330 Ritch is a small SOMA nightclub that also hosts musical events for hip kids and their families.

Acrosports was founded in 1993 by Sergey Zenov, a former circus performer and Soviet gymnastics champion, and Dorrey Huntington, the current Executive Director. Located in the old East Poly High gym across from Kezar Stadium, its transformation into a thriving sports center has been Sergey's labor of love.

Acrosports offers training in Acrobatics, Circus Arts, Capoeira, and Gymnastics. It has a decidedly "aerial" orientation compared with other gymnastics facilities. The kids love the way the teachers challenge them physically, and even the three year olds are introduced to the trapeze and trampoline.

Acrosports' Gymnastics classes are for children of all ages and levels beginning with Tiny Tots for children 18 months old with a parent. For accomplished gymnasts, expect class requirements of three times per week. In addition, children six and older can opt for a range of performance classes including circus, acrobatics, aerial arts and extreme sports (placement is by evaluation only). Acrosports also offers summer and holiday camps.

Parties: Acrosports opens for parties on weekends and evenings. You can choose from four packages. Each package includes time on the gym floor with instructors and time in the Sunroom for cake and presents.

Note: Offers lots of fun circus classes for adults, too.

When your kids want to pound nails and splash paint, take them to Adventure Playground for a day full of banging, sawing, and building fun.

Situated next to the Bay alongside the Berkeley Marina, this wonderfully non-traditional playground is a little-known gem in the Bay Area pantheon of outdoor play spots. Filled with scraps of wood of all sizes and shapes, Adventure Playground is an invitation to build.

Around the fenced-in yard are towers, shanties, sheds, and buildings of every description built by young visitors. Children and adults may check out hammers and nails, hand saws, or paints and brushes with which to create their visions in plywood and board. Start your own project, or add onto the conglomerations begun by earlier carpenters.

In the middle of all the multicolored chaos is a thrilling rope slide. Children (and adults) climb a ladder to the top of a small tower and sit under a pulley attached to a tensioned steel cable. Climb aboard, gather your nerve, and fly downhill to land with a bump in a soft pile of sand.

The City of Berkeley Staff manage the construction and pass out tools. Children under seven must be actively supervised by an adult; older children may be dropped off for up to three hours for a fee of $6. The playground is free to all supervised kids.

Parties: Adventure Playground hosts birthday parties and other groups, but requires reservations at least two weeks in advance.

Summer Program: The playground is open every day through the summer and offers special programs: fishing, nature discovery, arts & crafts, creative building, and more. Parents fill out a registration form and must sign children in and out every day.

Note: Groups of five or more children must make prior reservations. All groups need to be supervised by responsible adults. Individuals can be dropped off only if they are registered to be in the playground without an adult. Parent must sign a waiver and pay the fee. Parents can bring friends of their children and drop them off together only if the friends' parents fill out a waiver too.

American Gymnastics touts itself as "San Francisco's finest gymnastics club offering a comprehensive blend of recreational and competitive instruction." And many parents and children do like the program.

Classes for all skill levels are available, beginning with the Preschool Program for ages 2-to-5 (2 year-old's need a parent), Tumblers for ages 4 1/2-5 1/2, Beginner, age 5 and above, and Intermediate classes emphasize tumbling, flexibility, and basic gymnastics skills. Advanced training incorporates preparation for US Gymnastics Association compulsory routines.

Preschool Open Gym Unstructured but supervised time on the equipment on Wednesdays 11am-1pm. $10 drop-in rate for members.

Gymnastics Camps (ages five and up) Camp counselors offer gymnastics instruction, organized games and art projects, field trips and more during school breaks. D

Parties: The facility can be rented out for parties. An instructor takes partiers through their paces on various pieces of equipment, paying special attention to the birthday child. It's a highly structured event, but most kids seem to appreciate the guidance.

