San Diego has two children’s museums built for young kids, plus a set of larger museums that work very well with them. My list here covers both, with what each is best at, the ages it suits, and which ones are worth a drive.
If you want more than museums, my guide to the best things to do in San Diego with kids covers the rest of our attractions. And if you’re interested in museums geared toward adults, my guide to the best museums in San Diego is the one to read instead.
The quick answer
Which children’s museum is right for your kid?
Ten museums here. Start with the row that sounds like your family.
Programs and hours move around, so check the museum’s own calendar before you drive over.
Children’s Museums in San Diego, and the Bigger Ones Kids Love
Not every San Diego museum on this list is solely a children’s museum, but all are kid-friendly. You will visit to enjoy the exhibits, but I encourage you to use these institutions as educational resources year-round, whether you’re a resident or a tourist.
They also offer summer camps, science courses, offsite excursions, and many more opportunities to expose kids (and you) to history, culture, arts, and the environment. Join the museum email newsletter lists to stay up-to-date.
Also, be sure to check out my huge list of San Diego activities for families, which includes ideas outside of museums.
Fleet Science Center
Location: Balboa Park · Address: 1875 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101 · Website: fleetscience.org
Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park is a hands-on science museum where the whole family can get in on the fun. They focus on keeping kids interested in STEM through exhibits and (usually) robust youth, school, and teacher programs.
Interactive exhibits are located throughout (plus movies in the giant dome theater), along with a rotating selection of world-class temporary exhibits on everything from why the grossest stuff in the world exists to explosions.
Of course, adults can participate, and little kids are not left out. Kid City is the permanent space for children five and under, and there’s even a play area where babies can learn more about the world through touch and play. The Fleet runs hands-on programs for kids well beyond the exhibit floor, and its youth programs page has the current lineup and registration windows.
I also love picking up unique gifts for kids’ birthdays, ranging from science kits to astronaut ice cream, in the onsite shop.
WHERE TO BUY
Our ticket store sells the Fleet’s Hands-On Galleries Experience ticket.
The New Children’s Museum
Location: Downtown San Diego · Address: 200 W Island Ave, San Diego, CA 92101 · Open: Six days a week, closed Tuesdays · Website: thinkplaycreate.org
The New Children’s Museum is one of the best museums in San Diego for kids because it makes learning and sharpening critical thinking skills so much fun. This museum is known for its ever-changing exhibits and fun arts-and-crafts options that keep kids busy and inspired.
Hands-on studios run alongside the main installations, with staff on hand to guide children through making something. Studios and installations change, so what is open on your visit may not be what was open on someone else’s.
What does not change is the premise: the art is built to be climbed on, crawled through and touched, and there is usually somewhere for a parent to sit while that happens.
Tips from Katie · The New Children’s Museum
The museum has a paid garage and is located near many of the downtown San Diego hotels. If you stay in this popular part of town, it’s easy to include this children’s museum on a busy itinerary.
San Diego Natural History Museum
Location: Balboa Park · Address: 1788 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101 · Website: sdnhm.org
Known to locals as the NAT, this is the one local kids in my orbit ask to go back to.
What’s great about this museum is that children of all ages will get something out of it. We’ve been visiting for my daughter’s entire life, and I can tell you first-hand that you can enjoy and learn something new with each visit.
We love completing the scavenger hunts in Fossil Mysteries, watching the Foucault Pendulum swing, learning about Southern California’s unique habitats, and visiting the various fun exhibits.
If you’re a fan of creepy crawlies, head to the Living Lab, where you’ll meet more than 20 local animals that stay hidden in the real world, from scorpions to nocturnal lizards. Look out for Hidden Gems, more than 100 objects from the museum’s mineralogy department, or take an educational stroll along the Nature Trail, the pocket gardens and interpretive trails that ring the building. Both are always on view.
I’ve actually had a chance to go behind the scenes at theNAT to see some of the over 8 million specimens in their collection and to find out more about how scientists design the museum’s exhibits. It’s fascinating yet important work they do for our community.
