Join If: Your family likes going to a particular museum, zoo, or aquarium. Family memberships generally cost an average of $100 and pay for themselves within four visits. (For couples or single members, the payoff may take slightly longer.) Membership also often comes with a handful of other benefits: discounts on museum-store purchases and children's programs, guest passes, invitations to special events (lectures, previews), advance ticket purchase for special exhibitions, and a members-only entrance (no more waiting in long lines). These memberships are often partially tax-deductible, too.

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Contact your local museum, zoo, or aquarium to find out about membership programs. For contact information, go to www.museumsusa.org (for museums) or the American Zoo and Aquarium Association's website at www.aza.org (for zoos and aquariums). Some museums also have reciprocal agreements. For example, about 140 children's museums in the United States and Canada are members of the Association of Children's Museums and allow members of any associated museum free admission to all others. Go to www.childrensmuseums.org/visit/reciprocal.htm for a list of participating museums. More than 100 zoos around the country have a similar arrangement; check your local zoo's website for details.