The Best Spots To Celebrate Spring Break With The Little Ones

(credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Where To Find The Best Spring Break Activities For Kids In San Francisco

When school's out, kids and parents look for activities to take up the slack in the best ways possible. Fortunately, San Francisco offers kids a variety of options for enriching, educational and just plain fun goings-on all week long. Check out these options in the city that has a lot to offer.

San Francisco Zoo 
Spring Break Camp
Sloat Blvd. & Great Highway
San Francisco, CA 94132
(415) 753-8135
www.sfzoo.org

Date: March 31 - April 4, 2014 and April 7 - April 11, 2014

Kids have wild times during spring, summer and winter breaks at specially planned week-long camps at Zoo Camp. These are incredibly popular camps where children learn about animals, their habitats and how the zoo cares for them. Open to children four years old to 5^th graders, there are two sessions available – March 31 through April 4 and April 7 through April 11. Check the website for full details.

Looking for the coolest way to see San Francisco? Here is something kids and kids at heart will enjoy, and it's not just a trip tourists would enjoy. Check out hometown San Francisco from inside a Big Red Shiny Mack Fire Engine while wearing authentic firefighting gear previously worn by the city's renowned firefighters. This narrated tour begins near The Cannery at Fisherman's Wharf and heads over to the Presidio and Crissy Field, then across the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito for some incredible views, and then a photo stop at Fort Baker before heading back. Kids will get a thrill seeing their hometown in a fun new way. Visit the website to check availability and book online.

Tree Frog Treks
Spring Camp
2112 Hayes St.
San Francisco, CA 94117
(415) 876-3764
www.treefrogtreks.com

Date: March 31 - April 4, 2014 and April 14 -18, 2014

Tree Frog Treks offers numerous enriching experiences throughout the year at schools and community events, in addition to fun-with-science camps for kids. At the Wild Plant Earth spring break camp, kids explore the wilder side of our planet through this week-long trip around the globe. Kids set out just east of Golden Gate Park to explore and investigate animals and plants and their habitats, and to adventure through several ecosystems while doing hands-on activities with science, art and song. Visit the website for full details.

Date: March 31 - April 4, 2014

The San Francisco Children's Art Center is a non-profit studio art center with a mission to encourage the developmental and artistic growth in children through creative expression and self-guided learning. The Center operates within a supportive environment where children can collaborate, explore art and grow creatively. The Center offers Spring Break Mini Camp (March 31-April 4). For ages three to five, this camp offers two-hour morning art classes for toddlers and pre-school-age children. Children enjoy an open-ended mix of art activities each day that includes painting, play-doh, sculpture and printmaking. For children 5.5 to 10 years old, there is a full-day camp option. In partnership with Fort Mason resident Young Performance Theater (YPT), the camp offers an optional full day of performance and visual arts, with a Performance Workshop in the morning, a lunch break and an Art in the Garden Workshop in the afternoon. Visit the website for complete details.

Date: March 31 - April 4, 2014 and April 14 -18, 2014

Hey kids, what could be better than spending spring break hanging out with new animal friends who could use some TLC? The SF SPCA knows how to have fun and puts it all in its Spring Break Animal Camps. Camps are for kids in grades one through six and align with the San Francisco Unified School District and several private and charter school schedules. At Animal Camp, kids make friends and play awesome games as they learn how to train and care for animals, become responsible caregivers and make the community safer for pets. The camps are the perfect fit for mature, responsible young people and include animal care and behavior learning activities, team projects, crafts, games and hands-on interactions with a slew of animals, such as cats, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, birds and a lot more.

Melanie Graysmith is a writer, artist and educator based in San Francisco. She writes on adult education, art and lifestyle topics, and enjoys writing short stories and poetry. She is also a member of an independent filmmaking group. Her work can be found at Examiner.com.