Category: Things to do with kids in California

Musee Mecanique

The Musee Mecanique is one of the world’s largest collections of antique arcade machines. Machines on display include turn-of-the-century nickelodeons and modern video games. It can deliver a lesson in history to you and to your childen who have never heard of Pac-Man. All of the games are still coin-operated and some of the old ones take nickels, so there’s a lesson about inflation to learn as well. Make sure not to miss “Laffing Sal,” an enormous mechanical woman who chortles when paid two-bits, or the old-fashioned photo booth where you can take some keepsake pictures.

Contact no: (415) 346-2000

Location: Pier 45, San Francisco, CA 94133

Learn more here.

Exploratorium

The world’s first and best hands-on science museum sits in the Marina district. What sets this museum apart is that there is no rope separating visitors from the exhibits. Visitors are encourage to touch, feel, pick up, and interact with everything in the building. The museum, more than any other, is something to do rather than something to see. Make sure not to miss the Shadow Box in which you can make a semipermanent record of your shadow on the wall or Make a Tornado in which you create or destroy a miniature tornado. Exhibits change frequently but are sure to inform, stimulate, and astound all ages.

Contact no: (415) 561-0360

Location: 3601 Lyon Street, San Francisco, CA 94123

Learn more here.

Cartoon Art Museum

This museum aims to teach visitors about the history and possibilities of the nation’s most overlooked art form and cultural export. Charlie Brown, Spider-Man, Horton, and Mr. Magoo, the museum pays homage to the tops in the field and sheds some light on their long-neglected creators. You can find stuffy museums that feature modernism, post-modernism, or reverse-post-post modernism in any city, but San Francisco gives you the informal Cartoon Art Museum. Long-forgotten favorites jockey for space with new creations, so you and your child will have a lot to explain to each other.

Contact no: (415) 227-8666

Location: 655 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94105

Learn more here.

California Academy of Sciences

This massive museum reopened at its new site in Golden Gate Park. The museum features, among many other exhibits, a breathtaking dinosaur collection. No one’s sure exactly why children love dinosaurs so much. Is it that they were big? That they’re extinct? The museum also prides itself on its Skulls exhibit, which consists of skulls from all over the animal kingdom, presented together to astounding effect, and sure to delight some children.

Contact no: (415) 379-8000

Location: 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA 94118

Learn more here.

Mission Dolores

 

 

This humble church is the oldest building in town, and the source of the name of the neighborhood where it sits. The Mission stands now as a memory of Spanish colonial times, even before the Gold Rush. The graveyard in back is of particular interest, and not just for the more macabre children, because kids can see how young many of these people (including San Francisco’s first mayor) died. The staff is happy to give a tour, which will enlighten even the nonreligious.

Contact no: (415) 621-8203

Location: 3321 16th Street, San Francisco, CA 94114

Learn more here.

Maritime National Historical Park

Go back in time at the Maritime National Historical Park, which sits on the Hyde Street Pier near Fisherman’s Wharf. The park maintains a half-dozen antique ships to illustrate the maritime history of the Bay. They have square-rigged ships, paddle-wheel tugboats, and even tall schooners like the C.A. Thayer. Smell the salty air of the sea and hear the hulls creak. Try to explain to your children that at one time, these clipper ships were the fastest way to get to California.

Contact no: (415) 447-5000

Location: 499 Jefferson Street, San Francisco, CA 94109

Learn more here.

Golden Gate Bridge

You could go to San Francisco and not walk over the bridge. Theoretically, it is possible. But it doesn’t really make much sense, does it? One of the greatest landmarks our country has to offer, the Golden Gate Bridge isn’t just there to decorate the bay, it’s used by somewhere near 60,000 people a day. Still, it does spruce up the area quite nicely. There are tours offered, but on a tour, you’ll just step off a bus for a few minutes of picture-taking. You could drive across, but you’d be too busy driving to really see the bridge itself. Trust us when we say that this is the sort of thing that’s best experienced on foot. The walk from one end to the other is about 1.7 miles, so it might not be ideal for toddlers without a stroller.

Contact no: (415) 921-5858

Location: Highway 101 North, San Francisco, CA 94129

Learn more here.

Coit Tower

 

Coit Tower, at the top of Telegraph Hill in North Beach, was built when a wealthy heiress, Lillie Coit, left San Francisco a large part of her fortune to be used to beautify the city. The top of the tower is the highest point in the area. It’s said Lillie intended the tower as a monument to firefighters, and that it was meant to look like the nozzle of a fire hose. Aside from a unique, 360 degree view from the top, the tower also houses a museum with various depictions of San Francisco life in the 1930s. At the bottom, walkways (some on a sharp incline) pass by some truly picturesque cottages and gardens.

Contact no:(415) 362-0808

Location: 1 Telegraph Hill Boulevard, San Francisco, CA 94133

Learn more here.

Fisherman’s Wharf

This is the most touristy area in San Francisco, but there are a few things here that would be unfortunate to miss. First, buy some fresh crab from the street vendors, preferably in a sourdough-bread bowl. Next, ignore the men trying to sell you souvenirs and make a beeline for Pier 39 to watch the sea lions frolic and laze about in the sun (or fog). They’re charming animals, beloved in San Francisco, but certainly not because of their work ethic. Once you’ve finished envying their lifestyle, you can slip off to the Musee Mecanique, Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum or any of the other nearby attractions.

Contact no:
Location: Pier 39, San Francisco, CA 94133

Learn more here.

Camera Obscura

Park your car by the restored windmill and the tulip garden where Golden Gate Park meets the water. San Francisco is a peninsula, with the Bay on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other. Since picturesque Ocean Beach is on the Pacific side, you can expect to see surfers hitting the waves as you make your way to the ruins of the Sutro Baths, a 19th-century attraction. Behind the ruins, you can find the Camera Obscura, a giant mirror apparatus based on designs by Leonardo da Vinci. Using mirrors, the camera projects a giant image of the ocean onto its walls. Take a trip back in time to Renaissance Italy and teach your children a bit about how lenses work while you enjoy the salt air of the Pacific.

Contact no: (415) 750-0415

Location: 1096 Point Lobos Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94121

Learn more here.