Being Savvy: Activities, things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in East Bay, CA

99 things you must do in the East Bay before your child grows up

by Heather Gibbs Flett

I love lists, challenges, rules and games so it is with great pleasure that I both try to list all the great things to do with kids in the East Bay and then to DO them all. Please help me create this list.

Here are the first 10 places to go with your kid before kindergarten:

1. Children's Fairyland: trippy and bizarre unless you grew up here and remember it fondly from your childhood. Whoa, they even offer a sleepover.
2. East Bay Vivarium: stinky and warm homage to all things reptilian right off Fourth St. in Berkeley.
3. Pumpkin patch (which one's the best? I've heard good things about Clayton Valley?)
   
4. Little Farm at Tilden Park: wonderful, free working farm. Bring celery or lettuce to feed the animals.
5. Pottery painting at Brushstrokes: work together to make a keepsake gift and have fun getting all painty.
6. Sand castle building contest: play or watch in Alameda in June each year (this year, it's June 7th). 
7. Ashkenaz for the kids' music series: we saw Hot Buttered Rum here and my son got hooked on their foot-stomping bluegrass. Plus the venue is a Berkeley institution. 
8. The Oakland Museum of Children’s Art, MOCHA: free for gallery visits and has an awesome Drop-In Art Studio for kids between ages 18 months and 5 years for $7.
   
9. Ferry to San Francisco: hop on the ferry at Jack London Square
   
10. Sketch for ice cream: whether you're pro-sugar or anti-sugar, this place is a real treat. Don't your kids deserve sustainable, organic, deliciousness? Yum.

Have I missed some of your favorites? Of course I have! My big boy is only three.

Help me build the list by suggesting some more in your part of the East Bay!  Here's Part Two of the list (11 to 30)!