Free & Cheap Things to Do with Kids
Explore the best free & cheap things to do with kids options for kids and families in Saratoga
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.
De Anza College Planetarium
Venue for astronomy & laser shows. This large planetarium offers educational astronomy shows & entertaining laser displays.
McClellan Ranch Preserve
Former horse ranch with a nature museum. Former horse ranch from the 1930s featuring a nature museum, community garden & historic buildings.
Portal Park
Picnic facilities & recreation center. Small park offering a large, reservable picnic & barbecue area, playground & recreation building.
The Escape Game San Jose
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Central Park
Picnicking, a pool & recreational sports. 52-acre park with 2 playgrounds & athletic courts/fields, plus a swimming pool, picnic area & BBQs.
Immersive Gamebox - San Jose, Santa Clara
Visit this great place for kids and families!
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.
Little Free Art Museum ("SJ FLAG")
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.
Lincoln Glen Park
Small park with playground & green space. Small community park offering a playground & tot lot, water spray area, green space & picnic tables.
Safari Run, Sunnyvale
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Monopoly in the Park
Green space with a giant monopoly board. Tiny park featuring a larger-than-life monopoly board, plus animal statues & benches.
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.
Bill's Backyard
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Discovery Meadow
Children's museum & sizable green space. Children's museum situated atop a sprawling green lawn used for summer festivals.
Rotary PlayGarden
Accessible children's playground. Interactive & accessible children's playground with slides, climbing equipment & seating areas.
The Tech Interactive
Interactive displays & an IMAX theater. Accessible, hands-on exhibits for all ages in a spacious facility, plus an attached IMAX theater.
Redwood Grove Nature Preserve
Redwood forest with a boardwalk. This 6-acre Redwood forest features a boardwalk, observation decks, picnic tables & a rose garden.
Pioneer Memorial Park
Quaint green space with benches & paths. Small, serene park located next to the library featuring ample benches, walkways & shaded areas.
Eagle Park
Grassy field, outdoor pool & playground. Community hub featuring a huge grassy field, a playground & an outdoor pool with swimming lessons.
Seven Seas Park
Family-friendly recreation & a dog park. Neighborhood gathering place offering a dog park & lots of kid activities including a spray pool.
California's Great America
Thrill rides & waterslides. Family-friendly theme park with thrill rides, water attractions, live entertainment & food options.
Japanese Friendship Garden
Spacious & tranquil traditional garden. Covering 5.5 acres, this serene Japanese garden features a koi pond & a quaint red arch bridge.
Mariposa Park
Neighborhood park with a playground. Compact, butterfly-themed park with a playground, seasonal water-play sandbox & picnic tables.
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.
Live Oak Park
Grass field surrounding a playground. Park grounds with a large grassy area surrounding a sand-floor playground set well off the street.
Baylands Park
Wetlands, trails & recreation areas. Developed park of 70+ acres on San Francisco Bay with playgrounds, trails & a wetlands preserve.
Baylands Grove
Visit this great place for kids and families!
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.
Loch Lomond Recreation Area
Reservoir park for fishing & boating. Scenic 175-acre reservoir park for fishing, boating & hiking (seasonal & can be closed by drought).
Emma Prusch Farm Park
Community farm with orchards & gardens. Compact community farm features heirloom vegetable gardens, orchards, chickens & a fair.
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.
Alviso Marina County Park
Popular hiking & bird-watching site. Hiking, biking & bird-watching are popular activities at this bayside park with paths & boardwalks.
Magical Bridge Playground
Play structures around a grassy mound. Slides, swings & climbing frames around an artificial hill, plus a treehouse & bridge.
Mitchell Park
Recreational activities for all ages. Grassy park with tennis/handball courts, horseshoe pits, playgrounds, splash pad & a fenced dog run.
Elizabeth F. Gamble Garden
Public garden & historic home. A 2.5-acre plot encompassing herb & rose gardens, a historic home, a carriage house & a tearoom.
Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo
Hands-on science & nature exhibits. Child-oriented venue with animals like birds & turtles, plus interactive educational exhibits.
Baylands Nature Preserve
Marshland with trails & bird-watching. Vast marshland with 15 mi. of trails for walking, running & biking, plus bird-watching & kayaking.
Alum Rock Park
Large park with mineral springs & trails. Spacious park featuring hiking & biking trails, mineral springs & several picnic areas.
Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University
Fine art museum with a sculpture garden. Classic & contemporary art museum with an outdoor sculpture garden featuring Rodin bronzes.
Baylands Observation Deck and Boardwalk
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Arizona Garden
Stanford University's cacti garden. Historical cacti garden with artful views & unusual plants on Stanford University grounds.
The Museum of American Heritage
Exhibitions on inventions & technology. Charming museum in a 1907 home showcasing technology & inventions from the 1750s to the 1950s.
Roaring Camp
Train rides & all-ages special events. Family-friendly park offers train rides amid natural landscapes, seasonal routes & special events.
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.
Bedwell Bayfront Park
Oceanside park with trails & fields. Large bayside park with expansive open spaces for flying kites & several hiking trails.
Mission Peak Regional Preserve
3,000 mountain acres for recreation. Vast mountain preserve popular for biking, hiking, horseback riding, R/C flying and hang-gliding.
Red Morton Park
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge
Habitat for native & migrating animals. Large nature preserve housing various migrating birds, as well as native flora & fauna.
Huddart Park
Forested area with trails & picnic spots. This 900-acre, forested park offers hiking & riding trails, plus picnic areas & an archery range.
Washington Township Museum of Local History
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.
Aqua Adventure Water Park
Family-friendly waterslides & pools. Recreational facility featuring waterslides, pools, swimming lessons & an on-site eatery.
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