5 Places To Visit With Kids In Northern California

Thanks to Galileo for sponsoring this post and encouraging me to think creatively about summer camp!

Every since we moved to Northern California a little over 2 years ago, both Ayva and I have been completely enamored with this beautiful, golden area of the our country. From farmer’s markets to amusement parks, and everything in between, there’s just so much to discover. I’m a huge history lover, too, so I’m totally in my happy place whenever we get in our car and get to explorin’! I’m not an expert (yet) because we still have so much more ground to cover, but I do have some tips for the 5 places your kids will love if you ever come to our neck of the woods!

5 Places To Visit With Kids In Northern California

1. Sacramento

We visited Sacramento last fall and our entire family had an incredible time. We spent the morning at the Sacramento Zoo, and then headed over to Old Sacramento to learn about The Pony Express and other cool California facts. The next morning we visited the State Capitol which had so many interesting artifacts that even 5-year-old Ayva had a great time learning!

2. The Jelly Belly Factory

Jelly beans. Need I say more? The Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield (about an hour from San Francisco) offers free factory tours and samples daily. The factory wasn’t in production mode when we visited, but it was still informative and fun.

3. Tilden Regional Park

This park located in Berkeley has plenty to keep the whole family busy, and it’s our go-to when we don’t know what to do. There are lots of areas where kids can run and play (check out the big hill at the Brazilian Room at Wildcat Canyon Road!), a carousel, a free farm, and a steam train. Pack a picnic and you could spend the entire day out in that beautiful Northern California air!

4. The California Missions

We haven’t visited the missions, yet, but as a Catholic school kid, Ayva is already very interested in learning more about them. We’re going to start checking them out this spring thanks to this great information on Mission San Rafael from Leslie at Travel With Tykes.

5. San Francisco

If you’re in Northern California, you have to check out San Francisco. Start at Fisherman’s Wharf and work you way up to Chinatown all the way to Golden Gate Park. You could spend an entire week in San Francisco and still not see it all. It’s worth it to try to cram it all in, though!

Your child can explore San Francisco with Galileo this summer!

Galileo runs innovative and engaging summer programs for kids from pre-K through 8th grade, and one of the options this summer is to spend time discovering the art and engineering in our amazing San Francisco!

Galileo Camps offer three options:
• Camp Galileo (Pre-K to 5th Grade)
• Summer Quest (5th to 8th Grade)
• Summer Camps @ The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose (4th to 8th graders)

Here’s more from Galileo about Camp Galileo. Check out their website for info on camps for older kids:

About Camp Galileo (Pre-K to 5th):
At this age, kids are naturally curious and creative. They’re into everything. But with time, some of that natural spirit of exploration can get sucked out of them. Gradually, a fear of mistakes and their consequences can start to grow. Every year, we see the experience fire campers’ imaginations and literally change their way of relating to learning.

This year we feature four fresh themes, each adapted for three different age groups:

1. GALILEO ROCKS: Music-Inspired Art and Instrument Engineering
2. DESTINATION SAN FRANCISCO: Art and Engineering in the City by the Bay
3. GALILEO MAKERS: DIY Art and Real-World Inventions
4. MOUNT EVEREST EXPEDITION: Himalayan Art and the Science of Scaling Mountains

Whether your child is into cooking or dancing or tinkering, Galileo has a camp option for them. Even better? If you use the promo code: 2015INNOVATE, you can get $30 off of your Galileo summer camp sign up fee. Want even more savings? Register for a camp by March 2nd, and you’ll save $20 per week at Camp Galileo and Galileo Summer Quest or $10 per class ($20 off a full day) at Summer Camps @ The Tech. Early bird savings apply automatically to your camp purchase and can be combined with the multi-session discount. Don’t worry if you change your mind about the dates you want your child to attend. You can change your camp date or location through May 1 with no additional fee.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON GALILEO: http://ooh.li/825a412