Summer Fun: 6 Unique Family Adventures in San Diego
(and the early childhood education concepts these experience help to develop)
Your child is everything to you. Your kid is just so fabulous, and you get to hang out with him! Can you believe it? You want to enjoy unique experiences as a family that can shape your child—his character, his values, and his skills, but the burden of planning and developing those experiences is far too time-consuming for you to do alone.
As modern parents, we don’t just want stuff, we want experiences! We want variety. We want flexibility. We want to spend highly intentional time learning together with our children, exploring together, growing together. This carved-out time together provides the depth of relationship needed to shape character, shape perspectives, and draw out life lessons.
That’s why San Diego Moms Blog has teamed up with us Adventure Clubs, a family experience design company that brings joy to parents and children by making it easy for parents to enjoy beautiful moments with their children. Adventure Clubs creates “adventures” which happen at host locations all around our awesome city and are created especially for families with kids under the age of ten years old.
Each month, we’ll be highlighting between 5 – 10 family adventures that you can’t get anywhere else but on the free Adventure Clubs app (www.adventureclubs.com). Each experience, or “adventure”, focuses on good, pure childhood fun, and is designed to deepen the parent-child relationship. The adventures grow a child’s important skills too. And the adventures build social relationships because they are experienced as a group alongside like-minded families who also value spending quality time with their children
There are many more adventures on the app, but here are six adventures that I know our readers are REALLY looking forward to in July!
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Farmyard Fiction: Finding Charlotte’s Web
Designed by Adventure Clubs | Adventure Category: Animals
Hosted at Ponyland
If you’ve never been to Ponyland, than this is your chance! It’s a fun way to enjoy classic literature with your kids, learn about farm animals, work on problem solving skills, plus get in some pony therapy. It will be a fabulous morning in the farmyard at Ponyland as we immerse ourselves into the story of Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White. We will be looking at all the furry and feathered friends from the story including goats, pigs, sheep and even a bull! As a group, we will be creating a giant string web — tying and twisting string as we work together — before enjoying a game where each child tries to find their way through the maze, just like a spider would! We’ll cuddle up with our kiddos as the leader tells an abbreviated version of E.B. White’s classic spider story before little ones craft their own special spider webs (with a toy spider) to take home. And of course, we’ll be meeting the ponies and enjoying pony rides too!
This adventure helps to develop:
- Animal awareness
- Literature development
- Problem solving and critical thinking
Adventure Address: 2606 Hollister St, San Diego, CA 92154
For Tickets: All info on the Adventure Clubs app: (www.adventureclubs.com)
Contact: social@adventureclubs.com
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Family Date Night: Dino Dig & IMAX at the NAT
Designed by Adventure Clubs | Adventure Category: Museums & Culture
Hosted by the San Diego Natural History Museum and Lakeshore Learning Center
In the eyes of a child, dinosaurs are big, fierce and utterly amazing — it’s little wonder that toddlers who are still learning to speak have no problem saying “Tyrannosaurus-Rex”, “Brachiosaurus” or “Pterodactyl”. Bring your little dino lovers with their toy dinosaurs (if they have them) and join up with other families with kids for an amazing Friday family night out at the NAT (Museum of Natural History) where kids will get to spend time learning about what paleontologists do. They’ll even get to join in digging and hunting for hidden fossils on a mock dig site, set up just for us outside the NAT. Plus each child will get his or her very own little Dig Kit in which is hidden mini dinosaur bones to dig out, with mom or dad’s help. We later be heading into the Natural History Museum to learn all about the fascinating work paleontologists do as we look at the various dinos on display before we head in to see an IMAX film. Let’s dig in!
This adventure helps to develop:
- Tactile exploration
- Curiosity
- Listening skills
Adventure Address: 1616 National Ave, San Diego, CA 92113
For Tickets: All info on the Adventure Clubs app: (www.adventureclubs.com)
Contact: social@adventureclubs.com
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Get the Beat: Family Dance & Drumming
Designed by Adventure Clubs | Adventure Category: Music & Dance
Hosted by the World Beat Center
Check out this interactive African dance adventure for the whole family, with live djembe drumming (oh yes!). We’ll start by meeting in the World Beat cafe, where we will learn a little about Africa and make our own djembe drums to keep. Then we will head into the studio for some noise-making and food stomping fun. Kids will be dancing and drumming along to the beat, guided by West African Dance led by Master Dancer, Makida Anderson. t’s a great workout, and best of all – accompanied by live drumming which the kids will LOVE!