We've looked everywhere and these may well be the only ongoing cooking classes in town for kids - do let us know if we're wrong. Classes are offered at the Katherine Michiel's school after school or on Saturday mornings and participants can take a series, or one at a time.

Founder Roberta DesBouillons is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and has more than 20 years of culinary experience. Her goal is to teach children how to cook and bake in a safe, fun setting, and to cultivate in them a lifelong appreciation of cooking. All classes are designed for children 10 years and older.

Kids have their choices of a variety of classes, such as Ethnic Foods, Cooking Italian, Healthy Vegetarian, and Easy as Pie. Students make two or three recipes per class, and are encouraged to taste everything, and to bring samples home.

Saturday morning workshops are given as single classes.

The Afterschool series is offered in two, three, and four-week segments.

Private lessons: Available to groups of up to five children, kitchen can be provided.

Parties: You're welcome to stage a birthday party with Apron Strings. Kids make their own pizzas from scratch and decorate the birthday cake. Cost depends on size, location, and menu.

Camps: Generally four or five days in length and ongoing through the summer and during school breaks.

A paint-it-yourself ceramic studio specializing in activities for kids of all ages. the studio has a toddler play area and hosts birthday parties, day camps, afterschool programs, and toddler programs.

Artery is Noe Valley's place for artful revery! Owner Paula Benton opened the intimate art studio to offer San Francisco residents, young and old, an inviting venue in which to experience creative exploration and process-oriented art.

Numerous classes cover a range of artistic disciplines, and are taught by professional artists/educators on a weekly basis, including Terrific Twos (for students ages 18-35 months with an adult), Preschool Art (for students ages three to five years who are developmentally ready to create without a parent or guardian in the room, Trading Card Creation (six to eight years), ArtBOTS (seven to nine years), Drawing class (eight to twelve), and Beadwork Jewelry (13 and older). Adult classes are available as well.

Check the web site for detailed class descriptions, instructor biographies, fees, times and dates.

On alternate Sunday afternoons, Artery is available for small children's birthday art parties. Instructors lead age-appropriate art projects; and there's no need for store-bought party favors - each child leaves with a handmade treasure. Partiers bring their own music and cake. The $150 fee includes studio, instructor, materials for 10 kids, and a bubble machine!

The ballpark is one of the city's jewels. Located right downtown, it boasts a handsome brick edifice and seats that look out on the ballfield and across the Bay. At AT&T - formerly SBC - you've got the usual trappings of a ballpark - dogs, chips, soda pop, and spectators in forward-facing baseball caps - and so much more.

The food, for instance, doesn't stop at dogs and chips. Fans can choose from garlic fries, pizza, quesadillas, and portabello mushroom burgers, among other options. Many spectators plan on having lunch or dinner here because the food is so good. If you do decide to dine a la park, however, bring plenty of cash. A burger, fries, and drink can run $15.

Coca Cola Fan Lot is an interactive play area for children and adults. Fans of all ages can enjoy a slide into home plate from one of the four slides inside the 80-foot wooden Coca-Cola contour bottle; stroll up to the world's largest baseball glove, a vintage three-finger classic; get an autograph rubbing from some of their favorite all-time Giants; and kids can run the bases inside "Little Giants Park." On game days, visit the Giants InstaFoto booth to take home a special moment of your ballpark experience. The Fan Lot offers guests not only a great view of the game, but also views of the city's skyline, Bay Bridge and San Francisco Bay.

The problem is that seats are harder to come by than home runs. Tickets can be purchased at Tickets.com Ticket Outlets in Northern California, Giants Dugout Stores, at the AT&T Park ticket windows (games days only), or by calling Tickets.com charge-by-phone at 877.4SFGTIX.

Birthday Party Tour packages are available in the Fan Lot on weekends, when the team is on the road during June, July, and August, and most weekends Sep-May. The package includes a private "Behind-the-Scenes" Tour of AT&T Park for a group of 10 or more, as well as a sandwich box lunch with cupcake for $27 per person. Contact the Ballpark Tours Manager at 415.972.1852 for more information, or to make a reservation.

