Monday, March 31

Kid stuff in and around San Francisco

Recently someone asked me for suggestions on ways to spend a week in SF with their 9 and 11 year old nephews. For future (and others') reference, here's what I offered:

Geographically, moving northward from Monterey/Big Sur northward and then over to the East Bay (I don't know much about the North bay kid offerings except, of course, that the redwoods and the ocean are beautiful):

The Tech Museum in San Jose (Technology and Innovation - good but if I was choosing only one science museum I'd still opt for the Exploratorium; though K says he would be conflicted if he had to pick only one)
http://www.thetech.com/

Viewing Elephant Seals at Ano Nuevo State park (seasonal):
http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=1115

Tidepooling at Moss Park near Half Moon Bay:
http://www.halfmoonbaychamber.org/visiting_hmb/ecotourism/tidepools.html

Very good Organic Thai restaurant in Belmont:
http://jump.examiner.com/San_Francisco/Restaurant/restDetail.cfm?RestaurantID=10845

Homebrew Kid's Robotics Club
http://www.hbrobotics.org/

The Zeum (good Media center for kids. You can make a claymation films there; they also offer fun short weekend workshops):
http://www.zeum.org/education/weekendWorkshops.html

Art and Film Club for Teens (obviously older intended age but may be ok for your nephews):
http://www.chaseartfilm.com/

The Art and Film club (above) meets at The Randall Museum (www.randallmuseum.org) which is mostly of interest to younger kids but currently has an exhibit on mazes and also hosts Saturday morning drop-in ceramics as well as the amateur train club and the SF Amateur Astronomy lecture series: (http://www.sfaa-astronomy.org/calendar.php?drawevent:871)

Cool walking tours of the Mission murals:
http://www.precitaeyes.org/tours.html

Kids Outdoor Club (a drop in program for kids to play capture the flag, treasure hunt, soccer etc. in Golden Gate Park with other kids in case they get the desire to so or if the parents need some fun, safe care for their age range; K has had a great time there.)
http://www.kidsoutdoorclub.com/

Bay Area Theatresports (BATS) (not intended for kids but we've enjoyed shows there; some content may be adult-oriented)
http://www.improv.org/shows/calendar.htm

Greens Restaurant is right next door to BATS (can be busy)
http://www.greensrestaurant.com/about.html

The Exploratorium
(Great hands-on science museum; I've never seen a kid with any interest in science not love it)
http://www.exploratorium.edu/

Adventure Playground
Rough and ready outdoor adventure playground in Berkeley:
http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/marina/marinaexp/adventplgd.html

That's a pretty big tip of an even bigger iceberg.

No comments:

Post a Comment