BUY BEFORE YOU GO
Our ticket store sells San Diego Natural History Museum admission for less than the museum’s own price, and it covers the giant screen theater films along with the exhibitions.
See also: Local Kids’ Guide to the San Diego Natural History Museum
Tips from Katie · Balboa Park with small kids
It’s tempting to visit the Balboa Park museums and San Diego Zoo on the same day because they’re next door. If you can, split the visits into two days because it’s otherwise a long day for small kids (I speak from much experience).
USS Midway Museum
Location: Downtown San Diego · Address: 910 N Harbor Dr, San Diego, CA 92101 · Website: midway.org
The longest-serving aircraft carrier of the 20th century is now a museum at the San Diego Embarcadero in downtown. You might assume this wouldn’t be a kid-friendly attraction, but the people who designed the USS Midway experience have done a wonderful job creating a hands-on attraction for younger visitors.
Admission includes a self-guided audio tour (they have a great Family Self-Guided Audio Tour for kids), but there are also guides on board, some of whom actually served on the USS Midway, and they are happy to answer kids’ questions about life on board the ship.
TICKETS WITH NO RESERVATIONS
You can go straight to the gate with these discounted tickets for the USS Midway Museum.
See also: Tips for Visiting the USS Midway and the USS Midway’s cookie recipe
Maritime Museum of San Diego
Location: Downtown San Diego · Address: 1492 N Harbor Dr, San Diego, CA 92101 · Website: sdmaritime.org
This museum has one of the world’s finest collections of historic ships, which is how the museum itself puts it, which is worth adding to your itinerary if you’re looking for things to do in San Diego with teens.
The collection includes fascinating exhibits showcasing maritime history, the fishing industry, and war on the seas, along with the world’s oldest active sailing ship, a Vietnam-era swift boat, steam-powered vessels, a Navy research submarine, and the Royal Navy frigate replica built for Master and Commander.
There are even opportunities to ride aboard some of the museum’s ships through special tours (book in advance), a one of a kind experience.
BELOW THE GATE PRICE
Our ticket store sells general admission to the Maritime Museum for less than the museum charges at the door, and one ticket covers the ships and the exhibits.
Tips from Katie · Pairing the Embarcadero museums
Visit the Maritime Museum of San Diego and the USS Midway Museum on the same day. They’re only a short walk apart.
San Diego Air & Space Museum
Location: Balboa Park · Address: 2001 Pan American Plaza, San Diego, CA 92101 · Website: sandiegoairandspace.org
This museum in Balboa Park isn’t one of the children’s museums of San Diego, but it is absolutely child-friendly.
In addition to the original and full-size replica aircraft and spacecraft in the San Diego Air & Space Museum, like the actual Apollo 9 Command Module, there are also flight simulators and many hands-on interactive displays designed with younger visitors in mind.
You could easily spend hours here, especially if you decide to catch a movie in the 3D/4D Zable Theater.
San Diego Model Railroad Museum
Location: Balboa Park · Address: 1649 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101 · Open: Wednesday to Sunday · Website: sdmrm.org
Another gem in Balboa Park, the San Diego Model Railroad Museum is a must-see for families with kids obsessed with trains.
27,000 square feet of amazingly detailed model train layouts (complete with full towns and farms, tiny carnivals, and more) ensure hours of fun.
Children’s Museum of Discovery (Escondido)
Location: Escondido · Address: 320 N Broadway, Escondido, CA 92025 · Open: Closed Mondays · Website: visitcmod.org
The Children’s Museum of Discovery, which many locals still call the San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum, is the one for families with young children for two reasons. First, it’s inexpensive so that you can go a lot. And second, it’s hands-on in a way many museums are not.
Learning here is definitely rooted in play, and kids are encouraged to touch, imagine, explore, and experiment to learn more about the natural world, science, math, engineering, art, and history. There are many fun indoor and outdoor activities where kids can climb, have water play, build in the Wind Tunnel and the Ball Wall, and visit the Pollinator Garden in the outdoor Discovery Garden.
Children from the toddler years through grade school just love it.
