Best Places to Take School-Age Children

Here are some of the best places in the Bay Area and vicinity to take pre-school-age children to:

Select a category:

  Museums, Zoos, Science and Nature Centers Amusement Parks and Commercial Attractions  

 

Museums, Zoos, Science and Nature Centers
Back to Top | Back to all links overview
Exploratorium, San Francisco
Tech Museum of Innovation, San Jose
Academy of Sciences, San Francisco

Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley

Oakland Museum, Oakland
Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey
Long Marine Lab, Santa Cruz
Coyote Point Environmental Museum, Burlingame
Rosicrucian Museum, San Jose
Emma Prusch Farm Park, San Jose
NASA-Ames Research Center Visitor's Center, Mountain View
Baylands Nature Preserve, Palo Alto

Treasure Island Museum, Treasure Island, San Francisco

Bay Model, Sausalito

Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History

Cable Car Barn Museum, San Francisco

Lawrence Livermore Labs Visitor's Center, Livermore

Sulphur Creek Park, Hayward

San Francisco Bay Refuge HQ Interpretive Center, Fremont

Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo

Youth Scientific Institute, Alum Rock Park, San Jose

Alexander Lindsay Junior Museum, Walnut Creek

Lick Observatory, Mount Hamilton, east of San Jose

Old Faithful Geyser of California, Calistoga
Petrified Forest, between Calistoga and Santa Rosa

Micke Grove Park and Zoo, Lodi

Camera Obscura, Cliff House, San Francisco

Historical Points of Interest

Sharpsteen Museum, Calistoga

Old Bale Grist Mill, St. Helena

Sutter's Fort, Sacramento

Ardenwood Historical Farm, Fremont

San Jose Historical Museum, San Jose

Alcatraz Island, San Francisco

Fort Point, San Francisco

Presidio Army Museum, San Francisco

Old Mint, San Francisco

Jack London State Park, Glen Ellen

Fort Ross State Historic Park

Petaluma Adobe, Petaluma

Mission San Jose, Fremont

Mission San Juan Bautista

Mission Santa Clara

Mission Dolores, San Francisco

Sutro Bath Ruins, San Francisco

Amusement Parks and Commercial Attractions
Back to Top | Back to all links overview

Great America, Santa Clara

Marine World/Africa USA, Vallejo

Santa Cruz Boardwalk, Santa Cruz

Winchester Mystery House, San Jose

Raging Waters, San Jose

Oakwood Lakes, Manteca

Waterworld, Sacramento

The Mystery Spot, Santa Cruz

Trains, Boats, and Planes

California Railroad Museum, Sacramento

Western Railway Museum, Rio Vista

Skunk Trains, Fort Bragg

Roaring Camp and Big Trees Railway, Felton near Santa Cruz

Wagons to Wings Collection, Morgan Hill

Museum of Aviation, Travis Air Force Base, Fairfield

BART

Light Rail, San Jose

Cable cars, San Francisco

National Maritime Museum, San Francisco

Maritime Museum, Monterey

San Francisco Historic Ships at Hyde Street Pier

Balclutha sailing ship, Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco

Jeremiah O-Brien liberty ship, San Francisco

Pampanito submarine, Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco

Bay Cruise, San Francisco, ferry rides, San Francisco, Oakland, Larkspur,Tiburon, Vallejo

Canoeing, Russian River, Guerneville

Paddle boats, kayaks, Shoreline Park, Mountain View, (Shoreline Park and Spinnaker Sailing summer camps )

Paddle boats, Lake Almaden, San Jose

Nike Missile Site, Marin Headlands

Outdoor Romps

Point Lobos State Reserve, south of Carmel

Pinnacles National Monument, south of Hollister

Fitzgerald Marine Refuge, Moss Beach

Lover's Point, Pacific Grove

Fort Funston, San Francisco

Bay Area Backroads: Marin Headlands Visitor Center

Redwood Grove, Henry Cowell State Park, Felton

Alum Rock Park, San Jose

Coyote Hills Regional Park, Newark

Elkhorn Slough, Moss Landing

Angel Island State Park, San Franciso Bay

Muir Woods National Monument

PixPage Fun: OUTDOORS

Point Reyes National Seashore

Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens, Fort Bragg

Back to Top | Back to all links overview

Disclaimer: Okay, Okay I admit, most stuff is taken from the following great page (I recommend it, lots of useful, local info: Ron Horii's Bay Area Back Pages (I hope he'll forgive me stealing his info, but I just wanted to save the info for my own in case he ever decides to closde these pages...