Free & Cheap Things to Do with Kids
Explore the best free & cheap things to do with kids options for kids and families in Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History
Hands-on exhibitions & special programs. Expansive venue with hands-on art & history exhibitions, plus special programs good for all ages.
Visit Santa Cruz County
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center
Theater & interactive exhibit gallery. Educational multimedia exhibits include theater, touch pools & a remotely operated underwater robot.
Neary Lagoon Pier
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Ocean View Park
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Neary Lagoon Park
Wildlife habitat with floating walkways. Wildlife refuge with trails & floating walkways, bird-watching areas, tennis courts & a playground.
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
Iconic amusement park on the beach. Amusement park offers a variety of games & rides right on a mile-long stretch of sandy beach.
Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History
Wildlife, plant & archaeology exhibits. Galleries & interactive programs exploring flora, fauna, geology & peoples native to the Bay Area.
Lighthouse Field State Beach
Serene spot with a variety of vistas. Iconic spot with a lighthouse offers a variety of vistas & pathways for dog walking & strolling.
Santa Cruz Surfing Museum
Exhibits exploring wave-riding culture. Rotating exhibits on surfing culture & local history housed in a historic, preserved lighthouse.
Lighthouse Point
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Walton Lighthouse
Visit this great place for kids and families!
UC Santa Cruz Arboretum & Botanic Garden
Rare plants & a butterfly garden. Vast collection of rare plants with a succulent garden, a butterfly area & a eucalyptus grove.
Chanticleer Ave County Park
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Seymour Marine Discovery Center
Aquarium & interactive science museum. Interactive marine science museum & aquarium, with hands-on exhibits, a touch pool & a gift shop.
Blue Whale Skeleton
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Wilder Ranch State Park
Picnic areas, trails & horseback riding. Natural landscape with diverse activities including hiking trails, picnic areas & horseback riding.
The Santa Cruz Children’s Museum of Discovery
Visit this great place for kids and families!
The Mystery Spot
Iconic gravity hill offering tours. Opened in 1941, this roadside landmark is a tilt-induced visual illusion with tours & a gift shop.
Roaring Camp
Train rides & all-ages special events. Family-friendly park offers train rides amid natural landscapes, seasonal routes & special events.
Seacliff State Beach
Camping & hiking among redwoods. Versatile state beach offers a variety of outdoor activities such as camping & hiking.
Hidden Beach County Park
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Loch Lomond Recreation Area
Reservoir park for fishing & boating. Scenic 175-acre reservoir park for fishing, boating & hiking (seasonal & can be closed by drought).
Vasona Lake County Park
Site with a sprawling lawn, trail & lake. Public green space with 45 acres of lawn, a multi-use trail & picnic areas plus a lake with fishing.
Little Free Art Museum ("SJ FLAG")
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Lincoln Glen Park
Small park with playground & green space. Small community park offering a playground & tot lot, water spray area, green space & picnic tables.
McClellan Ranch Preserve
Former horse ranch with a nature museum. Former horse ranch from the 1930s featuring a nature museum, community garden & historic buildings.
De Anza College Planetarium
Venue for astronomy & laser shows. This large planetarium offers educational astronomy shows & entertaining laser displays.
Point Pinos Lighthouse (1855)
Historic light tower from 1850s. Oldest continually operating lighthouse on the Pacific, offering tours of Victorian-era building.
Portal Park
Picnic facilities & recreation center. Small park offering a large, reservable picnic & barbecue area, playground & recreation building.
Hellyer County Park
Urban park with a multi-use, paved trail. Green space featuring a 15-mile paved trail, plus picnicking, disc golf, a dog park & a velodrome.
Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary
Nature reserve for seasonal butterflies. Preserve with pine, cypress & eucalyptus trees sheltering thousands of monarch butterflies Oct–Mar.
Immersive Gamebox - San Jose, Santa Clara
Visit this great place for kids and families!
The Escape Game San Jose
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Lovers Point Park
Small beachside recreation spot. Petite beach park with swimming, surfing & other water recreation, plus kayak & bike rentals & more.
Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History
Free exhibitions on regional wildlife. Nature museum offering exhibits on birds, insects, plants & other wildlife, plus free admission.
Rancho San Antonio County Park & Open Space Preserve
Hiking area featuring a working farm. Rural nature preserve with 25 miles of hiking trails, plus a working farm & a model plane launch.
Play Palace
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Sprawling marine life attraction. Well-known aquarium on a rocky coastline with exhibits ranging from otter habitats to touch pools.
Bill's Backyard
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum
Exhibits featuring mummies & artifacts. Museum with displays on Egyptian burial practices, plus artifacts including jewelry & bronze tools.
Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose
Shows, workshops & interactive exhibits. Children of all ages explore more than 150 interactive exhibits including a full-size fire truck.
Discovery Meadow
Children's museum & sizable green space. Children's museum situated atop a sprawling green lawn used for summer festivals.
Monterey Mirror Maze and Laser Challenge
Mirror maze with a vibrant setup. Walk-through mirror maze with a psychedelic vibe & activities for team-building & parties.
Monopoly in the Park
Green space with a giant monopoly board. Tiny park featuring a larger-than-life monopoly board, plus animal statues & benches.
Central Park
Picnicking, a pool & recreational sports. 52-acre park with 2 playgrounds & athletic courts/fields, plus a swimming pool, picnic area & BBQs.
Cannery Row
Visit this great place for kids and families!
McAbee Beach
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Japanese Friendship Garden
Spacious & tranquil traditional garden. Covering 5.5 acres, this serene Japanese garden features a koi pond & a quaint red arch bridge.
Candy Cane Lane - Morse Dr.
Visit this great place for kids and families!
The Tech Interactive
Interactive displays & an IMAX theater. Accessible, hands-on exhibits for all ages in a spacious facility, plus an attached IMAX theater.
Happy Hollow Park & Zoo
Animals, activities & conservation focus. Small zoo with an array of animals & rides, plus an education center, petting zoo & puppet theater.
Kelley Park
172-acre green space with lawn bowling. This park, which contains a zoo & living history museum, offers picnic spots & lawn bowling greens.
Rotary PlayGarden
Accessible children's playground. Interactive & accessible children's playground with slides, climbing equipment & seating areas.
Old Fisherman's Wharf
Quaint landmark with dining & shopping. Iconic waterside complex & event site featuring seafood eateries, shops & water-sports activities.
Bird Rock Vista Point
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Del Monte Beach
Waterfront with boardwalk & dunes. Strip of beach with boardwalk pathways through sand dunes, plus wildlife & picnic areas.
Colton Hall Museum and Jail
Exhibits dedicated to California history. Built 1847–1849, this museum in an old government building has exhibits on the history of Monterey.
Dennis The Menace Playground
Sizable kids' playground & park. Spacious kids' playground & park featuring activities such as a maze & a rock climbing wall.
Emma Prusch Farm Park
Community farm with orchards & gardens. Compact community farm features heirloom vegetable gardens, orchards, chickens & a fair.
Laguna Grande Regional Park, Monterey side
Waterfront area with picnic tables. Green space on the water offering a volleyball court, play area, picnic tables & public barbecues.
Foothills Nature Preserve
1,400-acre nature preserve with trails. Miles of trails guide visitors through woodlands & fields, past streams & lakes in this vast park.
Cypress Point Lookout
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Redwood Grove Nature Preserve
Redwood forest with a boardwalk. This 6-acre Redwood forest features a boardwalk, observation decks, picnic tables & a rose garden.
Safari Run, Sunnyvale
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Tatum's Garden
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Pescadero Point
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Eagle Park
Grassy field, outdoor pool & playground. Community hub featuring a huge grassy field, a playground & an outdoor pool with swimming lessons.
Pioneer Memorial Park
Quaint green space with benches & paths. Small, serene park located next to the library featuring ample benches, walkways & shaded areas.
Mariposa Park
Neighborhood park with a playground. Compact, butterfly-themed park with a playground, seasonal water-play sandbox & picnic tables.
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