Worth knowing: this is the cheapest of the hands-on museums here, and it charges the same for adults and children, which is why North County families treat it as a drop-in.
Birch Aquarium at Scripps
Location: La Jolla · Address: 2300 Expedition Way, La Jolla, CA 92037 · Website: aquarium.ucsd.edu
Birch Aquarium at Scripps showcases the research of the world-renowned Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego through its aquarium habitats, hands-on exhibits, and the Tide Pool Plaza.
Go for a raised awareness of how our actions impact the environment, marvel at the sea life in residence, and learn about some of the equipment scientists use at sea. You’ll gaze at seahorses and seadragons, and witness cute baby penguins waddle around their new home.
The Aquarium is a must for any budding oceanographer. Don’t forget your camera, as views from Tide Pool Plaza over La Jolla Shores Beach are breathtaking.
Living Coast Discovery Center
Location: Chula Vista · Address: 1000 Gunpowder Point Dr, Chula Vista, CA 91910 · Open: Wednesday to Sunday · Website: thelivingcoast.org
The Living Coast Discovery Center is a museum that I feel is often overlooked. It’s located in the San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge about 15 minutes south of Downtown.
They’re a zoo, aquarium, and museum all wrapped into one that teaches kids about the local flora and fauna in our coastal environment and why it’s important to care for it.
You can get up close with raptors and rays in the exhibits and by booking animal encounters. I also recommend walking the trails around the museum for pretty bay views and spotting plenty of local birds.
What These Museums Offer Beyond a Visit
This is the part visitors never see and locals routinely miss. Every museum here runs programming that has nothing to do with walking through it on a Saturday, and a surprising amount of it is free. If you live in San Diego, the membership is rarely the point. The programming is.
Camps, classes and the under-threes
Every museum here runs camps and classes with its own calendar and its own registration window, so treat the museum’s site as the source and this as the map.
- Fleet Science Center: STEM Camps, SciTech, StemQuest, Demo Days, and BE WiSE, its program for young women in STEM.
- The New Children’s Museum: art camps in fall, winter, spring and summer, with summer camp scholarships, which is not something it advertises loudly. Toddler Time and Story Time Studio are aimed at the age group that gets the least programming anywhere.
- Living Coast Discovery Center: Wildlife Camps and Overnight Adventures.
- Children’s Museum of Discovery: grade-specific workshops in Escondido.
Community science you can do from home
theNAT runs Community Science projects you do from home. You photograph Monarch butterflies, reptiles or bumblebees anywhere in Southern California or Baja and upload them to iNaturalist, or help map wild plants for the San Diego County Plant Atlas. The submissions go to researchers tracking how wildlife in this region is changing, so a child with a phone in the backyard is adding to a dataset researchers use.
Free guided hikes
theNAT’s Canyoneers have led free guided hikes across San Diego County since 1973. They cost nothing and they are led by trained volunteer naturalists. Capacity is limited and registration opens well ahead of each hike, members first, so the good ones go. Dates, trails and difficulty are all on theNAT’s Canyoneer calendar, which is the only place they are current. Living Coast runs public hikes, community cleanups and composting workshops on the same principle.
The parent version
The Fleet’s adult programs are built for grown-ups rather than families. Suds & Science and Two Scientists Walk Into a Bar® meet in local bars, while Sharp Minds and Astronomica happen at the museum. theNAT runs Nat at Night on Friday evenings, with the rooftop deck open. Worth knowing when the museum you associate with a stroller turns out to have a second life after bedtime. Both museums post these on their own calendars, and the dates move, so check there before you drive over.
If cost or sensory needs are the barrier
The New Children’s Museum takes part in Museums for All, a reduced admission for EBT, SNAP and WIC holders, bought in person. The Children’s Museum of Discovery publishes sensory accommodations, and the Fleet runs Accessibility Mornings once a month, in the quiet hour before the museum opens to everyone else. The date is on the Fleet’s own program page, which is the only place it is current. These are the least-advertised things on any museum website and the ones most worth knowing.
