Hi there -

Looking at the different tour options at the Tenement Museum for our family of 4 including 2 boys aged 13 and 10.
Which tour did you go on, and would you reccomend it? The Confino tour looks like the most obvious choice, but I am curious about some of the other ones as well.

thanks

I copied and pasted the review I wrote for Tripadvisor below. This was one of the best things we did on our trip to NYC. If you pair this with a visit to Ellis Island, your kids will have a deep understanding of NYC and America in regards to immigration and enjoy it in the process.
Review I wrote:
I can't say enough about the Tenement Museum! I wasn't sure my kids would be on board with me but I booked this tour in advance because I felt it was something we should see to understand the immigrant experience. We did the only interactive tour called the "Confino Tour", which is only offered on the weekends. We bought tickets in advance because it is recommended. A young actor plays the role of Victoria Confino, a girl that arrived with her family 3 years earlier than our visit with her. It is based on her true story and her desendants were involved with the making of the tour, so it is based on facts. They even show you a picture of the real Victoria. Before going into the tenement apt. building where you will meet Victoria, you are prepped by a very knowledable lady that helps you choose questions you can ask Victoria. You play the role of newly arrived immigrants that need guidance on how to make it in America. If you have teens or kids, they can ask Victoria about where to buy clothing and what style clothing should they wear to make them look like "Americans". There is even some comedy in her answers if your kids are wearing certain things, for example shorter skirts than they wore back then. For example, she tells you where to go buy more fabric to "finish" making you skirt. We had kids ages 10 - 17 and even our 13 and 17 year old boys loved it. The acting was outstanding! Also, you don't have to be outgoing to gon on this tour. You don't have to ask questions. Others in your group can do the asking. Also, the Confino tour is the only one that has AC in the building and it was hot when we went in early June so we were glad to have it. I am sure all of the tours we excellent. You can tell that the place is very well run and they care very much about preserving our history.

We didn't do the Confino tour (which sounds great), but because several of my Ellis Island ancestors were tailors by trade, we did the tour called "Piecing It Together". We thought it was fantastic. The tour is only an hour, and our tour guide was outstanding (a master's candidate from New Zealand studying at NYU). We toured 3 apartments in the same building, all in different states -- one was empty, with peeling wallpaper, basically as it was when they found the building. The second was outfitted like it would have been when a family lived there and operated a sewing shop (the kids went to school during the day and the workers came in) and the third was outfitted like it would have been after the sewing shops moved out of apartments and into factories. We all found it fascinating.

thanks for your replies!

WordGallery - that is my thought exactly - I personally find the immigrant experience (or any social history) fascinating, and I think the kids should be exposed to it (even though it might not fully sink in right away). And the AC tip is good - as we are going in August!

Do you know if you take one of the guided tours, are you able to see the other apartments? (i.e. if we did the Confino tour, would we be able to see the three apartments that you saw ?

thanks!

I'm pretty sure you cannot see any of the other apartments.

No, you only see the apartment that you are in for your particular tour, so we did not see the other ones, but did see the one we were in, which was set up like the family would have lived (amazing). "Victoria" even explained and showed us where all of her family members slept.
I was going to do a second tour (Getting By) the very same day, an hour before our Confino tour while my husband took my kids to Economy Candy (which was really neat and right around the corner) but it was hot the day we went and they told me that inside the building on a hot day, it is can hot inside so I decided against it since were were dressed nice and ready to see Lion King later that day.
If you really want to see the inside of more apartments, know that this is an option, doing another tour in front or back of a tour. They have some tour time slot that can't be bought online and are only for "walk ups" so you can leave it as an open option or coordinate two back to back tours with or withour your kids in advance.

WorldGallery - that seems like a good approach - sign up for the Confino tour for the family, and then I can 'pick one up' myself (or everyone if they seem to be interested) if we want more. Thanks very much!