PLACES
Party Playhouse, Daly City (Recommended by Majid Umma)
This place has a HUGE play structure-type thing and arcades in the adjacent room. It’s more for older kids but my son, who is a year and a half, had lots of fun. This is a perfect rainy day destination. It’s closed for private parties on weekends but during the weekday, the hours are 10am – 7pm.
For more info: http://www.mypartyplayhouse.com/
Conservatory of Flowers, SF (Recommended by Majid Umma)
There’s plenty to do in Golden Gate Park but I’m writing specifically about the Conservatory of Flowers there. A model train exhibit began on 11/20 so Majid and I went to check it out yesterday; he is really into trains these days.
We’ve been taking Majid there pre-crawling days b/c it is place that will delight the senses. The model train exhibit was a hit with Majid. The exhibit includes popular SF buildings and is made up of recycled, or second-hand, materials. For more info: http://www.conservatoryofflowers.org/whatsnew/index.htm
BTW, first Tuesdays are free although it’s just $5 to get in.
Randall Museum, SF (Recommended by Majid Umma)
This is a free children’s museum with a petting zoo, caged reptiles and birds, a toddler playroom, and much much more. The location itself is very nice, a place where your toddlers can roam and everyone can have lunch outdoors (weather permitting). Right when you walk in, you’ll see a little house full of hand puppets inside. Surrounding it are educational, interactive displays about earthquakes and city animals. There’s a theatre there but we havent’ checked that out yet. Various classes are also offered for a fee. Since Majid is under 2 years old, what we enjoy the most are the animals and the toddler playroom. For more details:
Pet stores, your local SPCA and Library (Recommended by Majid Umma)
So what do you do on a bad weather day with your toddler? Or, if you’re on a tight budget, how to entertain your child for free? Well, if your child like animals, then the pet store or the local SPCA are two good options. Majid likes animals very very much so these are a hit! We go to the San Francisco SPCA which is very nice and spacious. We ask to go into one of the kitten rooms but Majid is also just content with looking at the cats or dogs. I figure this is also an easy way to get Majid acclimated to animals and one day, have a pet of his own. The SF SPCA’s website for more info:
http://www.sfspca.org/home.shtml
At the local pet stores Majid gets a kick outta seeing fish, turtles, guinea pigs, mice, lizards, etc. We can’t spend too much time at these stores but he still has fun and it makes it a little outing.
Public spaces like the library are a gem. Majid goes to story time at our local library (held weekly) and we attend special events as well. The story time we go to is at the Excelsior Library and it includes sing alongs, book reading, and playtime. We’ve only gone to SF libraries and all of them have a chidlren’s section. But some are nicer than others. The Main Library is the best. But the Mission, Excelsior, and Mission Bay libraries are quite good also. These libraries don’t just offer books but puzzles, interactive displays, computers, a chance to meet other babes, and games. Majid already has his own library card. So cute. At SF libraries, children’s books are not charged overdue fees. The San Francisco Public Library: www.sfpl.org.
Tilden Park’s Little Farm, Berkeley (Recommended by Grits-n-Sushi)
Little Farm is a free, working farm and perfect for kids of all ages. Tots love feeding the animals celery and lettuce. There are cows, rams, goats, bunnies, pigs, sheep, ducks, geese, turkey, and chickens. It’s in the middle of Tilden Park so very peaceful-lots of beautiful trees towering above. There is a museum that kids like running through, a play structure by the parking lot, lots of picnic tables in the shade, and various long trails that you can hike on for miles if you need a walk afterwards (I used to take long stroller walks with my friends after visiting the farm when Mario was younger and less mobile).