Save Money on Admission to Children’s Museums in San Diego
Sightseeing passes and special events make visiting children’s museums in San Diego easier and more affordable.
Memberships
It’s far more economical to join your favorite children’s museum as a member. This grants you unlimited access to the museum year-round.
We hold the Balboa Park Explorer Pass, which includes multiple museums in Balboa Park. It pays for itself after just a few visits to this popular attraction.
Go City San Diego® Pass
I love the Go City San Diego pass. It’s a very popular sightseeing pass that covers a long list of attractions in and around the city, and will help you save money on San Diego attractions, too. (We’re an affiliate of Go San Diego, so may be compensated if you purchase using our links to Go City.)
Go City San Diego Promo Code
Save up to 50% on 40+ San Diego attractions, including the Safari Park.
Two ways to buy · pick one
Lowest price
Through my ticket store
No extra code needed.
or
Buy direct
Straight from Go City
Apply code at checkout for an extra 5%.
Many people buy the pass because it’s a simple way to get discounted admission to multiple theme parks like SeaWorld® San Diego and Knott’s Berry Farm. You can also use it at some of the San Diego museums on this list.
The museum lineup changes, and several that used to be included no longer are, so check Go City’s current San Diego list before you buy it for a specific museum rather than trusting any roundup, including this one.
Go City now sells three San Diego passes: Essentials, All-Inclusive, and All-Inclusive Plus, in day-based increments.
Kids Free San Diego
One of the best times for families to visit San Diego is during October, thanks to the annual Kids Free San Diego promotion.
Details are usually released during the prior summer, but kids eat, stay and play free at dozens of museums, attractions, theme parks, restaurants and hotels throughout the county.
Museum Month in February
A free pass gets you half-price admission at participating museums for the month. You can pick up a printed pass at any of 80-plus city and county libraries from late January, or download a digital one from the Museum Council’s site once February starts. Details come out in January.
Children’s Museums in San Diego FAQs
Which is THE children’s museum in San Diego?
There are two, and you would pick them for different reasons. The New Children’s Museum downtown is the one most people mean, built around large art installations children climb through, and the most expensive of the three. The Children’s Museum of Discovery in Escondido, still widely called the San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum, charges one flat price for everyone, which is why North County families treat it as a drop-in.
What is the best museum in San Diego for toddlers?
The two children’s museums, because both are built for hands-on play at that age. The Fleet Science Center’s Kid City is designed for five and under specifically, and theNAT’s Backyard is built for its youngest visitors, so a larger museum can work if you know which room to head for.
How much do children’s museums in San Diego cost?
Admission moves around, so each museum’s own site is the only place it stays current. What is worth knowing before you pick is the shape: the Children’s Museum of Discovery in Escondido is the cheapest, and it charges one price for everyone, adults included. The New Children’s Museum downtown is the most expensive of the two, and its garage costs extra on top. The New Children’s Museum also runs Museums for All, a reduced admission for EBT, SNAP and WIC holders, bought in person.
Which San Diego museums are closed on which days?
The two closures that catch families out are The New Children’s Museum, closed Tuesdays, and the Children’s Museum of Discovery in Escondido, closed Mondays. The Model Railroad Museum is closed Mondays and Tuesdays, and Living Coast opens Wednesday to Sunday. Check the day before you drive, because these are the trips where a closed door costs you the afternoon.
Is there a pass that covers San Diego children’s museums?
Two worth knowing. The Balboa Park Explorer Pass covers the park museums, which is where the Fleet, theNAT and the Model Railroad Museum sit, and it pays for itself in a few visits. Go City covers a wider spread of San Diego attractions, though which museums are included changes, so check its current list before buying for a specific one. Neither pass covers the Escondido museum.
How long do you need at a children’s museum?
Two to three hours at either children’s museum, and that is with a child who is enjoying it. The larger museums are different: you are choosing one or two rooms rather than seeing the whole place, so an hour in the right gallery beats three dragging a tired child through the rest.
What are your favorite children’s museums in San Diego?
See also: Free Things to Do in San Diego
