50 Things to Do with Bay Area Kids When School is Closed

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

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

What do we do when school is out? Here are some things I love to do with my kids:

1. Day 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 4 – 11 about science and learning). Children will build cool toys and contraptions while learning important science concepts.
2. Fly a kite. Fly kites in Berkeley Marina, perfect on a day when most places are closed, like Thanksgiving Day.
3. Swim. Turn a day off into a vacation day when you go swimming at a recreational pool or beach.
4. 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.
5. Hike. Hop on the ferry to hike Angel Island with snacks at Cove Cafe. Too far? Discover the Secret Stairs of the East Bay in Oakland or grab a walking stick to hike the the UC Berkeley fire trails.
6. Games. For $5 each plus the price of cookies, you can each play all the board games at Victory Point Cafe. ($7.50 on weekends)
7. Pedal boats and popcorn. Splash around pedal boats or ogle the gardens at Lake Merritt with popcorn afterward.
8. Alcatraz. Why should tourists have all the fun? Take your local kids to Alcatraz for a memorable day.
9. 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).
10. Ride around. Take the ferry to SF (from Jack London Square, Alameda, or Richmond) for a treat at the Ferry Building. Ride a street car, cable car, city bus, and BART all in the same day.
11. Volunteer. Volunteer with your child — there are so many ways to give back to our community.
12. Mini golf. GoldenTee is a fun destination for putt putt enthusiasts. Both Scandia and Lost Worlds have mini golf plus so much more.
13. 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.
14. Factory. Tour a sweet factory with your kids in Fairfield or Oakland (Candy, cookies, and donuts!)
15. Waterslides. Too cold for the water park? Silliman Aquatic Center and East Oakland Sports Center , and Mill Valley Aquatic Center have indoor water slides!
16. Ice skate. Put on your mittens and leg warmers and spin around an ice rink with a skating session. Here are 8 places to take a kid ice skating.
17. Ropes Course. Take a trip to Quarry Park for big fun on the zip line, rappel, free fall, ropes course, and a massive playground .
18. Doll time. Road trip to the American Girl Store in Palo Alto. No time for that? Take your American Girl — or fake American Girl in our case — out for tea.
19. Arcades. Visit Jack London Square's Plank for video gaming and air hockey at off-peak prices; head down to John's Incredible Pizza for all you can eat fun; spend a couple of hours at Fremont's KidTopia; or trek out to Scandia for bumper boats, laser tag, and video games.

20. Discover a playground. (510) residents swear that Heather Farm is always worth the drive to Walnut Creek! To mix it up, 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. Check out this playground with a cafe. Here are five playgrounds worth a trip to SF.
21. Make art. Stop by one of the excellent drop-in art studios in the East Bay and make something together. Paint pottery at Color Me Mine, Alameda or Brushstrokes in Berkeley.
22. Roll. Get air at the skate park on your trick scooter or skateboard. 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.
23. Treasure Island. This island has everything: biking, food, giant Jenga, small beach, playground, and the best views in the Bay Area. Or this playground with a view.
24. Things that go. Poke around historic planes at the Oakland Aviation Museum, open Wednesday thru Sundays, this kid-friendly museum is located near the Oakland airport.
25. Escape. Older kids will enjoy the novelty and challenge of an Escape Room. We like one in Richmond and another in Alameda.
26. Wilderness. Look for wild turkeys, magpies, and owl boxes at the Sunol Regional Wilderness.
27. Animals. Hang out with the wild animals at the Oakland Zoo (now with California Experience and gondola ride). Pet the animals at Sulphur Creek Nature Center (Careful, they have a guinea pig lending library).
28. Kitties. Make a donation to care for cats and sit with them as you share a cookie at Cat Town (check hours!)
29. Marine mammals. Road trip up to Marin County and visit the impressive Marine Mammal Center. It’s open daily except for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day.
30. Trains. Hop the Amtrak for Sacramento's Old Town and Railroad Museum. Or look for trains closer to home.
31. Big Ship. Spend the day in Alameda and tour the enormous USS Hornet aircraft carrier museum – great for visiting grandparents.
32. Library. Bring a huge tote bag and check out the maximum number of books and DVDs from the library. FREE. Go out for doughnuts just because.
33. Museum. Day trip to a San Francisco museum! Visit the Asian Art Museum; say “hi” to the penguins at the Cal Academy of Sciences; make a stop-motion animation at Children’s Creativity Museum; or play with dry ice at the Exploratorium. Museums can be $$, so reserve Discover and Go passes beforehand.
34. Geocache. This worldwide scavenger hunt is always open! More details on our love of geocaching.
35. Fish. Bring a football and a fishing rod to Lake Temescal. Find some other great fishing spots for families.
36. Fourth Street. Spend the day wandering around 4th Street with ice cream and crafts. Peek in at the reptiles at the East Bay Vivarium and then walk over to Peet’s for hot cocoa.
37. Save on tickets. Pop over to our DEALS page for savings on local shows and outings. Family-friendly performances, boat rides, museums, and more!
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. Bake. From scratch, from a kit, or from a together cooking class or workshop, we love to make a tasty mess in the kitchen.
    
41. Clay. Get your hands dirty. Mold something fabulous with a pottery wheel at Kids ‘N Clay where you can drop in at 2 pm or 3.30 pm most days. See PDF schedule for days and times.
42. Sea glass. Hunt for sea glass at Point Molate Park Beach. Spend more time together in Point Richmond.
43. Bowl. Bowl ten frames at Albany Bowl, Plank, or Alameda. For a special treat, try Lucky Strike in San Francisco.
44. Bike. For knobby tires, visit Dirt World in Richmond or loop the pump track at the BMX dirt bike park in Pleasanton. Or stick to paved trails by riding 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).
45. Pinball. Go full tilt on pinball and old-school arcade games at the Pacific Pinball Museum.
46. Thrills. Spend a day playing in the snow (when it comes, of course); we know where to take Bay Area kids to get snowy for non-skiers. Wrong season? Riding the roller coasters at Six Flags.
47. Movies. How about a $5 Tuesday flick? Or maybe let everyone stay up late for a drive-in movie. I LOVE the wintertime for the drive-in because the shows start so much earlier… and when there's no school the next day? C'mon!
48. Climb. Scale the heights around Indian Rock in North Berkeley or hide in the caves of Rock City. Always free and open!
49. Take flight in San Francisco at Salesforce Park's free gondola from 8am to 8pm.
50. Thrift. Check out the vintage clothes and cool pre-owned stuff at local thrift shops.

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]