deeply discounted tickets. All of these Off-Broadway productions make great birthday party activities, too.