I wanted to cry when I realized the Exploratorium dropped their monthly free admission day and raised their prices such that a family of four with two grade-school age children, like mine, pays $88 to visit. (Kids over 6 cost $19 and adults cost $25.) As a comfort measure, I reminded myself that there are plenty of free and cheap things to do with kids in the East Bay, and I invited our 7000 Facebook fans to help me think of them.
Here’s a list of activities that cost less than five bucks for an adult and a kid. Thanks to all of you who contributed!
- Feed celery (BYO) to the goats at Tilden Park Little Farm
- Make use of free admission days at Bay Area Discovery Museum
- Play a game of Air Hockey
- Get wet at the El Cerrito Splash Pad
- Bring a ride-on toy to share at Totland, Doyle Street Park, Memorial Park, Frog Park, Always Dream Play Park, or ANY playground
- Library hop – try different branches’Â story times – many are listed on our calendar >
- Visit the T.Rex and other dinosaur skeletons in the Life Sciences building at UC Berkeley
- Take a class like Sea Squirts at Crab Cove
- Walk around the Lafayette Reservoir counter-clockwise and end up at the playground near the parking lot. Bring 8 quarters for the parking meter (maximum time is 2 hrs).
- Small World Park in Pittsburg Whoops! It’s actually SIX dollars for a parent ($4) and child ($2) to enter this venue, but seemed worth mentioning anyway.
- Go outside. On your own block.
- Discover animals at the Junior Art + Science Center
- Share a big cup of frozen yogurt at Yogurtland or Menchies.
- Sulphur Creek Nature Center in Hayward (Careful, they have a guinea pig lending library!)
- Use “Discover & Go” program through your library to get admission cards for local museums
- Order budget-friendly ice cream at John’s in Downtown Berkeley. Cheapest cones in town!
- Dollar Days at Golden Gate Fields
- Take a ride on public transportation, perhaps to unlock the Disney Store in San Francisco
- Tilden Park Carousel
- Explore the East Bay Vivarium
- Visit a fire station and get helmets and stickers
- Catch $2 movies in Alameda, Richmond, or Walnut Creek
- Hit the beach at Lake Temescal
- Drop-in to Tot Tuesdays at Alameda’s South Shore Center – just for the summer (and just for toddlers!)
- Do a $2 craft class at Michaels stores
6 thoughts on “Summer Brainstorm: 25 things to do with a kid that cost less than $5”
The tiny trains in Tilden (on Sundays) are by donation.
Great list!! Don’t forget to take advantage of the Discover and Go program through the library systems 🙂
Yes! Seems most museums are gone… maybe free tickets sold out?
Duh! Now I see it’s number 15- the list is complete 🙂
Here at a few:
$1 summer movies from Regal and Cinemark theatres. Sign up for Regal movie club and get a coupon… $2 for a med. popcorn on Tuesdays.
Exploring nature at Oyster Bay in San Leandro. Bring lunch for a quiet picnic, watch the planes land, hunt for lizards and bird watch.
Adventure Playground in Berkeley.
On the topic of museums…
The Oakland Museum of California has a free day every 1st Sunday of the month. (Next one is Aug 6th.) Kids under 9 are free every day. On Friday nights (5-9pm), kids under 18 are free and adults are half off. Lots of deals there… And you don’t have to pay the $$ to get to Sausalito.