UrbanBaby San Francisco

Big kids are locked up in school and it’s time for parents to roam freely with the littles (and the homeschooled). Now is the time to visit the places that are unthinkably crowded in summertime.

California Academy of Sciences: Go now, now, now, in between the summertime season (when tickets to the planetarium sold out most days) and the Great Time of School Field Trips, which starts soon. The planetarium show, Journey to the Stars, is really cool, and you can linger for a long time in the rainforest without feeling like other visitors are prodding you in the back. 55 Music Concourse Drive (at JFK Drive) in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, 415-379-8000; calacademy.org.

Exploratorium: Absorbing exhibits you can finally let your child investigate to her heart’s content include the spinning sand wheels, the giant bubble-maker, the beach balls blown up into the air, and the two faraway posts where you can hear each other talking. The spinning striped tent is also a lot better for small kids when the big ones aren’t roughhousing in it. 3601 Lyon Street (at Presidio Avenue)., 415-561-0360, exploratorium.edu.

Bay Area Discovery Museum: Fearlessly let your kids play with the train in the room with the great big boat or paint and squeegee windows for endless moments. There’s always a table at the cafe during lunchtime on fall weekdays, and plenty of parking in the lot. 557 McReynolds Road (at Fort Baker), Sausalito, 415-339-3900, baykidsmuseum.org.

Children’s Fairyland: The weather is still great in September and October, and Fairyland’s schedule reflects this, open Wednesday through Sunday until Halloween, though you might want to stick to the weekdays for the lightest crowds. The Jolly Trolley is all yours! Toot toot! 699 Bellevue Avenue (at Lake Merritt), Oakland, 510-452-2259, fairyland.org.

Party Playhouse: You sit on the couch and read a magazine, the kids climb (and climb, and climb), with no big kids to freak them out in a nook or cranny you can’t see. 56 Hill Street (at Washington Street), Daly City, 650-756-7529, mypartyplayhouse.com.

Notice to Users: Today will be the last edition of UrbanBaby San Francisco. We thank you for your loyal readership of the blog & newsletter. We hope that you’ll be interested in continuing to hear from us with UrbanBaby Buzz/Daily Picks, our national parenting newsletter also written by our San Francisco writer, Joyce Slaton. If you are, you don’t need to do anything, we’ll automatically transfer your subscription to that newsletter. If you do not wish to receive it, please Click Here and you will be automatically unsubscribed.

Museums, live music in the park, and enough chocolate to have the kids begging to stop tasting.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Weekend

Meet characters from The Clone Wars, build your own models and make movies using stop-motion, test your lightsaber skills, and learn how soundtracks are mixed.

When: Sat. & Sun., 9/11-12, 11am-5pm; Age 5+; $8-10.

Where: Zeum, 221 Fourth Street (at Howard Street), San Francisco; 415-820-3320; zeum.org.

Power to the Peaceful Festival

An old-school groovy San Francisco be-in, with drumming, yoga, live music, healing arts, and lots of colorful people on blankets.

When: Sat., 9/11, 9am-5pm; All ages; Free.

Where: Speedway Meadow, 25th Avenue & Fulton Street (in Golden Gate Park); powertothepeaceful.org.

Ghirardelli Square Chocolate Festival

Chocolate chocolate chocolate. And a kid’s area.

When: Sat. & Sun., 9/11-12, noon-5pm; Age 2+; Free admission, $20 for 15 tastings of chocolate samples.

Where: Ghirardelli Square, 900 North Point (at Polk Street), San Francisco; ghirardellisq.com.

Information for parents of special needs kids tends to be of the social-service variety: Xeroxed flyers hung up at a doctor’s office, spiral-bound handbooks, pamphlets. It’s rare that such material exhibits the elegant style of Dandelion, the quarterly magazine for Bay Area special needs parents. The magazine is glossy, the pictures are beautiful, the text is well-written and covers such diverse topics as soft clothing for children with sensory integration issues and equine therapy.

Each issue of the magazine (summer, winter, spring, and fall) has several long features, as well as reviews of useful products and services, and personal content from parents working through their own challenges. In the back are listings of relevant associations, schools, medical and therapy centers, and other places of interest. And then there are the ads, which will prove as useful to some people as the editorial content itself. Hey, I didn’t know there was a speech therapist in that strip mall right down the street! Wow, there’s a store downtown that sells wiggle seats, I can try before I buy! And so on.

The magazine is distributed free in agencies and doctor’s offices that deal with special needs kids, or interested parents can subscribe for $20 a year. For more information visit dandelionparent.com.

Good things to eat, to watch, and to read.

Giro de San Francisco

Watch the cyclists spin by from pretty Levi Strauss Plaza as competition continues for the California Cup. Kids age 14 and under can race as well, even on tricycles.