Baking parties are so much fun for kids. Jenn makes it fun for kids to learn how to bake with simple and easy-to- follow recipes. She does the parties at your house, brings all supplies and ingredients (including aprons and recipes), and does all the cleaning up afterwards (what a relief!). Her fee includes all supplies.

Everything is hands-on and the kids learn great kitchen skills as well as recipes. We did a birthday party and the kids had a great time making cakes and decorating them, and of course, eating them afterwards!

Jenn is based in Oakland and will travel to the San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley areas.

The winner of our 2008 Parents' Picks quest to find the best Enviro-friendly Place in the Bay Area, this museum is about as hands-on as it gets, which means it gets high marks as a kid's destination. Located next to the Golden Gate Bridge, it's housed in a cluster of buildings that were once part of Fort Baker, a military installation that guarded San Francisco Bay.

The exhibits change every so often and successfully engage kids on many levels. Visiting exhibits have included The Monkey King, an interactive version of the
classic Chinese story of the mischievous monkey, or the bilingual Berenstain Bears exhibit which takes families inside the famous tree house where kids can play the "When I Grow Up game", or Joshua's Journey, where children "rope a steer" and cook vittles over the campfire while
learning about the black cowboys of the Wild West.

The Museum's latest permanent addition - Lookout Cove - is a 2.5-acre outdoor adventure zone with a 1595 shipwreck replica, a rocky sea cave, a crow's nest, a two-ton redwood log, and a climbable Golden Gate bridge!

Other constants include a science lab focusing on waves and wind, an arts studio in which kids can create something new to take home, and a Discovery Center for little kids, called Tot Spot, that is so engaging big kids are always trying to sneak in.

Bring lunch and picnic on one of the tables there. Or buy refreshments at the small cafe that caters to kids.

Day Camps: are offered in weekly sessions during the summer, and during the first two weeks of April for Spring Break. Themes include Acrobatic and Aerial Arts, Art Dabbler, Building Blocks of Architecture, Carpenter's Apprentice, Clay Play, Creative Drama, Creature Features, Drumming Magic, Elements of Art, Fort Building, House of Samba, Kids' Chemistry, Mural Magic, On the Bay, On the Spot Improv, San Francisco Science, Shipwrecked, Soapbox Cars, Treasure Hunt, and Water Wonders. Membership saves on camp fees. Materials fees may also apply.

Family Programs: The Museum organizes art workshops, and dramatic performances. Check the website, or the GoCityKids calendar, for upcoming events.

Parties: The museum's birthday party room is available in 90-minute slots on Saturdays and Sundays between 10am-3pm. A birthday party package includes exclusive use of the party room for one and a half hours, and free admission to the Museum for the day for party guests. Limit of 30 children maximum; 30 adults. Cost runs $200 (members), $225 (general), and up.

A family-oriented bowling center with bumper bowling, planet bowling (in the dark, with disco lights!), an arcade, and snack bar. Bel Mateo Bowl hosts birthday, corporate, and other parties.

A family-oriented bowling center with bumper bowling, planet bowling (in the dark, with disco lights!), an arcade, and snack bar. Bel Mateo Bowl hosts birthday, corporate, and other parties.

This massive sports complex has an equally impressive youth program that emphasizes in-line hockey and soccer. Its 2 1/2 acre site boasts two professional indoor hockey rinks complete with bleachers and scoreboard and a state-of-the-art soccer arena. But it also has a fitness center, basketball and volleyball courts, and a place to learn martial arts. Also on site are a pro shop, lockers and showers, and restaurants.

Classes: Skaters can sign up for lessons in stick-handling, shooting, and basic skating. Pick-up games are available, as are skating clinics. Kids can choose to compete in leagues and tournaments both. Kids can also take martial arts classes.

