going by train with kids

Hi all, I might go to Tokyo in february 2010 for about 1 week and will travel with my 6 yo daughter. Do I have to purchase a trainticket and are there special tickets for children. Also if I want to take the subway in Tokyo are there special fares for children aged 6 years old?
Does anybody also have good ideas for children
to do, attractions they might want to do ( for girls )

marcel,

Children between 6 and 12 years old pay half price on the trains and subway.

Dave, thank you for your information. Can I choose at the machine for an adult ticket and kidsticket in the Tokyo subway gate?
Thanks

Ticket vending machines at stations of subways around Tokyo and JR-East,
though maybe not all of them, have user interface in English.
Find one equipped with a touch-panel, touch "English," then you will see a button for kid fares, I presume.

If her 7th birthday comes on 2 April 2010 or later, then she must be free from fares on subways around Tokyo until 31 March 2010;
in that case, ask JR-East about JR fares and charges on her.
(Its guidance in Japanese explains the same rule as is adopted by the subways,
while its guidance in English says children of 6 through 11 are not free.)

Around Tokyo, there are 13 subway lines of two operators.
Tokyo Metro subway: 9 lines, operated by Tokyo Metro.
Toei subway: 4 lines, operated Tokyo's Bureau of Transportation.

Tokyo Metro subway
- Tokyo Metro: Detailed Guidance: Age Categories for Passenger Fares
http://www.tokyometro.jp/global/en/ticket/age.html
- Tokyo Metro: Using the Subway
http://www.tokyometro.jp/global/en/service/using.html

Toei Subway
- Toei Subway Information: Operations
http://www.kotsu.metro.tokyo.jp/english/subway_op.html
- Toei Subway Information: Buying Your Ticket
http://www.kotsu.metro.tokyo.jp/english/subway_buy.html

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To omotenashi: Thank you so much for all your kind responds. My daughter will become 7 yo in december 2010 so that would mean she would be free of charge for the subway I guess, although the english translation says 1/2 the price of an adult. That seems strange though

Regards,

Marcel1966

: My daughter will become 7 yo in december 2010

Then she will be free until March 2010 from charges at least of the two subways around Tokyo, regarded as a pre-school child. (If she were residing in Japan, she would enter a Japanese elementary school in April 2010.)

JR companies show us two sets of age criteria (school pupils or not, age 6 - 11 or not), which can be confusing. I hope they dissolve it soon.

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Tokyo is full of big and interesting sites for all ages. I think anything will be impressive and memorable for your daughter.
There is, however, a place called Kodomo-no-Shiro (National Children's Castle). It is multiple floors of fun for kids. I suggest Frommer's Japan for your guide.