Enroll in a semester of weekly classes paired with children the same age as yours through the Adult School Parent Participation. Classes provide hours of friendship & bonding, educational learning and new friendships for Mom! Several classes and times are available. It is a SLO must for Moms and Moms to be!
Munchkin March, hosted by a local parenting group called Mindful Mothers, parades through downtown to raise money for the Food Bank Coalition of San Luis Obispo County. Meet at the Children's Museum the Thursday before Halloween at 5:30pm. Dress up your stroller, baby and self and join the 200+ families that parade through downtown before Farmers Market begins! Be ready for hours of family fun.
Take your little one(s) to the Bob Jones Trail, near the Avila Beach playground! http://www.avilabeachpier.com/information/bob-jones-bike-trail.html. Just south of SLO and ride the flat, paved path 1.5 miles to the seaside town of Avila Beach. There you'll find one of the best playgrounds in the county next to a long stretch of sandy beach. You can rent boogie boards on the boardwalk and eat lunch at one of several cute cafes, though the hot dog and shaved ice vendors will likely get the kid vote. On the way home, stop at Avila Valley Barn www.avilavalleybarn.com for fresh produce, ice cream, amazing fruit pies, u-pick berries and a petting zoo. One of SLO counties best attractions.
Your kids may never appreciate the scratchy sound of vinyl on a turntable, but they can still learn to love record shops. Most every Wednesday morning from 10:15 to 10:45, Booboo Records hosts a toddler music program with singing, dancing and instruments. Visit the recently renovated San Luis Obispo Children's Museum. The museum hosts activities for kids of all ages and spreads across three floors, including a toddler area with a climb-inside train that has working bells and whistles. Older kids can enjoy the art workshops and volcanic caves exhibit.
From the massive elephant seals that lounge on the beach at the Piedras Blancas rookery to the monarch butterflies that carpet the Pismo Beach grove each year, there are plenty of opportunities for kids to get wowed by SLO County's resident critters. For a hands-on experience, explore the tide pools at Montana de Oro State Park .
San Luis Obispo's downtown Farmer's Market is not your typical, small town fruits-and-veggies affair. It is a full-blown street fair that takes over five blocks of Higuera Street every Thursday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. There are local bands and street performers on every corner; outdoor grills where local restaurants barbecue tri-tip and other local fare; a bounce house; and, of course, just-picked produce from nearby farms. Ride your bike there and take advantage of the free bicycle valet parking service. You can also avoid parking hassles by taking the trolley from downtown hotels.
SLO has hiking trails for every ambition. Strap your baby up securely and hit the trail! Challenging: (not the best for baby) Climb the steep, narrow path to the top of Bishop Peak, 4.4 miles out and back. Moderate: Walk the fire road to the top of Cerro San Luis, a 2.2 miles round-trip hike. Stroll along the unpaved Stenner Creek Road. In the summertime, finish the day at the Mission with the free Concerts in the Plaza series.
Get the fathers involved! What's more fun for kids than a professional baseball game? A San Luis Obispo Blues not-quite-professional baseball game. Watch aspiring major leaguers play at an affordable, family-friendly venue where you can spread your picnic blanket on the grass and enjoy local barbecue and microbrews while the kids roam free instead of being confined to assigned seats. They even get to play on the field during the seventh-inning stretch.
Hit the pool for $3. Take your little one to the SLO Swim Center!
Sunshiemer community pool from 12:30-1:30pm for family swim! Enjoy the hour of family swim with others SLO families. The family pool is covered and provides shade as well as an enclosed gate for added safety. What a great opportunity to meet fellow fishies!