Parties: Bladium offers parties to fit just about every young athlete's wishes with a choice of any sport activity. Each party runs 2 hours, costs $230 (for 15 people, $15 for each additional child), and includes pizza, soda, chips, and a sports attendant.

Summer Camps: Activities include soccer, volleyball, hockey, lacrosse, flag football and basketball for kids ages 8 to 16.

Blue Sky Family Club offers sports, gym, dance, art, and music activities for families. The club also hosts fee-based classes and special events.

All-inclusive birthday party packages include food, a private room, individual activities, and a birthday "butler."

Bonfante Gardens offers rides, attractions, theme gardens, food concessions, and an event plaza. The gardens also feature some very unusual one-of-a-kind Circus Trees rescued from Scotts Valley, California.

Rides and attractions include Monarch Garden which is in a greenhouse so large that a train, a monorail, and a river run through it, the "Quicksilver Express" mine coaster, a boat ride through the gardens, and an antique car ride.

A paint-your-own pottery studio that travels to homes and schools. BrushFire Pottery Studio brings bisque, paints and everything else necessary to paint ceramics. The studio also pick up the pieces from customers' locations, glazes and fires them in the kiln, and returns them to the location. Their services are offered to school groups, scouts, afterschool programs, parties, and more.

Bubble, formerly known as Crafty Kids, is a unique combination children's boutique and activity center. Moms can shop for top brands like Meli Meli, Juicy Couture, Icky Baby, Zutano, 2 b Free, Catimini, and Clayeux. At the same time, the kids can create many different arts and crafts projects.

Birthday parties are also hosted at the center.

The winner of our 2008 Parents' Picks quest to find the best Artsy Class for Little Kids and Artsy Class for Big Kids in the Bay Area, Busy Little Hands offers workshops for children age 20 months through age 11. The group has many choices of morning toddler and preschool workshops at various times and also afterschool programs for school-age children.

Birthday Parties are held on Saturdays by reservation.

Cafe Art is a hands-on ceramic studio for kids of all ages. The studio has hundreds of ceramics to choose from and provides all the painting supplies. When a client has completed a piece, they dip and fire it. Pieces are usually ready in four days. Cafe Art also offers birthday parties.

Cafe Art is a hands-on ceramic studio for kids of all ages. The studio has hundreds of ceramics to choose from and provides all the painting supplies. When a client has completed a piece, they dip and fire it. Pieces are usually ready in four days. Cafe Art also offers birthday parties.

Topped with a living roof, the newly rebuilt California Academy of Sciences is home to an aquarium, planetarium, and natural history museum.

The aquarium, with an estimated 38,000 live animals, is one of the most biodiverse and interactive aquariums in the world. It features the world's deepest living coral reef tank, in which guests can see thousands of reef fish darting through a technicolor forest of coral, alongside sharks and rays cruising through a mangrove lagoon.

The Academy is also home to a four-story living rainforest dome, where visitors can explore the ecosystems of Borneo, Madagascar, Costa Rica, and the flooded Amazon. A spiraling ramp circles up through rainforest and exhibit galleries, showcasing each ecosystem along the way. From the top of the dome, visitors descend through the rainforest in a glass elevator, and plunge into the flooded Amazon, where a see-through tunnel allows visitors to walk beneath the Amazonian river fish that swim overhead.

The Academy's natural history exhibits look not only at the history of life on Earth, but also its future. In the Islands of Evolution exhibit, visitors see the remote islands of Madagascar and the Galapagos through the eyes of Academy scientists, and learn how islands function as laboratories for evolution.

In the west gallery, an exhibit called Altered State: Climate Change in California uses California as a case study to explore the science of climate change, the effects we might expect to see in our own backyard, and the steps that can be taken to mitigate those dramatic changes. Visitors can also see how the Academy's new building incorporates green technologies to improve its energy efficiency and reduce its impact on the environment.

In the planetarium, visitors leave Planet Earth behind as a live presenter guides them on a tour of the solar system and beyond, using current data from NASA to produce the most accurate and interactive digital Universe ever created. During a visit to the international space station, guests gain a new perspective on planet Earth.

