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| | California | San Francisco | |||
| San Francisco - South of Market St. | |||
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Yerba Buena Gardens – Yerba Buena Gardens has something for kids of all ages, summer or winter, indoors or outdoors. |
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 Zeum
– Zeum art and technology center has hands-on fun for children
of all ages. In the Animator's Studio, create your claymation animations
(like Wallace and Gromit) and turn them into flipbooks, or design and build
your own toy in the Toyz exhibit. Run around the "Metafield Maze"
or produce your own movies. Click
here for more info. |
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Children's
Garden – In the Children's Garden, relax in the playground with
a climbing structure, slippery slides and tubular slides, a sandbox (with
water for your sand creations), a pint-sized hedge maze, and water to play
in (don't drink it). Check out the big rubber balls for fun. |
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| Ice
Skating Center and Bowling Center – Older kids will want to try
ice skating (year round), or go bowling. The 12 lane Bowling Center has
kid-size bowling balls, and bowling classes. |
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| Historic
Carousel – This carousel came from Playland-at-the Beach, an early
20th century amusement park at Ocean Beach. The horses on the carousel have
been beautifully restored, down to the horse hair tails on the horses. Fun
for the little ones. |
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Martin
Luther King Jr. Waterfall – On a warm day, this waterfall is a
wonderful place to play. Dabble little fingers in the water, trace the water
flow from the upper pool, down a series of "cataracts" into the
lower pool. Go behind the waterfall several times (you might get a little
wet). Next to the waterfall is the Esplanade, a wide grassy area
to run around. Bring a picnic and sit out in the sun like lizards. |
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California Academy of Sciences (875 Howard St.) – Find out about earth, ocean and space at the Academy aquarium and natural history musem. These are temporary quarters for the museum, until 2008, so the exhibits aren't as extensive as usual. (Tip: Use your San Francisco CityPass.) |
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| When you come into the lobby, look up to see a cool skeleton of a California Gray whale. Next door are temporary exhibits, such as all about chocolate, dinosaurs or ants. | |||
| Steinhart
Aquarium – The aquarium features freshwater and saltwater fish,
reptiles, amphibians, and an African penguin colony (feedings at 11:00am
and 3:30pm). At the Touch Tide Pool, touch the plump little sea stars and
hermit crabs and learn about California tide pools. The exhibit of snakes
and poison dart frogs is very cool (incredible colors). Don't miss the two-story
Coral Reef Tank, filled with tropical fish. |
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the second floor you'll find the top of the Coral Reef Tank, more reptiles,
and the Nature Nest, a play area for toddlers with board books,
puzzles and plastic animals. |
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SF Museum of Modern Art – This museum is architecturally fun (be sure to go all the way up to the top floor) and has art works that will appeal to kids. Inside the museum, look for Display Cakes by Wayne Thiebaud, Noel in the Kitchen by Joan Brown, and a magical "box" by Josepeh Cornell, entitled Pink Palace. Don't miss the cool corrugated cardboard chair by Frank Gehry or Multiple Grotto by Olafur Eliasson, a sculpture that's like walking into the inside of a stainless steel kaleidoscope. The museum bookstore has an excellent selection of kid's books on art and artists. (Tip: Use your San Francisco CityPass.) | |
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Afternoon Tea at the Palace Hotel – The Palace Hotel, was the place to stay in San Francisco, until it burned down in the 1906 earthquake. It was rebuilt in 1909, and today, you can experience the gilded age in the Garden Court. Take afternoon tea amidst the potted palms, under a lovely skylight. Tea is served Wed.– Sat., a "prince and princess tea" for kids. Call for reservations. |
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