The San Francisco Bay Area boasts a diverse and kid-friendly museum scene that can spark a lifelong interest in science, technology, natural history and the arts among even your smallest family members. What child (or adult for that matter!) doesn’t want to build a robot at The Tech Museum of Innovation, board a mercury space capsule at the Chabot Space & Science Center or visit the Marine Mammal Center to learn about how sea lions are rescued and rehabilitated? That’s why we rounded up a list of 30 museums in the Bay that kids should visit at least once. Read on and start planning your visits!
San Francisco
1. Future scientists will geek out over the hundreds of hands-on exhibits featured at the Exploratorium. Interactive experiences enable kids to learn about weather systems (touch different types of rain!), the science of baseball, human phenomena like thoughts and feelings, and life from DNA to ecosystems.
ErikThogersen/Exploratorium
2. At the Children’s Creativity Museum, kiddos can bring clay characters to life using stop motion technology in the animation studio, or enter the music studio and record their own hit pop song. There are also plenty of creative activities for the five and under set—think sandboxes, a dress up area, building logs and a storybook space. And don’t forget to take a spin on the carousel located just outside the museum!
3. Take a step back in time to learn about the origin and evolution of San Francisco’s famed streetcars at the Cable Car Museum. Young conductors can check out three antique cars from the late 1800s, along with the gadgets that made these vintage cars run like mechanical grips, cables, electric motors and brake mechanisms.
4. Where else can you stroll through a rain forest, be dazzled by galaxies, meet an albino alligator and touch sea urchins? These are just a few of the activities at the California Academy of Sciences that will peak the curiosity of kids of all ages. Little ones five and under will enjoy the Curiosity Grove, a newly revamped play space with building blocks, books and a dress up area.
5. Plan a trip to Fisherman’s Wharf to visit the new home of the Cartoon Art Museum. Older kids will appreciate the permanent collection of 7,000 pieces including comic strips, comic books, anime and political cartoons, as well as the original cartoon art exhibitions.
6. Don’t let the name fool you—The Walt Disney Family Museum is best suited for older kids, especially those with an interest in animation. Disney’s early sketches, the evolution of animation technology and the creation of Disneyland are featured in a series of displays.
Walt Disney Family Museum
7. There’s something for everyone at the Randall Museum to enjoy from ocean ecology and geology exhibits to a working model railway. A wide variety of classes are also offered including ceramics, woodworking and robotics. And stay tuned for the 2018 grand re-opening of the museum at its original Corona Heights location.
8. The charming but tiny San Francisco Railway Museum is located along the route of the famed F line streetcar. Audio-visual exhibits, an extensive photo collection and a replica of a motorman’s platform give visitors a glimpse into the history of the city’s rail transit system. And, as an added bonus—admission is free!
9. Bring the entire family to SFMOMA, one of San Francisco’s most famous museums. With a kid-friendly admission policy (18 and under are free!), it’s easy to introduce kids to artists like Warhol, Kahlo and Calder.
East Bay
10. Celebrate art, history and natural sciences relating to the Golden State at the Oakland Museum of California. There are plenty of fun activities to get the kids involved and engage young minds. Don’t miss the weekly art classes and toddler dance parties!
Matthew Millman/Oakland Museum of California
11. Dazzle your kids with your flipper skills while racking up points at any of the 90 working pinball machines at the Pacific Pinball Museum. To learn more about the origins and evolution of pinball, be sure to visit the history and 80s exhibition rooms.
12. Housed in a cavernous aeronautics hangar, the Oakland Aviation Museum (OAM) is the perfect place for young fliers to delve into aircraft history. Not to be missed, are exhibits documenting the contributions to aviation by women and African-Americans. Want a more hands-on experience? OAM offers open cockpit days a few times per year.
13. At the Habitot Children’s Museum, kids can navigate tunnels in a wiggle wall, ride in a fire truck replica, get their face painted or pretend shop in the grocery and café play areas. Classes and seasonal workshops (think gingerbread house decorating) are also a draw at this Berkeley hot spot for tots.
Leslie Harvey/Habitot
14. The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive is a must-see for kids and adults alike. Art exhibitions, weekend matinees, round table readings, musical performances and art workshops encourage the participation of entire families.
15. What kid wouldn’t enjoy a museum aboard a giant aircraft carrier? Climb aboard the USS Hornet to discover more about the ship’s importance during World War II and its role in a NASA Apollo astronaut recovery vessel. Children over 38 inches tall can also give the flight simulator a whirl.
16. STEM-themed exhibits like the Rocket Launch Experience and the Ingenuity Lab will spark young minds at the Lawrence Hall of Science. Toddlers can get in on the fun at the Young Explorers Experience where little ones can stack, build, balance objects and play in the outdoor science park.
