Being Savvy: Activities, things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in San Francisco, CA

A quick distraction: Flickr slide shows

by Graham Charles

Sometimes I'm in the market for a semi-educational distraction for Fern -- just long enough to get the dishes out of the dishwasher, mind! -- but we've already reached our TV quota for the day. (It's hovering at around 5 hours just now.) And though at 2 and a half Fern can sometimes sit down with crayons and paper without a helper, she's not quite ready to be sent off to read a book for ... Read more >

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Spaced-out San Francisco: Morrison Planetarium reopens soon!

by Graham Charles

For San Francisco space nuts, the past five years have been tough. The Morrison Planetarium in Golden Gate Park closed back in 2003, and although many of the other California Academy of Sciences exhibits reopened in a temporary site downtown, there was no love for us stargazers. The wait is over! Just four weeks from now, on September 27th, the rebuilt Morrison Planetarium will debut in ... Read more >

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Cool It! The Best Places in San Francisco to Chill With a Little Kid

by Graham Charles

The folks at Savvy headquarters suggested the theme of "Places to Cool Off" for this week's list post. Perusing the local weather report for the last week, I notice that we haven't broken 65 degrees yet, and the fog still streams over the coastal hills most days. Still, September and its purported heat (touch wood) are just around the corner, so here are some favorite San Francisco ... Read more >

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Savvy Urban Hiker: The blackberries are back!

by Graham Charles

Time to send your kids into the underbrush again! Blackberries have been popping out on sunny hillsides since July, but now's the season for the fogberries: the super-tart smaller blackberries that didn't get quite as much sun as their midsummer cousins. There are dozens of little blackberry pockets around town; here are a few of my favorites: Mountain Lake Park in the Richmond. ... Read more >

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Sing Along With Bare-Chested Mermen

by Graham Charles

Want to introduce your pint-sized mermaid to a 6' 4" bear of one? Drop by the Castro Theatre sometime in the next week for a special version of The Little Mermaid that has been captioned so you, too, can sing with the animated fish. My daughter Fern's first "audience participation" show was a dance-along Nutcracker at 18 months, and she went nuts for it. The concept of sitting still in ... Read more >

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Beachcombing beaches for the chilly northern summer

by Graham Charles

In these fog-ridden days of what we San Franciscans ironically call "summer," you probably think I'm crazy to even dream of heading to the beach with my 2-year old daughter Fern. But I'm intrepid (and I hate to stay inside), so we hit the sand at least a few times a month no matter what the weather. So, in true Northern California style, I'm always in search of good beach activities that ... Read more >

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A Little Bit Country, a Little Bit Rock-n-Roll

by Graham Charles

I'm a born-and-bred city guy: I moved from the gritty heart of Los Angeles to the urban paradise of San Francisco twenty years ago. For years I sampled the Bay Area's metropolitan delights: I would swing from the open mic at the lamented Owl and Monkey café to a world premiere at ACT, followed by late night drinks at the Orbit Room and maybe a bite at the Bagdad. The City blossomed before me at ... Read more >

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Summer Escapes for Parents on the cheap

by Mike Adamick

Summer is almost over, which means, for those with children in preschool, salvation is just around the corner. But if you're looking to kill some quality time without the kids during the summer months, Yahoo's Shine has a great article on doing so cheaply.From taking advantage of Ikea babysitters to grandma, the article looks at some genius ways to get away from the kids for a few hours, all ... Read more >

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What's that bug? A garden reference tool

by Mike Adamick

Yesterday's post about the San Francisco botanical garden got me thinking of all the time we spend in our backyard garden and just how little I know about all the bugs we find. Emmeline likes to turn over rocks and pick up even the nastiest looking creatures I will turn up my nose at -- but she seems to love it all.Well, I found an interesting web site that I'm passing along to give parents a ... Read more >

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Creepy Crawling Kids

by Mike Adamick

The San Francisco Botanical Garden has some interesting classes for kids age 3 to 5 during the summer months. Every Tuesday at 11 a.m. the garden hosts "family adventures" that include story times, garden exploring and art creation.There's also an on-going exhibit by San Francisco artist Margo Bors exploring "creatures small: insects and plants" that looks like it's worth some quality time. ... Read more >

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