Long-time favorites including African Hall, the alligator-filled Swamp, and the Foucault pendulum return in the newly rebuilt Academy.

Penguin feedings, coral reef dives, and other programs take place every day. More details are available on the center's website.

The winner of our 2008 Parents' Picks quest to find the best Museum for Teens in San Francisco, Chabot Space & Science Center is a state-of-art planetarium, theater, and space center. The center has miles of interactive hands-on exhibits, a full-dome digital planetarium, a huge screen theater with sensurround sound, a Discovery Room for children ages four-to-seven and three powerful telescopes. (Note: the Discovery Room is open on weekends only.

A high point is the digital planetarium's star shows, that entertainingly takes you on a trip across the heavens.

Planetarium & Theater: Open on Friday and Saturday nights until 9pm.

Observatory: Open for free access to the powerful refractor telescope from 7pm-10pm between November and March; from dusk until 11pm between April and October.

Classes: A broad selection of science workshops and classes are available through schools. Teachers can go online to read about and register for them.

Parties: You can host a star-studded birthday with a space or astronomy theme party. The birthday party program is suitable for children ages 6-14, with party bags available through Chabot's birthday coordinator. A basic package includes: exclusive use of a party room for one hour; free admission to the Center's exhibits, Planetarium or Theater show; and if you schedule an evening event, telescopes. Call 510.336.7311.

Summer Camps: The Center offers a number of half day and full day camps for young people. Campers explore space and earth science, astronomy, technology, and robotics. All camps include a show in the state-of-the-art Ask Jeeves Planetarium and the Tien MegaDome Theater. Call 510.336.7426 or visit www.chabotspace.org for details.

One of the largest children's museums in the country, Children's Discovery Museum boasts over 150 interactive exhibits and programs, and all efforts by visitors to test, prod, and tinker with displays are welcomed. The exhibits respond to the need for children to learn through concrete interactions -- touching, exploring, manipulating, and experimenting.

Exhibit galleries are fully wheelchair accessible.

In WaterWays, colorful plastic balls become tools for discovery about the way water gushes, rushes and flows. The Wonder Cabinet opens the door to a wonder-full world where the youngest visitors can make big discoveries. The 900 sq. ft. Art Loft (geared for ages 4 -10) is filled with daylight, art-making tools and materials, and young visitors working with trained art facilitators. Secrets of Circles, the Museum's newest gallery, celebrates the math, science, and beauty of circles with eighteen original interactive tri-lingual (English, Spanish and Vietnamese) exhibits. Other exhibit galleries include: Bubbalogna, Kids's Garden, Post Office, Pizza Please, Lee and Diane Brandenburg Theatre, and Step into the Past.

Kids Cafe: You can find a nice selection of reasonably priced food and beverages. The surrounding Guadalupe River Park also offers plenty of space for picnics.

Museum Store: The shelves hold a wide selection of creative books, toys, and games related to the Museum experience.

The Birthday Party Program offers three options, and each one includes all day admission to the Museum for party guests; one hour in the decorated Birthday Party Room; a Hostess to help with the party; and an invitation and map for each guest. The Basic Birthday Package (12 children) costs $200, with $7 for each additional child. Add-ons include food, art or science activities, and extra time in the party room. Parties from ten to 100 people can be accommodated. Call 408.298.5437, ex 268, or e-mail birthdays@cdm.org to book a party.

Children's Fairyland features rides, puppet shows, children's theater performances, farm animals, arts and crafts, talking storybooks, plus thirty storybook sets. It's the perfect place for the younger child.

Our favorite activities include riding the Jolly Trolly and the Tiny Tiny Ferris Wheel, the top of which you can practically touch. Other diversions are provided by local child entertainers on weekends, and puppet shows are
held every open day at 11am, 2pm, and 4pm.

