Sponsor Spotlight: BandWorks Camp

bandworks-camp-oakland

Thanks to BandWorks for being a sponsor of 510Families.com this year. BandWorks School of Rock is a year-round program that offers group music classes to grade school aged kids in a handful of Bay Area locations, including Jack London Square. During the summer, half-day camps extend the program, allowing kids to really jam, freed from [...]

Crab Cove in Alameda for little explorers

Get your hands dirty at Crab Cove in Alameda

I was a lucky chaperone on a field trip to Alameda’s Crab Cove with a class of curious kindergartners.  I learned about marine mammals (native critters), estuaries (fresh water + ocean water), and how often snacks and hugs are required to keep our energy up (lots!). What’s so special about Crab Cove? The Crab Cove [...]

MOCHA is moving

readertip

The terrific hands-on Museum of Children’s Art is moving to a bigger and better space. Don’t worry, it’s still in Oakland! The new location for MOCHA will be at 1625 Clay St, just a few blocks from the 19th St BART station. Key dates The last day open to the public at the current location, [...]

Baseball daytrip: SF Giants fan lot playground

SF Giants fan lot for kids

Go Giants! Though I’m not much of a baseball fan, it’s pretty exciting having world champs in our backyard. Am I right? To get a taste of the action without paying for a ticket, you and your children can head down to the fan lot playground on non-game days. I learned this tip from San [...]

See you at Cal Day?

visting the bug doctor

There really is something for everyone as UC Berkeley, AKA Cal, opens its doors to the families of the East Bay for Cal Day. My husband and second grader have their eyes on auditing another physics class while my kindergartner and toddler want to run around the grounds making slime and looking for doggies and [...]

Exploratorium Opens at New SF Location

Plankton Populations at the Exploratorium

The Exploratorium, long a favorite destination for Bay Area families, has relocated to Pier 15 along the Embarcadero of San Francisco Bay, finally wrapping up its move from its old location at the Palace of Fine Arts. It opens to the public with an ambitious array of public entertainment offerings, many of them free, on [...]

Zoinks! Scooby Doo LIVE coming to Paramount Theatre in Oakland

scooby-doo-tour

Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Inc. Gang will take the stage in an all-new family musical, SCOOBY-DOO LIVE! MUSICAL MYSTERIES, presented by Warner Bros. Featuring characters that kids of the 70s might be more excited about than their children, SCOOBY-DOO LIVE! MUSICAL MYSTERIES is set to entertain Bay Area audiences at Oakland’s Paramount Theatre on Sunday, [...]

Claymation class at Sticky Art Lab in Berkeley

Claymationeca6b7

My son and I had so much fun doing a little claymation project at the Children’s Creativity Museum in San Francisco (included with admission) a couple years ago, that I’ve been hoping to have a chance to take it a little further now that he’s older. The after-school class at Sticky Art Lab in Berkeley [...]

Ticket Alert: Knuffle Bunny

KnuffleBunnypromo4

Fans of the Mo Willems book Knuffle Bunny will be excited to learn that the Bay Area Children’s Theatre production of Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical, opening Saturday, April 13, at 2 p.m. at the Freight & Salvage venue in Berkeley. This stage adaptation of the popular book was written by Mo Willems himself, with [...]

Exploring the USS Hornet with little ones

Alameda's USS Hornet with kids

Even kids too young for the engine room tour will have a blast. The flight deck features more aircraft, wide expanses of tarmac that little legs can use to run off energy and gorgeous views of San Francisco and the East Bay hills.

Fitness programs for kids at Woohoo Fit

Kids fitness at Woohoo Fit

After seeing her own daughter’s declining physical activity, Eva Bramwell took matters into her own hands gym and started physical training classes for school-age children. I asked her to tell us a bit more. Why did you start kids fitness programs? Kids are not getting enough exercise these days. PE programs are being cut in [...]

Kids Bowl Free at Albany Bowl this summer

bowling

The Kids Bowl Free program is nationwide, and our local independent bowling alley in Albany participates. Simply go to the website KidsBowlFree.com/albany to register your child. Every week, free bowling passes will arrive in email. Beginning April 15, your child can bowl twice per day, every day, all summer as long as he or she [...]

Review: Nit Pixies lice removal salon in Oakland

nitpixies

When my son’s best friend at school was “diagnosed” with lice, an itchy feeling on my head told me we were next.

A Week of Art Camp Giveaway

4cats-camp-output

We are so excited to be able to host this giveaway on behalf of 4cats Studio in Kensington. I’ve been completely wooed by the fine art I see in the windows of their shop on the north side of the Kensington Circle. The picture above is of actual work produced by six of the students [...]

{510} Family Faves with Oakland mom, Corey Weinstein

Corey and Ben in Oakland

Corey Weinstein lives in Oakland—with her son Benjamin (almost 10) and their dog Firebolt. She’s a Broker-Associate of Orange Door Properties at Red Oak Realty. She is also one of the Directors of CAMP 510, an arts + maker summer day camp in Temescal. We thank her for sharing her love of Oakland and the [...]

Indoor birthday party venue: Wheelhouse batting cages in Richmond

batting-cage-birthday-party

My son’s eighth birthday party was a casual, mostly-boys affair at the Wheelhouse batting cages in Richmond. {previous post: Batting Cage in Richmond: The Wheelhouse} For our Sunday evening party, we had (way too much) pizza delivered right to the venue, brought fruit, pistachios, drinks, and cupcakes. Easy! Here’s what $160 gets you at the [...]

Kids skate free at Golden Skate

roller skating

The Kids Skate Free program is nationwide, and our nearby independent roller skating rink in San Ramon participates. Kids 12 and under can skate for free during designated times with a printed letter from the kidsskatefree.com site. As of today, these are the dates and times: Friday 3:45 pm – 6:00 pm Sunday 12:45 pm [...]