Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in san francisco, CA

Other Great Savvy Source Things to Do

Add Your Review of:

Find out more about:

Art

Class is in Session

January 09, 2009

There are many opinions about classes for preschoolers -- you know, those weekly hour-long affairs where your baby can try her hand at swimming, art, or any of a dozen other disciplines. We take a serial approach -- my daughter Fern takes just a class or two at a time. We also avoid any instructors with performance expectations, and believe me, they're rampant, especially among some ballet Read more...

99 Things to Do in San Francisco Before Kindergarten: The Full List

by Graham Charles

January 02, 2009

One of my great accomplishments last year was to finish this enormous list of things I think every San Francisco kid should do before the age of 6 or so. The range is vast and yet I'm sure I'm leaving quite a bit off, all the same. Since we originally posted in ten parts, I'm going to reprise the entire list here, complete with check boxes so you can keep track of your progress. (There's Read more...

Last Minute Shoppers' Paradise

by Graham Charles

December 24, 2008

Really? It's December 24th and you still have a couple of folks on your shopping list, and you've run out of funky wrapping paper, and you've got your toddler in tow? It's days like today when my mall aversion shines: I know the perfect spot. Ample parking, not near a mall or even much of a shopping neighborhood, and creative gifts for just about any kid (or adult, for that matter): Flax Read more...

Tea and Stories: Two Intriguing Holiday Events for Kids

by Graham Charles

December 09, 2008

Sorting through the dozens of holiday events coming up, two stand out to me as particularly interesting. First, the Mark Hopkins has a special children's holiday tea that sounds a treat, if a bit pricey. I've always liked to take my 2-year old Fern to tea, although Cafe Flore is more our usual speed -- the idea of getting all gussied up in our holiday best? Well, we'll just see. The Read more...

Winter Toy Reviews

by Graham Charles

December 02, 2008

The Savvy Moms-in-Chief have asked us to take a look at some of our favorite toys over on the national site; here are my first five favorite toys and what I had to say about them. Want more? Click on the "Books, Toys, and More" link above. Radio Flyer Sports Coupe My daughter has been a Radio Flyer nut since she first saw a wagon outside of a hardware store. Something about the Read more...

A San Francisco Holiday -- Kid-Style

by Graham Charles

December 02, 2008

San Francisco goes a little nutso around the holidays. Once those outlining lights appear on the Financial District's skyscrapers, holiday events start to crop up on every corner. If you're really intent on not missing a single one, you can check out the Visitors' Bureau's entire list of festivities , but to trim it down, here are some of my favorites: I love to ice skate, and there are once Read more...

99 Things to Do In San Francisco Before Kindergarten, Part 8: Sticking Around the House Like a San Franciscan

by Graham Charles

December 01, 2008

I'm closing in on the this list of a hundred things every San Francisco kid must do. This week, I thought I'd stay at home and write up some S.F.-inflected indoor activities. 71. Have a face-painting and dressup party. (Nothing says San Francisco like a feather boa.) 72. Make homemade presents for your friends and relations -- very post-consumerist! 73. Plant a California native plant Read more...

Museumette: Zeum's 10th Anniversary

by Graham Charles

November 20, 2008

Another in my series of posts about San Francisco's quirkier museums... Kids seem to enter the "craft" age when somewhere upwards of about 18 months they realize that the marks those marks they're making on the sofa actually really stay there. Somewhat later, those marks congeal into representations of everything important: mommy, daddy, cats and dogs, and poop. Finally, after Read more...

Channeling Your Toddler's Inner Preteen: A Visit to the Pika Pika Sticker Shop

by Graham Charles

October 22, 2008

As if we needed any more proof that the only useful thing to come out of Hollywood in the last 20 years was the "green screen," my wife, daughter and I just discovered PIKA PIKA at Japantown. We love heading to J-Town in any event for the accessible food, unphotographable crepes, and bizarre stationery, but this photo-booth storefront (which we just noticed) is going to prove an even Read more...

Six San Francisco Locales for Inspiring Your Child's Imagination

by Graham Charles

October 14, 2008

The folks at Savvy headquarters have asked us this "List Tuesday" to describe some local spots that really inspire kids to creative, free-form imagination. We all love our museums and zoos, but sometimes kids need a little more undirected, unrestricted space. Here are some of my favorite "Imagination Zones": 1. The Beach. I know of few free-form, fully pliable environments that equal the Read more...

Just the Right Size: Toys at Cliff's Variety

by Graham Charles

October 08, 2008

Toy stores are a challenge. Mostly, they're designed to overwhelm children with the sights and sounds of consumables, most of which you probably don't really want your kids even knowing about. (I pre-scouted the Barbie aisle at one local toy store so I could try to avoid it.) Nonetheless, there's frequently some object you'd really like to purchase because it would make a positive Read more...

The Bestest Post Ever: Taking Your Kid to the Art Museum

by Graham Charles

September 30, 2008

Tuesdays, the Savvy HQ folks ask us local content editors to write on a theme, and this week they want us to re-post our favorite post from Savvy's first half-year. I'm lucky in that the editor until this month was Mike Adamick , one of my favorite writers, so I had a lot to choose from! I decided on his advice for taking your toddler to the art museum -- SF MOMA, in his case, but the ideas are Read more...

