When I was a young whippersnapper, my father would take my brother and me to the California Academy of Sciences.  This impressive museum was a short drive from our home in San Francisco.  Located in Golden Gate Park, it was always a special treat to visit this establishment.  The main attractions for my brother and me were the alligators, the two-headed snake, the electric eel, the tidepools, and the earthquake simulator.  At that time, there were more exhibits than we could visit in the time-frame of our visit.  We made sure to visit our favorite exhibits before departing.

I am now a busy working mom with kids of my own and this is one place I love to recommend and share because of it has so much for kids and adults alike.

New Exhibits Added

The museum was comprised of multiple parts: an aquarium, a national history museum, and a planetarium.  The museum was remodeled in 2008.  The majority of the main attractions remained, and newer exhibits were added to the museum, such as a rooftop garden and a rainforest.

The Academy of Sciences offers engaging experiences and interactive exhibits for visitors of all ages.  The first impressive display that greets you on entry is an enormous model T-Rex.

Feeding the Penguins

From the main entrance, if you take two lefts, you will enter the Natural History section of the museum.  The stuffed wild animals are the same ones that were there when I was a child.  The displays have been updated a bit, but the feelings they provoke are much the same: wonder, excitement, curiosity.  In this wing of the museum are the penguins.  Who doesn’t like penguins?!  If you time your visit just right, you may be there at feeding time!

Favorite place in the Humid Air

Situated in the middle of the museum are two other great displays: the planetarium and the rainforest.  While the rainforest is a great exhibit, this particular part of the museum tends to get super crowded.  The humid air, long queue, and wall of people are a bit of a turn-off for me, but the exhibit itself is great, and my children love it.  Depending on the time of your visit, you may want to strategically plan to visit this spot during the least crowded time of day.

On the opposite side of the entrance is the swamp.  Claude, the albino alligator lives in the tank here, along with some enormous snapping turtles.  I could stare at Claude all day, but my children were convinced he was a statue, as he didn’t move one bit while we were there.  They were tugging at my sweatshirt to move along.

Experience the Shock

Right next to the swamp-tank is a staircase that leads downstairs to the aquarium.  The entire lower floor is dedicated to impressive tanks in a dark setting.  The aquarium lighting in the dim atmosphere is soothing to children.  The aquarium can get quite crowded, and it is easy to lose a child. If you visit with a toddler, you may find yourself watching your child more than the fish!  Interactive displays are mixed in between the tanks.  Two interactive displays that my children enjoy are a shocking-device that allows patrons to understand what it is like to touch an electric eel.  The other is a hole that you stick your arm into, and the device cinches around your arm, giving you the sensation of a python strangling your arm.  Neither is as bad as it sounds!  But, if you have a child with sensory or anxiety issues, you may want to approach these stations with caution.  Older children love them!  And, they are entertained watching adults get zapped and squeezed!  The aquarium is a full-day experience in its own right, but if you have time to explore the other parts of the museum, head back upstairs for more activities. 

Feel an Earthquake

On the west side of the building is the Earthquake Section.  This display has a Shake House that provides a first-hand experience of the intensity of San Francisco’s biggest earthquakes: the 1906 earthquake and the 1989 earthquake.  This, too, is a display that you may want to avoid if you have a child with sensory or anxiety issues.  While most children find this display fun, other children may get seriously scared by this moving structure.

See your Food

As part of their commitment to sustainability, the Academy opened a rooftop garden as part of its remodel, which provides both a lush green space for visitors to explore and a source of locally-grown food for the institution’s restaurant. In all honesty, children don’t find this too exciting.  We walked around this part of the museum briefly, but it was a fast-paced walk.  By all means, check it out.  But don’t expect your children to be as excited about it as the hippies are.

Hot Tips

Here are a few other hot-tips when visiting the Academy of Sciences:

• Parking: there is underground parking.  This is much better than finding street parking in Golden Gate Park.  To access the parking garage, there is an entrance on Fulton Street (recommended). There is another entrance on Music Concourse Drive.  There are two garages underground: one is for the DeYoung Museum and the other is for the Academy of Sciences.  If you do a lap around the Academy of Sciences garage and cannot find a place to park, you will likely find a spot in the DeYoung section.  You can walk through the music concourse in Golden Gate Park to get to the entrance to the Academy of Sciences
• Tickets:  The tickets are expensive.  Most are around $45 each.  If you are a large crowd and plan to visit in the future, a membership may be the best option.  The queue for the tickets can be quite long.  To save time, I purchased our tickets online while I stood in the ticket line, then happily departed the stand-still to enter through the main doors.  It was a cinch!
• Hours: Currently the museum is open Monday through Saturday, 9:30am to 5pm and Sunday 11am to 5pm.  Please check the website for up-to-date hours and prices.
• Gift Shops:  There are numerous gift shops in the museum, arguably too many.  You may want to strike a deal with your children prior to entry to the museum, or be prepared for negotiations, tears, and melt-downs outside each gift shop.  If you splurge for a membership, you do get a discount at the gift shop.  I’d suggest avoiding the gift shop, but they are purposefully positioned where children WILL see them and their colorful expensive toys and science-y products.  All I’m saying is… BEWARE!

The Academy of Sciences is a great destination.  Definitely allow enough time to visit all the displays, and if you can, plan your visit for a day when you don’t expect too many crowds.  Your children are guaranteed to head home tired.

Laura D