This adventure helps to develop:
- Rhythm
- Gross motor skills
- Creative expression
Adventure Address: 2100 Park Blvd, San Diego, CA 92101
For Tickets: All info on the Adventure Clubs app: (www.adventureclubs.com)
Contact: social@adventureclubs.com
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Pilots & Planes: A Day at the Executive Airport
Designed by Adventure Clubs | Adventure Category: Transportation
Hosted by the Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport and Amazon Books
Calling all fledgeling airline pilots and budding engineers! Let’s head to the airport so we can take to the skies with our imaginations. Join us at the Montgomery-Gibbs Executive airport, where we will meet at the cafe alongside the runway where we can watch the planes take off and land in between being refueled and loaded. Each child will receive a copy of Richard Scarry’s famous book “A Day at the Airport” and in it, we will meet the classic, beloved characters. We will get an up-close look at the terminal, the control tower, the runway, and more. There are over 70 labeled words in this adorable book and a sticker sheet, which we will tackle together as we look around the airport and hopefully meet some pilots there too. What a fun way to embrace childhood learning and make a memory together. Join us for this flight of fantasy!
Adventure Address: 3750 John J Montgomery Dr, San Diego, CA 92123
For Tickets: All info on the Adventure Clubs app: (www.adventureclubs.com)
Contact: social@adventureclubs.com
This adventure helps to develop:
- Fine motor sills
- Imaginative play
- Problem solving
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Baby Baristas: Roasting, Toasting & Tasting
Designed by Adventure Clubs | Adventure Category: Food
Hosted by Cafe Virtuoso
The liquid heaven in our mugs (coffee) is just too much of a curiosity for our kids! So why not feed the curiosity with knowledge fabulous world of coffee roasting! Join us at this modern roastery, which responsibly sources its certified organic beans from all corners of the globe. On this adventure, our itty-bitty baristas will get some hands-on experience with weighing beans, operating the roasting machine, percolating and more. After we’ve experienced the fascinating journey from bean to cup – smelling those roasts and enjoying the textures – Mom or Dad can sip and savor a seriously delicious drink of their choice, while kids enjoy a frothy hot cocoa or decaf baby chino at this beautiful coffee bar. Good days start with coffee, adventure and friends – see you there!
This adventure helps to develop:
- Global knowledge
- Understanding the engineering processes
- Creates a full sensory experience
Adventure Address: 1616 National Ave, San Diego, CA 92113
For Tickets: All info on the Adventure Clubs app: (www.adventureclubs.com)
Contact: social@adventureclubs.com
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Mini Market: Kid Entrepreneurs
Designed by Adventure Clubs | Adventure Category: Education
Hosted by the Balboa Park
At Pepper Grove Playground outside of the Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park, we’ll be having an entrepreneurial good time! Each participating adventure family will bake or make something (with the help of little adventurers) to bring and sell! Each little entrepreneur will then set up a tray on a picnic blanket, and display their goodies for sale (think edible – e.g. popcorn, brownie bites, small cookies, cake pops, etc OR handmade – e.g. bracelets, homemade cards). They will then try to get other adventurers to be interested and to buy their products. Kids will buy and sell to each other as they learn about the concepts of money and trade. Bring a toy cash register if you have it. All the items will be worth the same amount – a dime. Each child will receive a roll of dimes (how fun!) to shop with, as well as materials to make a sign for their business. They will also be earning lots of dimes by selling their items too. Remember the goal isn’t just to make money, but to have fun shopping with real money! What a great way to introduce our little ones to big world concepts! RSVP on the Adventure Clubs app for your family if you’d like to join this adventure.
This adventure helps to develop:
- Big world ideas
- Concepts about money and advertising
- Record-keeping
Adventure Address: 1875 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101
For Tickets: All info on the Adventure Clubs app: (www.adventureclubs.com)
Contact: social@adventureclubs.com
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San Diego Moms – let’s go on an adventure together with our kids!
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About the owner of Adventure Clubs – Janelle is a mom to four (yes FOUR) little girls all under the age of seven. She’s also the Founder and President of Adventure Clubs, an app developer a Community Leader with IDEO’s Early Childhood Innovation Network, an experience designer who has created and sold more than 70,000 adventure experiences, a published author and motivational speaker. Janelle and her family love exploring San Diego through Adventure Clubs every day and her kids have such a fun life! Janelle is excited to be working with San Diego Moms Blog. Follow Janelle on instagram @adventureclubsmom or follow Adventure Clubs on instagram @adventureclubsofficial.
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