Joyful Family Museuming
On going to art and other museums with kids, from the early days to the elementary school years, with a focus on the Bay Area
Community events round-up
But first, the community events round-up. qAll of our regular weekly events are posted on our Meetup!
Community roller skating every Monday (except for school holidays and rain) at Hayes Valley Playground 3-6pm. Skates available to borrow for free from toddler size 8 on up!
Parent circle at The Commons kid-friendly coworking & event space. (Parents pool $20 each for high school students to babysit while we chat)
Special events
Tomorrow (Sunday February 2nd) we are hosting a big Mission Families BBQ!! We will grill meat and veggie hotdogs and burgers, and we will have wooden train tracks for older kids, baby pen and toys, and a giant bubbles station! The venue has a lovely outdoor yard with astroturf where we will be eating. Families of all kinds welcome, as well as people starting a family in the Mission. :)
Today (Saturday February 1st) at 12pm, Double Union is hosting a Valentine cards making event (apologies for the late notice!)
I spent much of my maternity leave walking through San Francisco galleries slowly, enjoying a new way to look at art. I’d return to the same exhibitions again and again, each time renewed by my newborn, then infant's, rapidly changing visual perceptions and interests. He started crawling and we’d spend hours going up and down museum stairs. Walking, and we’d practice keeping our distances with artworks. Running, and we learned how to balance our time in and outside the museum. Speaking, and we started playing search and find in the galleries, having all sorts of imaginative games with sculptures. Reading, and every label became fascinating to him. I can’t wait for him to be old enough for the family museum games leaflets.
“Once my mom was gone, it was mostly just me and the baby all day long. Three, four, five days a week we walked to the Brooklyn Museum. Going to the museum was a way to saturate our endless hours with beauty. And in the frigid depths of winter, it was warmer than spending all our time in the park.”
Excerpt from Splinters by Leslie Jamison
Museums are a community treasure, both for practical and immaterial reasons. They are great destinations on rainy days, rich in stimuli of all kinds, third spaces. For young children, it’s a time to experience an indoor environment of a completely different scale than home1. For all of us, it’s a way to consider the world from a different place. I didn’t grow up visiting museums. I am so lucky they are an important part of my and my kiddo’s lives.
Without further due, our favorite museums and galleries as a family, and some tips about visiting them. One last note: this $300 membership gives you entrance to most of the museums below year round, with the exception of special exhibits.
SFMoma
SFMoma is the largest museum of modern and contemporary art in the area. Its first and second floors are free for all, and include a community room with kids books and armchairs. The first floor is usually home to a large installation that children particularly appreciate. In 2025, you can see Fortuna and the Immortality Garden, a mixed media, animated sculpture / environment. The second floor is home to a variety of permanent and temporary exhibitions, including a selection of impressionist, figurative artworks that typically speak to all. Grab a ticket and head to the fifth floor to see the oculus bridge (currently the site of a colorful installation by Eliasson). If you’re visiting before Fall 2025, don’t miss The Visitors on Floor 6. If you can, don’t miss Get in the Game, on view until February 18, another sure success with kids.
SFMoma has free family and community days. Passes are sometimes available on SFPL’s Discover and Go. Kids go free.
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
YBCA is a smaller museum near SFMoma curating exhibitions of contemporary art, often from community facing art projects. Wednesdays and second Sundays are free for all, children always go free; adult tickets are normally $10. It’s right by the park, they love children, and children love them back. We highly recommend their Wednesday workshops.
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco: De Young and Legion of Honor
Situated respectively in Golden Gate Park and the Presidio, the De Young Museum and the Legion of Honor are a great way to spend an afternoon with art and with nature. De Young’s observation tower is a unique view of the city. Its sculpture garden is a joy for families. Their permanent exhibitions include figurative American art and crafts, and a large collection of African and South American art, the only one of its kind in the city as far as I know. Saturdays are free for Bay Area residents and often feature family crafts workshops. Note that their yearly family day, De Youngster, is insanely packed and I cannot recommend it.
The court of the Legion of Honor is another kids favorite. Its signature is a collection of ancient art, European paintings from the 14th century and classical fine arts. There are plenty of figurative paintings to observe and describe, but fewer family friendly spaces than in the other museums on this list.
Asian Art Museum
As I was writing this newsletter, a mom on the neighborhood chat commented that the Asian Art Museum features an A+ escalator. I can only concur, but can not find pictures so you will have to go see it by yourself. It’s also the only comprehensive collection of historical and modern arts and crafts from Asia in the city, complemented by ambitious temporary exhibits. There’s often crafts activities for families, as well as a playground and the main SFPL branch across the street.
Kids 12 and under go free, and tickets are free or discounted on first sundays. Passes are sometimes available on SFPL’s Discover and Go.
Minnesota Street Project
Minnesota Street Project (MSP) in Dogpatch is home to many small galleries' regularly changing exhibitions, including the SF Arts Education project. There’s something for everyone. It’s free and in front of the Dogpatch Hub community space.
Museum of Craft and Design
Nearby, the Museum of Craft and Design hosts temporary exhibitions on design broadly conceived. It always has a corner offering crafts activities for kids. The exhibitions are fairly small and a visit will nicely fill an hour or two. MCD is also behind the MakeArt events often hosted by neighborhood library branches.
Kids under 12 go free, Wednesdays are pay-what-you-can, and adult tickets are just $10.
Institute for Contemporary Art SF
Having just moved Downtown, ICA SF is a great museum showing contemporary and often local art. They have a permanent corner with kids activities. Free for all.
East Bay: BAMPFA and OMCA
Both accessible with Bart, the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive and the Oakland Museum of California are worth regular visits. OMCA has two permanent galleries about the natural and cultural history of California with many kids-oriented displays and experiences, including a play area. Their temporary exhibitions are always thought-provoking and forward-thinking, and their permanent gallery of Californian art and crafts offers great insights into Californian culture.
BAMPFA hosts a cast of temporary exhibitions of modern and contemporary art. There’s a children's workshop. Don’t miss Making their mark, a great exhibition on women artists closing on April 20. Children and one caregiver go free.
Other Local Art and History Museums We Love
What about children and family museums? We’ve listed them here.
How do you nurture your and your children’s sense of wonder? Where do you find beauty? Let us know.
Currently reading:
Rachel Carson’s The Sense of Wonder, about sharing and nurturing wonder throughout life. "If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder", writes Carson, "he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in."
Vivian Gornick’s Fierce Attachments, an incisive memoir about the famed critic’s mother and their relationship.
Also, museums have the most wonderful stairs, elevators and escalators. Parents of toddlers know: that’s hours of fun right there.