Old West Junction! The newest exhibit at Fairyland brings to life a Wild West-themed town (sized just for kids) with a "real" stable, bank, jail, and water town slide.

Parties: You can rent one of three special party places, including the Cinderella or Japanese Tea Garden areas. The Birthday Party package includes: invitations, admission for each child and one accompanying adult; cake, complete with candles, ice cream, and punch; and a complete table setting and party hats. You are welcome to bring your own food and supplies but no alcohol or cooking is allowed.

A host sets up the area, serves the cake and refreshments, and cleans up. Your birthday child receives a Magic Key and a crown presented at the puppet show of your choice, which can be shown at 11am, 2pm, or 4pm. Call the birthday party hotline to make reservations: 510.238.6877.

Fairyland's summer camp program offers kids ages five to 10 the opportunity to learn performing and acrobatic skills from professional performing artists. In addition to performance skills, participants explore the park, interact with the animals, garden, swim, and create arts and crafts.

Family membership starts at $75/year.

Chocolate Mousse Bakery specializes in fresh baked desserts of all varieties. The store has a kid's decorating station where little ones can decorate anything they buy.

The bakery hosts birthday parties. Guests decorate cookies or cupcakes; enjoy arts and crafts, games, and balloons; and share pizza and cake. Ask about their themed parties.

Located in the old West Poly High Gymnasium across from Kezar Stadium, this is the real thing for instruction in circus, Chinese acrobatics, and aerial arts.

The Circus Center, founded by former members of the Pickle Family Circus in 1984, is the only professional circus training facility North America. Circus Arts classes are offered for children as young as 18 months; more sophisticated classes, as in acrobatics and aerial arts, are available for children ages seven to 17.

Parties: If you want to stage a party here, the staff will do its best to help you unleash the trapeze artists and tumblers among your guests. You can schedule a party for evenings and weekends.

Summer Camp: Every summer, the Circus Center hosts a camp for kids ages seven to 15. Campers learn acrobatics, clowning, juggling, stilt-walking, trampoline, the flying trapeze, and aerial arts. Newly annointed circus performers strut their stuff at one of five performances.

An art studio that stocks clay pots, mugs, plates, and any number of figurines, along with glazes, brushes, and a work area in which to create the masterpiece. The staff is enthusiastic and helpful, offering guidance or the space to do it your way. The product is almost always something your child will want to keep, or give to someone special even though - you might as well know now - it rarely turns out the way you think it will.

Parties: Holding a party here allows kids to bond over their creations and have something to show for their exertions afterwards. A minimum of eight children is required. Please see the website for pricing and details.

Kids Night Out (KNO) are held on some Saturday evenings from 6pm-9pm. Check the website for specific dates.

Color Me Mine of San Rafael is a paint-your-own pottery studio that offers a wide variety of pieces to paint - both practical and whimsical.

A private party room is available for birthdays and playgroups.

CSMA hosts kids concerts, has a fantastic birthday party program, and offers art and music classes and summer and vacation art camps.

Art parties are offered for children in preschool through middle school. Select from several fun themes the program is tailored to your child's age level. Kids complete 2-4 projects, depending on age and selection of projects. Prices start at $200 for 1-10 children. The cost is $10 extra for each additional child, with a maximum of 20 children. Parties are held on Saturdays and Sundays, and reservations must be made at least three weeks in advance.

An indoor facility (5,000 sq/ft warehouse) that is available for party rental and that provides clean-up services.

This sheltered respite, just a stone's throw from Union Street shopping, is almost always warm even on the windiest San Francisco day. Ideal for babies to preschool-aged children, this fenced, sand-surfaced mini-park just isn't large enough to please older children.

A Tiny Tots program is available Tue,Wed,Fri from 10:30am-12:30pm for 2.5- to 5-year olds and Mon from 10:30am-11:30am for 1- to 2-year olds.

Parties: A nice place to throw a party for little kids. The clubhouse can be rented.