10 Things To Know Before Visiting The New Children’s Museum in Downtown San Diego

You will love visiting The New Children’s Museum! Nestled in the heart of downtown San Diego, it’s a place that everybody who comes to the area loves. It has a unique blend of experiences that combine art, play, and just being a kid and moving their bodies! They also offer many fun events throughout the year. The downtown location allows for lots of opportunities to expand on the outing before or after visiting.

What You Need To Know Before Visiting The New Children’s Museum

1. What ages are best for visiting The New Children’s Museum?

2. What is there to do at The New Children’s Museum?

3. Where should you park when visiting The New Children’s Museum?

4. Is there anything good to eat at The New Children’s Museum?

5. Can one adult handle The New Children’s Museum alone with multiple kids?

6. How do you get discounted tickets to The New Children’s Museum?

7. What can you do after visiting The New Children’s Museum?

In true San Diego fashion because it’s the most kid-friendly place ever, San Diego actually has TWO children’s museums. There’s The New Children’s Museum downtown and another smaller museum up in Escondido (called The San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum). This post is about The New Children’s Museum that is downtown.

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 my website 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.

What ages are best for visiting The New Children’s Museum?

The New Children’s Museum is best for all ages! They have some baby areas where crawlers and new walkers can toddle and explore. They have play areas for younger kids 3-6. And they also have activities for older kids up to 10. I took a three year old and a six year old and they both had a ton of fun and asked to go back. I will say that we had a few incidents where the three year old got away from me and didn’t listen well. It was hard to get him down from the Whammock. When it is just him, I enjoyed the smaller children’s museum in Escondido more.

What is there to do at The New Children’s Museum?

The museum has tons of interactive exhibits that cater to children of all ages. “Art Studios” provides potential artists with the materials and inspiration to create, while the two story slide appeals to kids who need to move their bodies. Don’t miss “Whammock!”—a giant hammock that kids can climb up, in and all over. Out front you will find a brand new playground that you can play on even if you don’t enter the museum itself. The other exhibits rotate through but you will find a mix of artistic play, creative play, and just places to climb and jump.

Parking at The New Children’s Museum

If you’re new here, parking is my love language. I won’t go unless I know where to park. Parking is a little complicated, but here are some options:

1. You can use the regular lot attached to the museum. It’s $16 or $8 if you’re a member.

2. The ABM lot right next to the museum (352 2nd Ave) has discounted parking for Children’s Museum guests. You punch in code 8792 and it’s $5. This is the option we chose!

3. You can also get there at 8:30 AM before the museum opens and search for metered parking around the museum.

4. You can park in Fashion Valley’s free parking lot (a large mall downtown) and take the red trolley. Old Town Trolley station also has free parking but we didn’t feel quite as safe at this station because you have to go under a tunnel to get to the The closest trolley stop is Convention Center station (only a 4 minute walk!). For kids that love trains, this is two outings in one!

Can one adult handle The New Children’s Museum alone with multiple kids?

This museum is beautiful and super fun to visit. However some of the exhibits seem like might have been designed by someone who doesn’t actually have kids. It’s difficult to watch more than one kid at a time here.

There are lots of areas where they can go and you can’t see them (think closed areas of playgrounds and dark mazes where they can get away from you easily). There’s also a mix of ages which is hard when you have littles. I noticed some older kids (10-14) without any parents directly supervising or possibly not even on the property.

There are baby areas that are well lit and easy to supervise littles. For me as a mom of three, it was difficult to monitor all three of my children by myself. For a return visit, I would bring my husband to help me watch the kids more closely.

Where To Eat When Visiting The New Children’s Museum

You can actually eat right on property because their cafe is amazing! They have a whole host of healthy and kid-friendly food that would also work for adults. Do not sleep on their smoothies. They are AMAZING especially on a warm summer day. They cut the food into cute shapes and design Pinterest Mom worthy plates. I actually picked up their Bean Sprouts book though it has yet to inspire me to actually cut my kid’s food into cute shapes.

How To Get Discounted Tickets to The New Children’s Museum

Admission is $18/person over age 1 including adults. That adds up quickly for a big family. Here are some ways to skip the hefty cost.

1. WIC families can get tickets for $2.

2. Military families get free admission from May 20 to Sept. 4 through Blue Star Museums.

3. You can do the library summer reading program through the end of August each year. The tickets are good for the full year after.

4. You can use the Discover and Go Passes from The San Diego Library. Basically they give free day passes to many of the museums around San Diego including the zoo!

What To Do After Visiting The New Children’s Museum

Some of our favorite kid-friendly things to do in Downtown San Diego include visiting Waterfront Park (there’s a splash pad there in the summer!), touring The USS Midway, visiting Balboa Park, eat at Seaport Village, or tour the Maritime Museum.

Thanks so much for reading!

If you find any of this information to be incorrect or need updating, please send me an email to sandiegomamas@gmail.com or a DM on Instagram to @sandiego.mamas . There is a reason I chose to call this San Diego MamaS (plural) not San Diego Mama. It takes our whole mom community (which now includes you!) to make sure I can disperse the best information for your family.

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I also send out a monthly email with:

1. Dates for kid-friendly events coming to San Diego.

2. Suggestions of the best seasonal activities for kids (think Halloween, Christmas, springtime, summer fun etc).

3. Ideas for outdoor outings based on the weather for that month.

Planning all the fun for your family is a hard job, let me help you! You can find info on signing up for that below.