Bay Area Educational Activities for Kids

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If you are visiting the San Francisco Bay Area, you may be unfamiliar with the Bay Area educational activities locally available to children and their families. In today’s blog, we are going over 5 Bay Area educational activities for kids and families so you can add new places to visit your calendar. Each of these educational activities had to meet the following criteria: located in the Bay Area, children must be able to interact with at least one of the exhibits or participate in daily programs.

The San Francisco Zoo

The beautiful San Francisco Zoo is open 365 days a year and has several kid-friendly programs. The zoo is featuring a new Wolf Canyon exhibit that just opened in June and daily animal talks hosted by zoo staff. Children and their families can enjoy the San Francisco Zoo from 10a-5p during the spring and summer. If you are visiting on a hot day, be sure to head over in the morning for the best chance to see active animals. Once the temperature starts rising, many animals will seek the cool of their shelters and may be harder to view.

Bay Area Discovery Museum

The Bay Area Discovery Museum is located in Sausalito and offers a wide variety of exhibits for children 6 months to 10 years.  They are currently featuring the Fab Lab which opened on May 6th for children 5-10 years of age. The Bay Area Kids Museum has this to say about the Fab Lab, “The Fab Lab is a makers space with digital fabrication technology, 3D printers, laser cutters, and vinyl cutters.” Please note that the Fab Lab has special hours so if your child is hoping to visit the Fab Lab make sure you visit their web site to view their summer hours.

The Tech Museum

The Tech Museum “Inspires the Innovator in Everyone" and is located in San Jose. The Tech Museum is a great activity for school-aged children and up and their parents. They have several galleries and an IMAX theater for technology and science-based films. If you live locally in the Bay Area, they have summer programs for children available.

Aquarium of the Bay

The Aquarium of the Bay is located on the edge of Pier 39 in San Francisco and features over 20,000 animals. July through September the aquarium is open 9a-8p and has dozens of daily educational programs available for children and families. They even have a “Touch the Bay” exhibit! The “Touch the Bay” exhibit has two touch pools with Juvenile Bat Rays, Leopard Sharks, Big Skates, and Swell Sharks. To get the most out of your experience, visit the touch pools when the animals are most active. The Aquarium recommends visiting the touch pools before the 12:30p feeding time.

Children’s Discovery Museum

The Children’s Discovery Museum is located in San Jose and has 13 galleries for your family to enjoy. They are currently featuring The Amazing Castle, where children can wear costumes and engage in role-playing. Children can become lords, ladies, and villagers as they visit the castle. They have bubbles and rainbow market gallery that is great for younger children and their peers to enjoy. The Children’s Discovery Museum is currently open Tuesday-Sunday 10a-5p and Sunday 12p-5p. If you would like to avoid the crowds, they suggest coming later in the afternoon. We hope you discovered a few new Bay Area educational activities and places to visit!  

Additional Resource:

Another great resource to have on hand is Julie Singh’s blog containing 62 ways to get active! Keeping your kids active is a great way to not only strengthen their bones and muscles but it also will help them sleep better and have a better outlook on life! You can view her blog by following the link below!