When: Mon., 9/6, All ages; see website for start times and entry fees (viewing is free).

Where: Levi Strauss Plaza, Battery & Union Streets, San Francisco; velopromo.com.

Off the Grid

The roaming conglomeration of food trucks and bands is landing in Fort Mason every Friday evening for a while; come for a picnic on the grass.

When: Fri., 9/3 (and every subsequent Friday, see website for details), 5-9pm, All ages; Free admission (food available for purchase).

Where: Fort Mason Center, Marina Boulevard (at Buchanan Street), San Francisco; offthegridsf.com.

San Francisco Zine Fest

A feast of chapbooks and zines, cartoons, and little magazines. Much of the material is aimed at adults but it’s still a thrill for literary adults and inspiration for budding lil writers.

When: Sat. & Sun., 9/4-5, 11am-6pm; Age 6+; Free.

Where: San Francisco County Fair Building, 9th Avenue and Lincoln Way (in Golden Gate Park), San Francisco; sfzinefest.com.

By now we’re all familiar with the Community-Supported Agriculture programs in which those who subscribe to a particular farm or collective’s services get regular deliveries of fruits and vegetables. That’s all fine and well, but if you’re still running stressfully out to the store for milk, bread, and other necessities, maybe one of these CSAs can help you:

Planet Organics: Natural groceries and prepared foods, including kid-friendly lines like Annie’s. There’s a whole section of “kid food,” and the kinds of dairy, bread, canned, and prepared products you can find in a typical health food store. Natural and organic/grass fed meats, both butcher and deli cuts. Planet Organics has the best all-around selection for busy Bay Area families, and a very easy order interface that allows members to sign up for one-time or regular deliveries.

Real Food Bay Area: Raw milk and cream, eggs, artisanal sauerkraut, local honey, ghee, and pastured poultry. Real Food also delivers gluten-free bread, cookies, and other baked goods.

Soul Food Farm: Pastured chicken, eggs, and confit, plus chicken parts (livers, feet) for innards enthusiasts or makers of raw pet food.

Marin Sun Farms: Just about every kind of grass-fed meat you can imagine: beef, veal, lamb, pork, goat, mutton. Pastured chicken and eggs too. Subscriptions are available in several package sizes, and for six months or a year at a time.

Cowgirl Cheese of the Month Club: Not really a CSA, but instead a pricey (about $70 a month PLUS FedEx shipping) and probably addictive way to get three cheeses a month delivered. Cheeses are hand-selected by the unbeatable Cowgirl Creamery. Members can sign up for three, six, or twelve months at a time.

Three Stone Hearth: The “community supported kitchen” is, for those who can afford the service, the ne plus ultra for harried parents. Each week, Three Stone’s co-op members prepare dishes from a different ethnic cuisine. Members can order as much or as little as this food as they like, along with accompaniments like cheese and butter. Other groceries (terrific gluten-free breads, raw milk, cereal) are available as an add-on. All of the prepared dishes are made with care from local ingredients and natural meats, and the groceries are first-rate.

Dance, film, and a heaping helping of Chinatown culture.

Chinatown Street Fest

No, not the one in SF. Explore Oakland’s own historical Chinatown in this two-day revelry of lion dancing, martial arts demonstrations, and traditional music.

When: Sat. & Sun., 8/28-29, 10am-5:30pm; All ages; Free.

Where: Oakland Chinatown, 7th Street to 11th Street and Broadway to Harrison Street, oaklandchinatownstreetfest.com.

Twinkling To-Do Film Festival

The weekend-long Three-Minute Film Festival of (mostly) locally made short films puts on a program of films made by kids aged 6 to 18. The venue, historic Victoria Theatre, is a treat too.

When: Sat., 8/28, 3:30pm (screening at 4), Age 3+; $10 adults, $5 kids under 18.

Where: Victoria Theatre, 2961 16th Street (at Valencia Street), San Francisco, 415-863-7576.

ODC School’s Family Day

Samplers of some of ODCs most popular classes for kids and adults, including salsa, flamenco, and toddler movement.

Where: Sun., 8/29, 9am-3:30pm; Age 2+; Free.

Where: ODC Dance Commons, 351 Shotwell Street (at 18th Street), San Francisco; 415-863-9830; odcschool.org.

As promised, the San Francisco Unified School District is rolling out a new school assignment process this year, with more weight given to where a child lives and, for elementary schools, where a child went to preschool. The changes are expected to support the new/old trend of kids attending neighborhood schools, as kids within a school’s “attendance area” are all but guaranteed a seat. But parents can still tour and apply for any school they wish.

