San Diego is home to one of the coolest Children’s Museums in the state. Located in downtown near the Convention Center, The New Children’s Museum San Diego is an excellent space for your kids to enjoy. Opened in 2008, it’s a beautiful building with large open spaces connecting the museum’s sleek interior to San Diego’s perfect outside weather. But beauty aside, the New Children’s Museum is a great mix of activities and art for the kids to enjoy.
See The Full Detailed Video Below
The New Children’s Museum Visiting Information
- Website:
- www.thinkplaycreate.org
- Address:
- 200 W Island Ave, San Diego, CA 92101
- Phone:
- 619-233-8792
- Email:
- Dates & Hours:
- Mon + Wed-Sun 9 am – 4 pm. Closed Tuesdays.
- Dates and hours of operations may change. We recommend calling them or checking their website beforehand to confirm their business hours.
- Price/Cost:
- Adults (18+): $20
- Children (1+): $18
- Children (under 1): Free
- Members: Free
- Seniors (65+), Military w/ ID, and Educators: $15
- Museums for All (EBT/SNAP/WICK): $2
- ACM Reciprocity Program: 50% off admission
- Discounts:
- February Month – Get 50% off admission for up to 4 people to 45+ San Diego County museums, historic sites, gardens, and zoo/aquariums.
- You can download your digital Museum Month Pass here: https://sandiegomuseumcouncil.org/specials/museum-month/
- October Month – One free child admission with the purchase of one full-priced adult admission
- February Month – Get 50% off admission for up to 4 people to 45+ San Diego County museums, historic sites, gardens, and zoo/aquariums.
- How much we spent during our visit:
- Total: $81
- Tickets: $76
- Parking: $5
- Total: $81
- Parking:
- Museum garage: $16/car (members $8)
- ABM Public Parking Lot at 450 2nd Ave.
- 2 hour parking for $5 with the code 8792 when you pay at the kiosk or pay $10 for 12 hours.
- Time spent:
- 2 hours
- Places to eat:
- Bean Sprouts Cafe (on-site) – pizza, sandwiches, soups, salad, and snacks.
- Earl of Sandwich (690 1st Ave, San Diego, CA, 92101) – 0.2 miles away
- Prince Street Pizza (415 Market St, San Diego, CA 92101) – 0.3 miles away
- The Melt (635 Fifth Ave, San Diego, CA 92101) – 0.4 miles away
- Pet allowed:
- No
- Stroller friendly:
- Yes
- Restrooms:
- Yes, flushable toilets.
Extra info
- What we observed:
- Our girls (Age 3 and 5) really loved this museum and could have easily stayed longer.
- This museum is filled with different interactive areas for our kids to play and explore. They really enjoyed all the hand-on art installations like the theater, tree house, giant blocks, slide, giant crocheted hammock, drawing, painting, and outdoor clay area.
- Our girls had a blast running around the theater installation but we had to make sure we stayed close to our youngest daughter. Since it was a dark area, a lot of the older kids were running over the little ones.
- We ended our day at the paint and clay studio. They were excited to paint a car and make little clay sculptures. We recommend dressing your kids in clothes that you don’t mind them getting dirty in.
- The focus on play and exploration is what makes this museum unique.
things to bring
- Clothing:
- Check the weather before you go. The weather can be changeable; layered clothing and closed toe shoes are recommended.
- What we packed:
- Sunscreen, lip sunscreen, fruits, veggies, snacks, water wipes, and water.
- You can get the links to all our travel essentials here: Travel Essentials | Califoreigners
- Ways to save money:
- Visit the months of Feb and Oct. Pack your own food, snacks and drinks.
- Event party rentals:
- Yes
- School field trips:
- Yes
- Gift Certificates:
- Memberships:
- Yes
- Other places to visit in the county:
- Recommended itinerary:
- New Children’s Museum
- Meal break at The Melt
- Waterfront Park Playground
- Follow us on Instagram @thecaliforeigners, Youtube @Califoreigners, TikTok @Califoreigners
What We Said In Our New Children’s Museum Video
One of the best aspects of the museum is its emphasis on physical play. With everything in there thoughtfully designed to be climbed on, crawled through, and played on, from a giant tree house to a hanging hammock. The playable art installations had all the parents there talking out loud, wondering why we didn’t have cool places like this when we were growing up.
A Mix Of Stuff
In addition to all the great physical play, there are plenty of hands-on, creative areas for kids to try out with the outside art studio, really soaking up our girl’s attention. From their paint-covered truck to the sun-dried clay creations, everyone looked to be having a great time out there before they eventually ran back inside to go down the museum’s giant slide to the bottom floor, where they could lose themselves to an extremely clever pretend theatre. That’s full of secret passageways and props for imaginative play. Once they were in there, we had a hard time convincing our girls to leave that area. It was so immersive we didn’t even want to go.
In short, we absolutely loved the new Children’s Museum in San Diego, and we highly recommend it for families with little ones.
Similar Options That Might Interest You
Here are some similar options you might enjoy.
See you again with more around California with kids.
Leave a Reply