For the past three years, San Francisco has been a wonderland for me and Bean. We’ve found so much to do, beyond the usual preschooler zoo and playground beat.
1. East Beach at Crissy Field
By far the best beach we’ve found for little kids in San Francisco. The bay water is warmer than Ocean Beach, and the smooth wide waves ripple past so no fears of creeper waves or rip currents. If your kids are into pools or still water, there’s also a shallow lagoon with soft sandy bottom. Plus, you get gorgeous Golden Gate Bridge views.
Just a perfect spot for little kids, and not so rowdy that they’ll get over-stimulated and turn on you. Craft tables, lego walls, and even a Tegu magnetic wall, and a revolving cast of outdoor toys like water tables, water painting tablets, or obstacle course. On our last visit, we got to make paper monsters and film our own little stop-motion movies with them.
Right outside is an inexpensive carousel, making this a one-stop shop for the best day of your kid’s life.
3. LucasFilm’s Lobby (aka The Star Wars Museum)
This is kind of a secret treasure right there in the Presidio. During normal work hours, you can visit the lobby of LucasFilm and see an assortment of Star Wars artifacts. Just walk past Yoda Fountain, to the front doors where a Stormtrooper stands guard. You’ll also see Darth Vader, Boba Fett, and lots of movie memorabilia in display cases. Sure to blow the mind of any little Star Wars fan in your life.
A fun ramble of a hike that’s BART accessible and ends up at a playground and soccer field. In a quarter mile, kids can explore a creek, stomp over wooden bridges, peer at berry bushes and clambor over tree limbs. It’s compact but full of everything a kid could want in a hike.
5. Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park has everything — whether you want to take in a mellow hike, row boats, have a picnic surrounded by poppies, or tear through San Francisco’s greatest and largest playground, Koret Playground (and carousel). There are also three awesome museums all within walking distance: California Academy of Sciences, de Young Museum, and the Conservatory of Flowers.
For a fun quick and free adventure: the observatory tower at the de Young is free and doesn’t require admission to the museum. You can also check out the de Young Café for a pretty good warm lunch between outdoor adventures — also open to the public, no museum admission required.
From the Ferry Building at Embarcadero, you can use your Clipper Card to hop onto a ferry to Sausalito. Ferries leave on the hour. You could do this as part of a larger trip to Sausalito, or just make the boat ride itself the adventure. The ferry passes Alcatraz and offers sweeping views of the San Francisco skyline and Golden Gate Bridge.
7. Stern Grove
Of course, you can catch free concerts here on Sundays over the summer, but Stern Grove is a treat anytime. A huge, serene outdoor amphitheater, cloaked in green grass and surrounded by redwoods. When Toddler Bean decided she wanted to learn how to go up steps by herself, we let her loose on the grass covered stairs here for the day, for tumbles and giggles in equal measure. When Preschooler Bean wanted to practice “balancing” we directed her to the narrow rows of rocks (delineating “rows”) while we spread out in the grass and stared at the sky. At every age, she took to the wide expansive stage to perform tap and ballet routines for us and the odd dogwalker. Especially gorgeous in the spring, when all the shrubbery blooms with purple, red, and pink.
