Often taking a back seat to more famous Californian cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, the former agricultural town of San Jose is now a major metropolis in its own right. Once the capital of California upon receiving statehood in 1850, San Jose has undergone several transformations and now bears the nickname of Silicon Valley, a nod to the heavy concentration of technology companies headquartered there. With thousands of young families living in the valley, San Jose offers prevalent activities for kids throughout the city.

Parks and Zoos

Happy Hollow Park and Zoo (hhpz.org) educates children with a conservation theme woven throughout classes, camps, a puppet theater and animal hospital. The Redwood Lookout is modeled after a ranger station, with a giant play structure featuring ropes, slides, swings and climbing areas. A small zoo gives children a chance to encounter animals such as a fossa, capuchin monkey, hedgehog, wallaby, jaguar, pygmy goat and various reptiles, birds and arachnids. The Guadelupe River Park Conservancy (grpg.org) is a river park in the heart of downtown San Jose. The largest Monopoly game board in the world (monopolyinthepark.com) is in Discovery Meadow at the southern end of the park. At the 930-square-foot game, you may rent tokens and play a real game of Monopoly outdoors.


The Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose (cdm.org) is housed in a bright purple building downtown, with 28,000 square feet of interactive exhibits, scientific displays and creative play stations. Rotating exhibits have included a replica of the International Space Station and an interactive art experience where kids are placed in environments depicted in famous paintings. Mock-ups of city streets teach about the modern world, while a real working children's garden encourages a connection to the earth and natural organic gardening. The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum and Planetarium (egyptianmuseum.org) showcases tombs, mummies and Egyptian artifacts, with a small planetarium on the grounds. A junior archaeologist program offers hands-on learning opportunities for ages 5 to 11.

Theme Parks

Raging Waters (rwsplash.com) is a water park with facilities for children of all ages. Over 50 acres includes 36 slides, giant tube rides, rafts, tunnels and a 35-foot water bowl with a dragon breathing overhead. Younger kids have their own interactive play area with smaller slides, a wave pool, family rafting rides and a lazy river. Another popular theme park in San Jose, just three miles outside the city limits, is Six Flags Great America (cagreatamerica.com), open during the summer months and weekends through October. Six Flags has 360 acres of rides and attractions that have been featured in several blockbuster Hollywood movies. The Kidzville section goes easy on the littlest visitors and features Nickelodeon cartoon characters.

Mystery House

Take older kids to the Winchester Mystery House (winchestermysteryhouse.com), a Victorian mansion built by the heiress to the Winchester rifle fortune. Guided tours allow you to peek into 110 of the 160 rooms in the mansion, which is rumored to be haunted. Visitors can go "behind the scenes" to explore the vast grounds and gardens, including stables, workshops, garages, orchards and a basement with an original coal-burning furnace. Long hallways and hidden coves are rife with tales of ghosts and mysteries. Children are welcome on the basic tours, but going behind the scenes is reserved for children over the age of 5.

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