Photo credit: BayKidsMuseum.com
Jennifer, mom of 2, shares with us some of her favorite low-cost, kid-friendly things to do in the Bay Area and Sausalito! Thank you Jennifer!
Here’s my favorite day trip to suggest to families with kids ages 6-10 or so – rent bikes at one of the many bike shops on Fisherman’s Wharf, and ride along the Marina green in San Francisco up and across the Golden Gate Bridge, then down to the Bay Area Discovery Museum (free on First Wednesdays of each month). Play with us for an hour or two, and grab a bite to eat in our organic café, featuring Niman Ranch hot dogs for the kids, and locally-sourced Panini sandwiches and salads for the grownups. Continue on your bikes about a mile further to the adorable harbor town of Sausalito, and get an afternoon ice cream cone at Lappert’s, then take the ferry back across to Fisherman’s Wharf to return the bikes.
If your kids are smaller, or maybe not up for a day on bikes, you can take the ferry from Fisherman’s Wharf to Sausalito and catch a cab (about a 1 mile ride) to the Museum – our Tot Spot is exclusively designed for babies and toddlers 6 months – 3 years, and includes a stream to splash in, animal costumes for dress up, even water bed “ponds” with a huge goldfish tank above!
If you’ve rented a car, definitely come check us out, but I also recommend a “locals” beach – Rodeo Beach in the Marin headlands. On your way out of the Museum, instead of going back across the bridge, go through the tunnel out to the Marin Headlands. Rodeo Beach is big and sandy and often has driftwood to build forts with. Plus lots of surfers to watch, great hikes up the hill for fabulous views and exploration of the former military bunkers and more.
Jennifer Caleshu is the mom to a 4-year-old and a 1-year-old as well as the Director of Communications for the Bay Area Discovery Museum – the leading children’s museum that nurtures childhood creativity for kids ages 6 months to 8 years.
Ciao Bambino recommended kid-friendly places to stay in Sausalito:
Cavallo Point Lodge
The Lodge at Tiburon
Find more hotels in the San Francisco Bay Area!
San Francisco
That’s a very cost-effective way to have good fun with kids. Great tips!
This past Sunday my son attended a cooking class at In The Kitchen, itkculinary.com in Sausalito. What a great idea. He loved it. The theme was Foods around the World and last Sundays focus was England. The person running the class was called Chef Scott Davis, he calls himself the Culinary Dude, my son loved the name and called him “dude” the whole time in class. A friend told me about this and apparently they have kids cooking classes every Sunday. I had a chance to speak to the owner, Doug and he mentioned that Scott has both a degree in Early Childhood Education as well as on in the Culinary Arts and has tons of experience working with kids and creating an age appropriate curriculum. Doug also mentioned that ITK is planning two more child related classes in the near future, a parent/child cooking class in March as well as a summer camp. He put me on his e-mail list and am looking forward to signing my son and I up.
Thought you should know my new little find!
Sincerely,
Joyce Hurwitz