17. Expand your mind at kid-friendly Chabot Space and Science Center. At the Sky Portal exhibit, pick a historic date and take a peek at how constellations and planets were aligned at that exact moment. Little astronauts will love trying out space jock exercise gear and climbing into the seat of a Mercury Space Capsule. Don’t forget to catch a flick at the planetarium or peep through the three giant telescopes on the observation deck.
Flickr/Chabot Space & Science Center
18. Spend an afternoon at the Children’s Natural History Museum and marvel at the collection of mammoth, saber-tooth cat, giant cave bear and sloth fossils that were discovered in the mid-1900s near the museum’s Fremont location. Amateur sleuths ages three to 11 can join a scavenger hunt and, if completed, can pick out a prize!
19. For a place that bills itself as the “museum of fun,” Playland-Not-At-The-Beach does not disappoint. Get a glimpse of old-timey amusement park fun with operational pinball machines, penny arcades, carnival games and historic artifacts at Playland’s original location near The Sutro Baths in San Francisco.
North Bay
20. Visiting a hospital might not sound like the most enticing way to spend the day but what if the patients are Northern Elephant Seals, California Sea Lions and Harbor Seal Pups? At the Marine Mammal Center, the entire family can take a docent-led tour and find out more about how marine mammals are rescued and rehabilitated. As an added bonus, admission is free!
21. One of the highlights of the Children’s Museum of Sonoma County is the miniature train station. Using a control board, kids ages 10 and under can make model cars stop, start and switch tracks while parents watch from a replica full size train car. Don’t leave without checking out the air cannons, light peg wall, magnetic ball wall and the puppet theater.
22. Just across the Golden Gate Bridge in Sausalito, you’ll find one of the best children’s museums in Northern California— the Bay Area Discovery Museum. A series of hands-on experiences—from discovering how tall you are in apples or pennies to building structures out of foam noodles and blocks—are designed to ignite creativity and let the imagination flourish. Little ones are free to explore a stream bed and outdoor tunnels in the Tot Spot, a toddler safe zone for littles 42 inches tall and smaller.
Bay Area Discovery Museum
23. Expand the minds of the next generation of space explorers with a visit to the Space Station Museum in Novato. Artifacts on display include a life-sized Mercury Capsule replica, a Lunar Rover replica and a SOKOL Russian Spacesuit. The monthly telescope night event is not to be missed! (Note: this smaller non-profit museum is only open Friday through Sunday.)
24. See your favorite Peanuts characters—Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Lucy and Pig-Pen trailed by his cloud of dust—brought to life at the Charles Schulz Museum. The collection contains thousands of comic strips, letters and photographs, along with a replica of Schulz’s work studio and an exhibit about the language of Peanuts. Good grief!
South Bay and Peninsula
25. Pop into the Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose for a hands-on learning experience sure to spark your little one’s curiosity and imagination. Dig for replica mammoth fossils, experiment with different ways to blow bubbles, play grocer at the rainbow market and visit the Art Loft to give printmaking, collage and sculpting a try.
Andrea Henneman/Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose
26. Hedgehogs and ferrets and bats, oh my! Tots ages nine and under will love the animal (more than 50 species!) and science exhibits at the Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo. On Super Family Sundays, special educators are on site to help foster an encouraging and productive learning experience for children with physical disabilities and learning differences.
27. If you have a train-crazed little one in the family, be sure to check out The Edward Peterman Museum of Railway History. This free museum is comprised of four historic Santa Clara railway buildings and is home to an extensive collection of operational scale model trains. There is also an extensive collection of train artifacts like a velocipede (a manually operated railway vehicle), Centralized Track Control boards and crossing signals.
28. You’ll have a hard time dragging your kids away from CuriOdyssey, an interactive science museum that also features a mini zoo. The wildlife exhibits are particularly popular with the younger set—where else can you stroll through an enormous aviary, touch an opossum’s fur, observe bobcat and river otter feedings, and meet a ferret?
CuriOdyssey
29. The Tech Museum of Innovation is a must-see for visitors seeking insight into the role and influence of technology in our lives. This San Jose based science and technology center encourages guests to play and learn through a series of hands-on exhibits. Highlights include understanding your body metrics through a visual representation of your heart rate, training to become a cyber detective to counteract malware attacks and building your own robot!
30. Older generations can introduce youngsters to one of the most popular candies of yesteryear at the Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia. During a brief tour, you’ll hear about the history of Pez and see a display filled with all 900 plus characters (Miss Piggy, Santa Claus and Wonder Woman!) sold since the 1950s. Don’t leave before snapping a picture in front of the world’s largest Pez dispenser at almost eight-feet tall.
