Two questions I get from parents every week: what can we do if it rains, and what is free. This list answers both. Twelve things to do with kids, ranked, with the indoor ones and the free ones flagged in each write-up.
The Exploratorium and the Academy of Sciences each fill half a day on their own, so do not stack them on the same afternoon. Everything else here is an hour or two.
-
1
Exploratorium
A hands-on science museum at Pier 15. About 600 exhibits explore perception, physics, and the natural world. Founded in 1969, relocated to the Embarcadero in 2013.
Pier 15, The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94111 Full write-up → -
2
California Academy of Sciences
An aquarium, planetarium, and natural history museum under one living roof in Golden Gate Park. Over 46 million specimens, plus a four-story rainforest dome.
See the four story Rainforest Dome and the coral reef aquarium, and come back for the 21+ NightLife event on Thursday evenings.
55 Music Concourse Dr, San Francisco, CA 94118 Full write-up → -
3
Musée Mécanique
More than 300 antique coin-operated arcade machines at Pier 45, including Laffing Sal. Free entry; bring quarters.
Pier 45, Shed A, Fisherman's Wharf Full write-up → -
4
Cable Car Museum
The working powerhouse for San Francisco's cable car system. Free admission. The 14-foot sheaves and cables that pull every cable car in the city run continuously under a public mezzanine.
San Francisco's cable cars have run from this powerhouse since 1887. Watch the 14 foot winding wheels grip the cables that run under the city's streets. Free, about 30 to 45 minutes, with stops on the Powell-Mason and Powell-Hyde lines.
1201 Mason Street, Nob Hill Full write-up → -
5
LeRoy King Carousel
A 1906 hand-carved carousel by the creator of Coney Island's first carousel. Roughly 65 wooden animals inside a glass pavilion at Yerba Buena Gardens. $3 a ride.
221 4th St, Yerba Buena Gardens, SoMa Full write-up → -
6
Golden Gate Park Bison Paddock
A herd of American bison has lived in Golden Gate Park since 1891. Small paddock in the western half of the park, free to see from the fence along JFK Drive.
JFK Drive near 39th Ave, Golden Gate Park Full write-up → -
7
Seward Street Slides
Two long concrete slides in Seward Mini Park, designed by 14-year-old Kim Clark in 1973. Free, open Tuesday through Sunday 10am to 5pm. Bring or grab cardboard.
30 Seward Street, Castro District Full write-up → -
8
Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory
Fortune cookies folded by hand in a Ross Alley shop, operating since 1962.
Walking in and watching the folding is free and takes about five minutes, so pair it with the rest of Chinatown rather than making a trip of it.
56 Ross Alley, San Francisco, CA Full write-up → -
9
Children’s Creativity Museum
A hands-on children's museum at Yerba Buena Gardens with two floors of art, design, and innovation exhibits. $20 admission, open Thursday through Sunday.
Hands-on kids' museum in Yerba Buena Gardens, built around making things (animation, music, building) instead of looking at them.
221 4th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 Full write-up → -
10
House of Air
An indoor trampoline park inside a renovated military airplane hangar at Crissy Field in the Presidio. Thousands of square feet of trampolines, ninja course, and foam pits.
An indoor trampoline park inside a 1921 armory building at Crissy Field that once housed the biplanes of the 91st Observation Squadron. The 42 foot double doors remain, with more than 8,000 square feet of trampolines and a second floor walkway.
926 Mason St, Presidio (Crissy Field) Full write-up → -
11
Circus Center
A nonprofit circus school where you can take a single drop-in trapeze or aerial silks class with no experience. Also hosts public performances in a small theater. Founded in 1984.
755 Frederick St Full write-up → -
12
Cable Cars
The only city-operated cable car system still in daily service, with three lines climbing the hills from downtown. Technology patented by Andrew Hallidie in 1871.
Skip the long Powell turnaround line and board a few stops up, or ride the California Street line, which rarely has a wait.
Powell & Market Streets (turnaround), San Francisco Full write-up →
Last checked August 17, 2026
