50 things to do with Bay Area kids when school is closed

With so many vacation days on the horizon, we wanted put together a list of destinations for our fellow families with grade school children to explore the Bay Area during holidays and other random school's out days. Enjoy!

Thanks to Sarah's Science for sponsoring this post (and providing the photos). All of the content was created by {510} Families.

1. Camp. Plan ahead for a day of school break camp with Sarah’s Science (Thanksgiving, Winter, Spring, and Summer camps are designed to excite children ages 5 – 15 about science and learning). Children will build cool toys and contraptions while learning important science concepts.
2. Art. Get artsy at BAMPFA and try to visit when the hands-on art lab is open. FREE for children and their accompanying adults!
3. Cats. Make a donation to care for kitties and sit with them as you share a cookie at Cat Town Cafe (check hours!)
4. Outdoors. Play OUTSIDE rain or shine — here are 30 outdoor places to take your kids — most are FREE.
5. Ride. Get air at the skate park on your trick scooter or skateboard.
6. Arcade. Visit Jack London Square's Plank for video gaming and air hockey at off-peak prices. Grab a cone at Ben & Jerry's when you finish.
7. Jump. Fly to the ceiling (not really!) at one of four trampoline parks; dodge balls and foam pits included or bounce out your ya-yas at Pump it up open jump (open 3pm to 5pm M/W/F plus school holidays for $12/kid over age 2).
8. Volunteer. Volunteer with your child — there are so many ways to give back to our community.
9. Skate. Put on your leg warmers and spin around at Oakland Ice or Yerba Buena with a skating session. Seasonally, you can check out Little Rink in Alameda.
10. Bike. For knobby tires, try 3 kid-friendly mountain bike routes or loop the pump track at the BMX dirt bike park in Pleasanton. Or stick to paved trails. Ride the path on the Bay Bridge, along the Shoreline in Alameda, or enjoy the Bay Trail bike path near Costco in Richmond (head towards the gas station end of Costco and look for a parking lot).
11. Explore. Jump off some moss-covered rocks in the California Delta — even better in the winter.
12. Pinball. Go full tilt on pinball and old-school arcade games at the Pacific Pinball Museum or Playland-Not-at-the-Beach (which has especially holiday-friendly hours, we've gone there Christmas Eve!).
13. Snow. Spend a day playing in the snow (when it comes, of course); we know where to take Bay Area kids to get snowy.
14. Drive-in. Let everyone stay up late for a drive-in movie. After all, it's not a school night.
15. Cal. Run around on the Cal campus before getting yourselves epic ice CREAM sandwiches. Did you know you can go up in the Campanile?
16. Safari. Bump around the open air jeep on a Santa Rosa safari.
17. Waterslides. Too cold for the water park? Silliman Aquatic Center and East Oakland Sports Center have indoor water slides!
18. Origami. Try drop-in paper folding at Taro's Origami Studio with treats after at Diesel or Bittersweet Cafe (Tuesday to Thursday 11am to 6pm).
19. Hornet. Spend the day in Alameda and tour the enormous USS Hornet – great for visiting grandparents.

20. Paddleboats. Splash around paddleboats or ogle the gardens at Lake Merritt with popcorn afterward.
21. Rockridge. Spend the day wandering in Rockridge or hop the BART to catch a movie at Orinda Theatre Square.
22. Pioneer. Too big for Little Farm? Try Ardenwood in Fremont, or Old Borges Ranch in Walnut Creek, for a throwback to animals, gardens, and pioneer times.
23. Games. For $5 each, you can each play all the board games at Victory Point Cafe.
24. Wilderness. Look for wild turkeys, magpies, and owl boxes at the Sunol Regional Wilderness.
25. Hike. Hike Angel Island with snacks at Cove Cafe
26. Paint. Paint pottery at Color Me Mine, Alameda or Brushstrokes in Berkeley
27. Animals. Pet the animals at Sulphur Creek Nature Center (Careful, they have a guinea pig lending library!)
28. Trains. Hop the Amtrak for Sacramento's Old Town and Railroad Museum.
29. Stairs. Climb the Secret Stairs of the East Bay in Oakland.
30. Library. Bring a huge tote bag and check out the maximum number of books and DVDs from the library. FREE.
31. Roll. Cruise around the roller skating rink at Golden Skate in San Ramon. Open for extra sessions around the holidays (but closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas Days) and open on MLK Day. Antioch's Paradise Skate is open Wednesday through Sundays with some special holiday hours.
32. Museum. Daytrip to a San Francisco museum! Visit the Asian Art Museum, say “hi” to the penguins at the Cal Academy of Sciences, or play with dry ice at the Exploratorium. Museums can be $$, so reserve Discover and Go passes beforehand.
33. Geocache. This worldwide scavenger hunt is always open! More details on our love of geocaching.
34. Duck-tour. Take a special tour of San Francisco on the duck boats (water and land); your kiddos might be allowed to drive.
35. Playground. Play on the playground of a school you don't attend. Bring a ball and a pogo stick to enjoy the space in a different way but no pets allowed.
36. Kites. Fly kites in Berkeley Marina, perfect on a day when most places are closed, like Christmas Day. FREE.
37. Zoo. Hang out with the wild animals at the Oakland Zoo or San Francisco Zoo. Older kids can play photographer and then come home and make a video. (We'll share any kid-generated videos here!)
38. Upcycle. Play with art materials at the Sticky Art Lab in Berkeley. Dig through the bins at the East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse or Urban Ore for some treasures to upcycle. Create a robot from your pieces parts.
39. Factory. Tour a fun factory with your kids in Petaluma, Fairfield, or Oakland (Candy, stickers, cookies, and donuts!)
40. Fish. Go fishin' (our kid reporter shares his favorite spots).
41. Dance. Pump up the tunes for a family dance party in your kitchen or check our calendar for a kid-friendly concerts.
42. Amusement. Bring a friend for your kid, and spend a couple of hours at Lost Worlds in Livermore or trek out to Scandia for bumper boats, laser tag, and video games.
43. Bowl. Bowl ten frames at Albany Bowl, Plank, or Alameda. For a special treat, try Lucky Strike in San Francisco.
44. 4th Street. You can shop, snack, play your way around Berkeley's Fourth Street.
45. Park. Take advantage of San Francisco’s treasure: Golden Gate Park. Here are some tips.
46. Beach. Get sand between your toes at a Bay Area beach.
47. Transportation. Take the ferry to SF for a treat at the Ferry Building. Ride a street car, cable car, city bus, and BART all in the same day.
48. Hammers. Create your own play structure at Adventure Playground in Berkeley. Share a smoothie at Sea Breeze on the way home.
49. LEGO. LEGO-lovers, click it together at Brickspace in Benicia or my house (sigh…).
50. Arrows. Unleash your inner Katniss Everdeen with an afternoon at the archery range.

Where else do your grade school age kids love to go when school’s out?

Thanks again to our sponsor, Sarah’s Science. Visit them online to learn more about their many creative science and nature camps, after school programs, and Saturday workshops. Have fun out there!

[Photos provided by Sarah's Science; used with permission]