🌟Local Kiddo SF

Your weekend plans, handled.

Author

Jasmine Alves
November 21, 2025

📆Issue No. 43 - November 22-23, 2025

Happy Friday, friends! The holidays officially arrive in San Francisco this weekend, and we're here for all of it. Our comprehensive winter guide drops next week, but the celebrations start now. This weekend brings the Fairmont's iconic gingerbread house lighting and Welcome Winter Night at Cal Academy tomorrow, plus Lightscape illuminating the Botanical Garden and Mommy Moments Winter Fest in Bayview. Add in cartoon-inspired jazz, community art marathons, and the Exploratorium glowing all weekend long, and you've got the perfect mix of art, culture and holiday wonder. Whether your crew is ready for twinkling lights, jazz performances, or collaborative art making, this weekend delivers the perfect way to welcome winter and kick off the season.

⚡ TLDR: Weekend Gameplan

All Weekend:

Saturday:

Sunday:

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✍️ FILL OUT THIS FORM ✍️

All Weekend

Transform your weekend into an illuminated adventure as the Exploratorium glows with interactive light installations, hands-on experiments, and the kind of wonder that happens when science meets art in the dark.

Worth Knowing:

  • Saturday, November 22 and Sunday, November 23 11:00am-4:00pm

  • Exploratorium, Pier 15

  • Tickets start at $29.95

  • Interactive light and glow exhibits, including:

    • Light Play

    • Bioluminescent Bugs

    • Glow in the Dark Biology, and more

  • Hands-on science experiments with luminescence

  • Perfect blend of education and wonder

  • Great for families who love science and spectacle

Saturday Highlights

Witness a San Francisco holiday tradition as the Fairmont unveils its spectacular gingerbread house! This iconic hotel creates an elaborate edible masterpiece each year, and the lighting ceremony kicks off the season with sweetness and wonder.

Worth Knowing:

  • Saturday, November 22, 11:00am

  • Fairmont San Francisco, 950 Mason Street

  • Free

  • Performance by the San Francisco Boys Chorus

  • Pictures with Santa

  • Letters to Santa, and more

Celebrate the arrival of winter with this special evening event at Cal Academy! Experience the museum after hours with winter-themed programming, special activities, and the magic of the season coming alive among the exhibits.

Worth Knowing:

  • Saturday, November 22, 6:00pm

  • California Academy of Sciences, Golden Gate Park

  • Tickets start at $24.99

  • Special winter celebration evening event

  • After-hours museum access

  • Winter-themed programming and activities, including:

    • Visiting Reindeer

    • A Winter Magic Show

    • Holiday Cookie Decorating, and more

  • Perfect way to kick off the holiday season

  • Entertaining for both kids and adults

Sunday Highlight

Join the global Big Draw festival at the Walt Disney Family Museum for a day-long community art marathon! This year's theme "Drawn Together" celebrates collective creativity as families create collaborative artworks and experience the joy of making art as a community.

Worth Knowing:

  • Sunday, November 23, 10:00am-3:00pm

  • Walt Disney Family Museum, Presidio

  • Free

  • Part of the global Big Draw festival

  • "Drawn Together" theme emphasizes community and collaboration

  • Workshops include:

    • Portraiture

    • Community Paper Mosaic

    • Festive Card Crafting

    • Paper Dolls, and more

✨Full List of What’s Good This Weekend✨

Ongoing:

Saturday, 11/22: 

Sunday, 11/23:

🔭On Our Radar

Next week: Your comprehensive guide to winter and holiday celebrations in SF! We're compiling everything from Nutcracker performances to holiday markets, light displays to seasonal workshops.

Thanksgiving week means library storytimes may have adjusted schedules, so check your local branch for holiday hours.

Attend a family cartooning workshop to work off the stress of Thanksgiving prep (November 24-November 29).

Found a spot that works for both you and the kiddos? Tell us – we read everything.

Until next week,

Jasmine @Local Kiddo — Because good taste doesn’t end at parenthood.

P.S. Forward this to a parent who is still trying to figure out what to do during their kiddo’s wake window.

P.P.S. Want to partner with us? Have an event we should highlight? We work with brands that parents actually want in their lives (you know, the ones that don't make us choose between "kid-friendly" and "still cool"). Email us at [email protected] if that sounds like you.

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