Give the Kids a Break

You

've forced them to endure the theater and opera and museums and art galleries, and you've dragged them along on endless shopping expeditions. Now it's time to reward your children for their patience by taking them someplace they can have fun. Here are some of the best kid heavens in a few of the world's major cities:

VIENNA: ZOOM CHILDREN'S MUSEUM
There's an interactive music and mathematics show on until February 2004. In the Zoomlab, kids make cartoon films or take a virtual walk in space. In the Zoomstudio they get in touch with their creativity with the help of young Austrian artists. Under-6s and their parents can explore undersea worlds in Zoomocean.
Information: Museums Quarter, short walk from city center; www.mqw.at; www.kindermuseum.at. Children $6; adults $4

BEIJING: BEIJING SHADOW TROUPE
Handcrafted 2-D leather puppets perform short plays to music among the curio sellers and cafés of Beijing's antiques district. After the show, buy a souvenir puppet and squeeze in a little shopping in the Liulichang Road pedestrian zone.
Information: 29 Dong Liulichang Road, Xuanwu. $6. Puppets from $4. Reservations recommended; tel: (86-135) 6303 6667

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DUBAI: WILD WADI
At this Arabian Nights-themed water park, Western teenagers in bikinis and Arab girls in modest swimwear enjoy simulated white-water rapids, tidal waves and underground rivers. The brave shoot down the Jumeirah Sceirah water slide at 80 km/h.
Information: Western shore of Persian Gulf, near Burj al Arab and Jumeirah Beach resort hotels. Adults $32, 4-12s $27; tel: (971-4) 348 4444; www.wildwadi.com

TOKYO: ICE CREAM CITY
Try the stretchy Turkish soft-serve and the Korean ice cone. Feeling brave? The 380 homegrown flavors include octopus, chicken wings and cow's tongue.
Information: Namjatown, World Import Mart 2F, Sunshine City (10 minutes from Ikebukuro Station). Adults $2.75, kids $2; tel: (81-3) 5950-0765

CAPE TOWN: WATERFRONT, SCRATCH PATCH
Take a water taxi from the foreshore or a boat trip around the docks, then visit the Two Oceans Aquarium that has supervised areas where the kids can get up close and personal with starfish and octopi. At Scratch Patch across the road, they can wade through a treasure cave of semiprecious stones—and even collect a bagful.
information: Near the town center. Aquarium $3.50 for kids; Scratch Patch entrance free, gem bag from $10; www.aquarium.co.za

LONDON: TROCADERO
A kids' mall with shops, cafés, cinemas and two floors of Funland, with bowling, Sports Bar (TV screens and American pool), kiddie rides and seaside-style arcade attractions that combine old (wheel of fortune, pinball and dodgems) and new (video games, dancing stage, virtual-reality roller coasters and trips to space). Or you can sit quietly and let a computer draw your portrait.
information: Coventry Street, Piccadilly Circus (Piccadilly Underground station). Bowling $9 per person, pool $1.50, VR ride $3 for two people; www.londontrocadero.com