They are open daily from 8:30 am- 4 pm. I like going early in the morning when the animals are most interested in people (and your food) and it is less crowded. Tilden Park Website
Academy of Sciences, SF (Recommended by Majid Umma)
WOW. This place is amazing!!! We’ve gone there two times since our friend generously got us membership as a Christmas gift. Majid cannot get enough and now asks us to take him there. We’ve only been able to check out the aquarium and kid’s room and that took up about two hours. Yes, they have a kid’s room for 0 – 5 year olds. It has a boat, a tree house, bunch of puzzles & toys, plenty to play with.
Majid was already really into marine creatures so going to the aquarium and being able to see things in real life is fantastic for him.
Because of the holidays, the lines (even the members line) had a long wait. But waiting 40 minutes was completely worth it. There’s plenty more to check out though so we will be going back regularly.
It’s a trip that our children grow up like this with so much exposure. I was telling my husband that Majid’s gone to the zoo more often in his 20 months of life than I did in my first 10 years of life. It’s kinda nutty…Anyhow, this place is an absolute must-see for babies. Talk about stimulation – sea horse, sea dragon, octopus, tropical fishes of all colors and size, alligators, penguins, lizards, jellyfish…It’s also pretty baby-friendly b/c they have many exhibits that are low to the ground so you’re not constantly lifting your child to see something. They also have an area where the kids can touch starfishes, urchins and seaweeds. California Academy of Sciences
Aquarium of the Bay, SF (Recommended by Majid Umma)
We tried to go to the Academy of Sciences on a free day and the line was without an end in sight. With our son all excited to see his favorite marine creatures, my husband came up with a great Plan B: Aquarium of the Bay, located in Pier 39, is a small but very well-done aquarium. It was an excellent trip (although more expensive than the “free day” we were planning for). There a tunnel where you can see tons of sharks and other big fishes. You can also touch bat rays and leopard sharks which was a huge treat for Majid. There’s a tank for tropical fishes and countless anchovies can be seen. I had never been there before but it was a real nice find. It’s costly though. This place also is full of fish from the Bay Area that they’re trying to conserve and you can learn a lot about the coast that we live near. Lastly, the gift store is a great place to go to purchase anything ocean related.
SPACES
Family lounges in stores – various (Recommended by Grits-n-Sushi)
Shopping can be draining but shopping with a baby that still breastfeeds frequently, needs frequent diaper changes, or needs some quiet time away from all the stimulation requires conjuring a nearly superhuman patience to survive the outing headache and stress-free. Family lounges are fabulous spaces for downtime. Here is a short list of places with family friendly lounges:
- Westfield’s Super Deluxe Family Lounge in San Fran. Read this short article in SF Gatefor a detailed description. I know some mamas who don’t even go there to shop…they just go to hang out in the lounge with other mamas! Changing tables, toys, clean, private nursing area, recliners…need I say more?
- Babies-R-Us-has a small room with a changing table, free diapers, rocking chairs, and low lights.
- OK, this is not a family lounge per se, but another good place to get some quiet nursing time is in dressing rooms. Most places are fine with women taking a booth to nurse/change diapers.
- More to come later
RESOURCES
SF Kids.Org (Recommended by Majid Umma)
I picked up a postcard that was advertising for this website and finally checked it out. SF Kids.Org
It’s actually pretty useful and not just for SF families b/c they list information for outside the city (like where to go for berry picking, recommendations for activities outside SF, etc.). It’s worth browsing. If you live in the city, then I definitely recommend it.
Lotus Bloom – Oakland (Recommended by hipinang)
After we checked out Lotus Bloom a few months ago, I thought Soluna and I would be back on a regular basis for sure. Instead, we went back for the second time today, had a blast and wondered what silly things kept us away. Lotus Bloom is an organization supporting children, youth and families. They provide semi-structured playtime for kids and their parents/caregivers at various days/times/spaces throughout Oakland for FREE. When we went today there were like 20 kids all running and crawling around, playing with toys, singing songs, eating snacks and there was a special treat (time to climb onto an Oakland fire truck!). For more info check out: http://lotusbloom.tripod.com/index.html.
This page has the following sub pages.
