7 Tips for Visiting The San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum in Escondido

The San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum (SDCDM) in Escondido is a hidden gem. It’s amazing for babies, crawlers, toddlers, preschoolers, early elementary school age kids AND parents. It offers space for children to play and learn yet it’s small enough that it’s easy to supervise your children as they explore freely. I love that I can interact with my children as they learn through OR sit back and chat with a friend as we both observe our kids.

Tips for visiting SDCDM With Your Kids

1. Where to park

2. What makes SDCDM so special

3. Admission and tickets

4. What ages is the San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum designed for?

5. Our favorite exhibits

6. Events and special programs

7. Where to eat nearby

8. Ideas to extend your outing

But first, parking

If you’re new here, parking is my love language. I am not going if I don’t know where to park. The SDCDM has a small parking lot in front of the museum and behind it. If that’s full (it often is) you can park on the street next to the museum. If those spots are also full, you can park at The California Center for the Arts just north of Grape Day park. Head down Broadway and turn left onto Woodward Avenue. The parking lot is on your left. Be sure to double check that your cars are locked and there’s no valuables or bags in sight. Though the museum is safe, I have observed people wandering and looking into cars in that area.

What makes SDCDM so special

In a normal museum, kids aren’t allowed to touch anything. This museum is the exact opposite. Kids can touch everything! The museum teaches about learning through play and there’s a ton to do in every corner of the museum. Whether your kids are crawling or walking, they’ll find something to do just at their level.

I also really appreciate the size of this museum. There is one large indoor area with tons of exhibits and one outdoor area with tons of exhibits. Both have good visibility so I can see my children even if they wander off to another activity.

We love the garden area where kids can learn about plants and pollinators. I would love to do a garden with my kids but it isn’t in my wheelhouse at the moment (too many small kids), so I really enjoy giving them the opportunity to take care of a garden!

Admission and tickets

The museum is generally open 9:30-4:30 most days of the week, though it’s closed on Mondays. They have special sensory friendly hours on Saturday mornings. Admission is $11.50 for anyone over 12 months old. They have discounts for WIC families and military families. Their annual pass is a great deal at $85 for two people, so it pays for itself in 4ish visits. I also appreciated they didn’t hand me an annual pass card for me to lose. They save your name in their system and all you have to do is show your ID to get in.

What ages is the San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum best for?

The best part about this museum is the wide age range. My crawling 11 month old had a blast here in the crawling babies area. My 4 year old loved all the ball rolling exhibits. I have brought children up to 7 years old and they have all enjoyed themselves. I would say the upper limit would be 12 or so. When I go it’s usually in the morning so it’s predominately preschoolers and babies.

Our favorite exhibits

My kids love the blue building blocks outside with the ball ramp. They’d be happy there for the entirety of our visit. My baby greatly enjoyed the crawlers area, especially the sensory bin table with plastic bugs. The water exhibit with the LEGOs, the Maker’s Area, the garden, and the sandy digging area were big hits. Don’t miss Tortoise Talk where kids can go out back and learn all about their tortoise in residence!

Events and special programs

The museum hosts events with fun visitors from all over San Diego! I have seen characters, special guest teachers and they bring in special animals for the kids to learn about. They also host events throughout the day including storytimes, crafts, and the aforementioned Tortoise Talk. They put a ton of thought into their programming and their staff is super engaging. To see the full calendar events, click here.

Where to eat nearby

We love A Delight of France nearby! I have dreams about their quiche and their potatoes, plus their croissants are the size of your head! Cute Cakes is also fun for a bakery setting. We often bring our lunches to the museum because they have picnic tables right inside by the garden. It is one of the few places I can slowly eat my lunch while observing my kids playing instead of wolfing it down so I can chase after them.

Ideas to extend your outing

If you’d like to extend your outing there is a fantastic park across the street called Grape Day park. You will see it right as you park for the museum. There are two playgrounds. One is grape themed and the kids can climb on vines and slide down a grape sculpture. The other one is a little high for my kids, but it’s still fun. It’s also food themed.

If you walk back behind the large old buildings there you’ll find a parked train the kids can play on! There are also old fashioned houses to explore. I have never seen them open, but I understand they open for festivals. Be aware there are often homeless individuals at this park. We prefer to use the bathrooms in the museum before visiting just in case. We have been many times and the homeless individuals have not bothered us, but use your mom judgement and scan the park before getting out to play.

Allow me to introduce myself…

My name is Camille! I am a San Diego stay-at-home mom who is never ever at home. I share a lot of fun things to do around San Diego including parks, restaurants, LEGOLAND, the zoo etc.

My goal with my Instagram account and blog is to make any mom feel prepared for any outing with her kids so that she doesn’t have to stay home unless she wants to. Getting out with my kids was key for me in overcoming postpartum depression so I try to pay it forward by sharing what we do to help other moms in a similar situation. Read more about my story here.

Thanks so much for reading!

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