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 or full week 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. Things that go. Poke around historic planes at the Oakland Aviation Museum, open Wednesday thru Sundays, this hands-on kid-friendly museum is located near the Oakland airport.
3. Art to make. Stop by one of the excellent drop-in art studios in the East Bay and make something together.
4. Art to see. Explore one of these special Bay Area museums for families. Weekdays are the BEST days for museums.
5. Roll. Get air at the skate park on your trick scooter or skateboard.
6. Hike. Hop on the ferry to hike Angel Island with snacks at Cove Cafe.
7. Benicia. Day tripping to historic Benicia includes the capitol, archery range, and lots of treats. Sign me up!
8. Take flight at indoor skydiving with the kids at iFly (ages 3 to 103).
9. Cards not quarters. Arcades are so fun. Visit Jack London Square's Plank for video gaming and air hockey at off-peak prices; grab a cone at Ben & Jerry's afterward. Or head down to John's Incredible Pizza for all you can eat fun, including the ice cream!
10. Jump. Flip through the air 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).
11. Ride around. 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.
12. Volunteer. Volunteer with your child — there are so many ways to give back to our community.
13. Ice 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.
14. Best playground ever? (510) residents swear that Heather Farm is always worth the drive to Walnut Creek!
15. Zoo. Hang out with the wild animals at the Oakland Zoo (now with gondola ride!).
16. Upcycle. Dig through the bins at the East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse or Urban Ore for some treasures to upcycle. Create a marble run from your pieces parts.
17. Factory. Tour a fun factory with your kids in Petaluma, Fairfield, or Oakland (Candy, stickers, cookies, and donuts!)
18. Waterslides. Too cold for the water park? Silliman Aquatic Center and East Oakland Sports Center , and Mill Valley Aquatic Center have indoor water slides!
19. Origami. Try drop-in paper folding at Taro's Origami Studio with treats after at Diesel or Bittersweet Cafe (Tuesday to Thursday 10am to 5pm).

20. Paddleboats. Splash around paddleboats or ogle the gardens at Lake Merritt with popcorn afterward.
21. Fourth Street. Spend the day wandering around 4th Street with ice cream and crafts.
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 plus the price of cookies, 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. Paint. Paint pottery at Color Me Mine, Alameda or Brushstrokes in Berkeley
26. Animals. Pet the animals at Sulphur Creek Nature Center (Careful, they have a guinea pig lending library!)
27. Trains. Hop the Amtrak for Sacramento's Old Town and Railroad Museum. Or look for trains closer to home.
28. Stairs. Climb the Secret Stairs of the East Bay in Oakland or Berkeley. Shh.
29. Hornet. Spend the day in Alameda and tour the enormous USS Hornet – great for visiting grandparents.
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. Save on tickets. Pop over to our DEALS page for savings on local shows and outings. Magic shows, boat rides, and more!
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. Here are five playgrounds worth a trip to SF.
36. Cats. Make a donation to care for kitties and sit with them as you share a cookie at Cat Town Cafe (check hours!)
37. Play outside. Out of ideas? Here are 30 outdoor places to take your kids — most are FREE.
38. Create a new world. Build your own play structure at Adventure Playground in Berkeley.
39. Build with bricks. LEGO-lovers, click it together at Brickspace in Benicia or my house (sigh…).
40. Kites. Fly kites in Berkeley Marina, perfect on a day when most places are closed, like Christmas Day. FREE.
41. Bounce. Reach for the sky at one of the Bay Area's trampoline parks. BYO grippy socks and check for coupons first.
42. Dance. Pump up the tunes for a family dance party in your kitchen or check our calendar for a kid-friendly concerts.
43. Amusement. Bring a friend for your kid, and spend a couple of hours at Hayward's Jumpity Bumpity or trek out to Scandia for bumper boats, laser tag, and video games.
44. Bowl. Bowl ten frames at Albany Bowl, Plank, or Alameda. For a special treat, try Lucky Strike in San Francisco.
45. 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 by riding 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).
46. Explore. Jump off some moss-covered rocks in the California Delta — even better in the winter.
47. 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!).
48. Snow. Spend a day playing in the snow (when it comes, of course); we know where to take Bay Area kids to get snowy.
49. Drive-in. Let everyone stay up late for a drive-in movie. After all, it's not a school night.
50. Cal. Run around on the Cal campus before getting yourselves frozen yogurt with all the goodies. Did you know there are dinosaur bones on campus and you can go up in the Campanile?

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]