With school tours for next year’s students beginning at the start of October, the district has launched a website that might make the process a bit easier. Visit sfusd.edu/enroll, choose the level of school you’re looking for (elementary, middle, high school), and then narrow the results using any one of seven variables, including neighborhoods, ZIP codes, start times, school hours, and other factors. Play around with it a bit and eventually you’ll be directed to a list of schools with links to each school’s website.

You’ll have to get really specific then, as each school has its own touring process. You may have to make an appointment or just show up for a group tour on a certain date. But the SFUSD site at least has more information on the assignment process to help the (justifiably) confused parent.

Outdoor shows, Sunday Streets, and sidewalk eats.

They Might Be Giants

Kid favorite plays songs for young and old at the conclusion of the annual Stern Grove Festival series of free outdoor concerts.

When: Sun., 8/18, 2pm; Age 2+; Free.

Where: Sigmund Stern Grove, Sloat Avenue (at 19th Avenue), San Francisco; 415-252-6252; sterngrove.org.

San Francisco Street Food Festival

A great big fun party with every cart and truck you’ve ever heard of in town. This year’s space is way bigger than last year’s and organizers say it won’t be nearly as crowded. Live music and kids’ activities too.

When: Sat., 8/21, 11am-7pm; Age 2+; Free admission, food is available for purchase.

Where: Folsom Street (at 25th Street), San Francisco; sfstreetfoodfest.com.

Angel Island Live

This last in a series of live shows on the Cantina Deck overlooking Ayala Bay features traditional South American band Mucho Axe.

When: Sat., 8/21, 2-5pm; All ages; Free (ferry ride to island requires admission).

Where: Angel Island State Park , (in the San Francisco Bay); 415-435-3392; angelisland.com.

Sunday Streets: Penguins to Penguins

The well-attended traffic-free event takes over a swathe of town from the California Academy of Sciences at JFK Drive all the way down Lincoln to Sloat, across from the zoo.

When: Sun. 8/22, 10am-3pm; All ages; Free.

Where: Centered on Great Highway (at Lincoln Way), San Francisco; sundaystreetssf.com.

A study published in this month’s issue of medical journal Pediatrics confirms what parents have been worriedly noting for some time: girls are going into puberty younger than ever before.

The study looked at 1,293 girls aged 6 to 9 in East Harlem, Cincinnati, and the Bay Area. Each group was made up of 30 percent each whites, blacks and Hispanics, and 5 percent Asians. Girls were measured to see if their breasts were beginning to develop, which the study theoretically considered the beginning of puberty. The results? At age 7, 10.4 percent of whites, 23.4 percent of blacks and 14.9 percent of Hispanic girls were developing breasts. At 8 years, the figures increased to 18.3 percent, 42.9 percent and 30.9 percent, respectively.

Lead researcher Frank Biro, who is director of adolescent medicine at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, told the New York Times that his team blames the result on obesity (body fat produces estrogen that triggers breast growth), as well as on environmental triggers: “‘It’s certainly throwing up a warning flag,” Dr. Biro told the Times. “I think we need to think about the stuff we’re exposing our bodies to and the bodies of our kids. This is a wake-up call, and I think we need to pay attention to it.”

Biro also told the Times that his research team was now looking at the girls’ hormone levels and doing lab tests to measure their exposure to certain substances.

A baby food swap, the Hillwide garage gala, and other ways to while away your weekend.

Organic Homemade Baby Food Swap

Karen Solomon, author of Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It, hosts a swap-meet for parent-cooks. Anyone who brings an organic mash in 10 half-pint containers can swap with other cooks.

When: Fri., 8/13, 11am-noon; All ages; $5.

Where: 18 Reasons, 593 Guerrero Street (at 18th Street), San Francisco; info@18reasons.org.

Build and Grow Clinics

At these weekly Saturday learning sessions, kids make free wooden toys like ant farms. And you can buy light bulbs and a new faucet.

When: Each Saturday, including 8/14, 10am; Age 3+; Free.

Where: Lowe’s Home Improvement, 720 Dubuque Avenue (at E. Grand Avenue), South San Francisco; lowesbuildandgrow.com.

Nihonmachi Street Fair

Live music, cultural demonstrations, arts and crafts booths, and the incredible thunderous roar of the taiko drummers.

When: Sat.-Sun., 8/14-15; 11am-6pm; All ages; Free.

Where: Japantown, Post Street (between Laguna and Fillmore Streets), San Francisco, nihonmachistreetfair.org.

Bernal Hillwide Garage Sale

Just in time for back-to-school shopping, this giant garage sale is traditionally a great source of clothes and gear for families.

When: Sat., 8/15, 8am-4pm (but open times vary by location); All ages; Free.

Where: The streets surrounding the Bernal Heights Playground and Recreation Center, 500 Moultrie Street (at Jarboe Avenue), San Francisco; 415-695-5007.