Savvy Crafty: Sidewalk Chalk Games for Pre-Artists

by Graham Charles

September 08, 2008

The first time I handed Fern a stick of sidewalk chalk, back when she was 18 months old or so, she just licked it. I really wanted to encourage her to do a little artwork because our playground was just too hot for anything much but sitting in the shade. My daughter, however, just had no interest in drawing for drawing's sake, so I had to come up with -- and borrow from others -- some Read more...

Beachcombing beaches for the chilly northern summer

by Graham Charles

August 21, 2008

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 Read more...

Creepy Crawling Kids

by Mike Adamick

August 07, 2008

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...

San Francisco History at Rincon Center

by Mike Adamick

July 29, 2008

After abandoning the Ferry Building this weekend because of enormous crowds, we headed over to the nearby Rincon Center in search of dim sum and instead spent an hour studying the wonderful murals that depict the history of California and San Francisco. It is the perfect place to learn about the city's history through the pictorial. Created by Anton Refregier , the murals show everything from Read more...

Friday Free Concert at Yerba Buena Gardens

by Mike Adamick

July 25, 2008

A perfect day for us involves hanging out at a playground downtown for a few hours before meeting Dana for lunch, and, hopefully, finding a nice place to picnic or catch one of those free city concerts that seem to spring up from nowhere from time to time. Emmeline loves to dance. So today is our kind of day. Chelle & Friends are scheduled to perform today from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at the Read more...

Savvy Books: Masters at work

by Mike Adamick

July 14, 2008

We're big fans of the Chronicle Books collection of contemporary and Impressionist art work geared toward toddlers. From Monet to Warhol, the "Mini Masters" books pair classic paintings with ... um ... occasionally impressive bursts of poetry but basically filler to show off the works in easy-to-handle book form. Still, they're awesome. We have them all. Just try taking Thiebaud from Emmeline's Read more...

Savvy crafts: Free museum days

by Mike Adamick

June 30, 2008

The Museum of Craft and Folk Art has an interesting exhibit about American Symbols running through Aug. 3, and it's worth a stop if your toddler is into flags, army men (the really old kind, not the fake plastic ones) or anything to do with red, white and blue. And the best part is ... Tuesdays are always free. I didn't know that until a few days ago, when we stopped by to see what was going on Read more...

City Treasures: The African Outlet

by Mike Adamick

June 19, 2008

If you're in the market for some excellent musical instruments, some gorgeous fabric or beautiful sculptures, take a few minutes out of the day to explore The African Outlet with the kids. Located just a block off Hayes Street at 524 Octavia Street, the store is everything from art center to trinket shop to fire hazard. (It is so cramped inside that especially grabby tikes might not be keen on Read more...

Top 5 Extra-Preschool Activities

by Mike Adamick

June 17, 2008

If you've got a little explorer on your hands who loves all the classes and activities found in preschool -- and really, who doesn't? -- these classes may be perfect if you're looking for a little extra enrichment ... or maybe just a little break for yourself. At the Yoga Loft on Divis, on the third Tuesday of every month, babies get a chance to take their parents dancing! At least that's the Read more...

Littlest Critic: Contemporary Jewish Museum

by Mike Adamick

June 12, 2008

I was very excited about taking Emmeline to the new Contemporary Jewish Museum because for years now we have watched as the Jesse Street power station (remodeled in 1907 by Willis Polk) was tuned up with a Daniel Libeskind-designed metallic cube, or as my daughter called it -- "The big black box." (It's located along Mission Street near Third -- right across the street from Yerba Buena Read more...

Free Museum Weekend! Chihuly at DeYoung

by Mike Adamick

June 09, 2008

My poor wife -- she plans a nice Father's Day weekend for us, and then I learn that Target has sponsored an entire free weekend at the DeYoung Museum in Golden Gate Park to commemorate the opening of the brand-new Chihuly exhibit. This is a tough one. If you've seen a Dale Chihuly exhibition before, you know this is a visual, sensory treat any child would go nuts over -- and any adult would Read more...

Budding Art Critic: Tackling SFMOMA

by Graham Charles

June 02, 2008

Don't try to do it all. That's my advice for museum-goers. It's not Disneyland. You don't need to run your preschooler from one line to the next all day long. Just find something your kid enjoys and stick with it. Hang around. Examine. Study. Bring crayons and draw a replica -- this is unusually effective. I get so annoyed when people say they brought their kid to the museum "once" only to have Read more...

Littlest Moby: Street Percussion Opera

by Mike Adamick

May 30, 2008

The highlight of this budding experiment I call parenthood was when Emmeline broke out with the chorus from "American Pie" during what was supposed to be a lively rendition of Itsy Bitsy Spider. Music appreciation is something we both enjoy, even if her tastes skew slightly more '80s punk than her friends. (Tiffany is punk, right?) Thankfully, there are bountiful options in this city for Read more...

Littlest Critic: Sidewalk Spiders

by Mike Adamick

May 14, 2008

You know those movie scenes where some old biddy sees a mouse in a restaurant jumps up screaming onto a table, clutching a purse and shouting for help? Yeah, well, that's me whenever I see a spider. So it's a little odd to see my daughter fall in love with a giant arachnid, but that's exactly what happened. We were at the Ferry Building the other day and we strolled down the Embarcadero to one Read more...