📆 The Shortlist. Issue 17 - June 30, 2026 - July 3, 2026
Welcome to The Shortlist! It’s your Tuesday snapshot of what to do with your kiddo in SF this week, plus a few highlights for the upcoming weekend. Short and sweet, every week.
All summer, keep an eye out for 🪣, it means that pick counts toward our Ultimate SF Summer Bucket List. How many can you check off?
📌 On the agenda 📌
Things that we are pinning to do with our kiddos this week.
All Week
Free weekday admission for children at San Francisco Zoo during the month of June.
$1 weekday family movies at Stonestown Galleria.
For the first time and for eight days only (6/27 through 7/4) visitors can earn the limited-edition Anza 250th anniversary Junior Ranger Badge exclusively at the Presidio Visitor Center.
Watch the World Cup at one of the 2026 Thrive City Soccer Watch Parties and Viewings or at Pier 39’s Soccer with Sea Lions .
Visit Noe Valley Books to join in on the Where’s Waldo Local challenge and find Waldo while you support local businesses.
Check out the 7×7 light installation at Civic Center (installation ends July 4).
Tuesday 6/30
4:00-4:30 - Enjoy a music class with your kiddo at Music Magic Tuesday w JAMaROO Kids.
5:00-8:00 - Celebrate community and enjoy live music, local food and more at Noe Valley Night Market.
6:00-8:00 - Connect with Black moms at the Black Mama’s Wellness Group. (Dogpatch)
Wednesday 7/1
9:00-10:30 - Attend a playgroup for kiddos ages 12-30 months. (Portola)
8:00-9:00 - Go on an early morning Birding Walk at Salesforce Park.
10:00-10:30 - Enjoy a Family Storytime at Salesforce Park. 🪣
10:00-4:00 - Enjoy a free day at the San Francisco Zoo. (Use this as an opportunity to check out the new Dinos Rule! exhibit for $9 per person!) 🪣
10:30-1:30 - Have Mindful Moments at the San Francisco Zoo.
11:00-12:00 - Learn how to use a scanning electron microscope. (Pier 15)
12:00-1:00 - Dance with your kiddo at Dance Outdoors with Rhythm & Motion. (Yerba Buena)
12:30-1:45 - Join community and make new mom friends at a New Moms Group. (Outer Sunset)
1:00-3:00 - Watch Senegal face off Belgium in the World Cup at the Crossing.
2:00-4:00 - Learn Watercolor Landscapes at a free art workshop. (Yerba Buena)
4:00-5:00 - Celebrate 4th of July with JamaROO at the Cow Hollow Kids Club.
4:00-7:00 - Listen to free live music in Golden Gate Park.
5:00-6:30 - Connect with other toddler parents at a Toddler Parents Connection Circle. (Mission)
5:00-7:00 - Watch USA face off Bosnia and Herzegovina in the World Cup at the Crossing.
5:00-7:00 - Learn Bead Weaving at a free art workshop. (Yerba Buena)
Thursday 7/2
9:00-10:30 - Attend a playgroup for kiddos ages 12-30 months. (Excelsior)
9:30-11:00 - Attend a playgroup for kiddos ages 12-30 months. (Visitacion Valley)
10:00-10:45 - Toddlers unite for outdoor musical fun with JAMaROO Kids at Toddler Thursday. (Salesforce Park)
11:00-12:00 - Learn how to use a scanning electron microscope. (Pier 15)
11:00-12:15 - Moms, take a moment to breathe at a Postpartum Yoga class. (Mission)
11:00-12:30 - Attend a playgroup for kiddos ages 30-42 months. (Excelsior)
12:00-3:00 - Listen to free live music in Civic Center.
12:00-5:00 - Enjoy First Free Thursdays at the Museum of Craft and Design.
12:30-1:30 - Listen to the Destiny Muhammad Trio at Yerba Buena.
1:00-2:00 - Bond with newborn parents (0-6 months) at a new parent circle. (Mission)
3:30-4:30 - Bond with parents of growing babies (6 months-2 years) at a new parent circle. (Mission)
4:00-5:00 - Celebrate 4th of July with JamaROO at the Noe Valley Kids Club.
4:30-6:30 - Make patriotic wands keychains at Crafternoons in Union Square.
5:00-7:00 - Listen to free live music at the Ferry Building.
5:00-10:00 - Go to the MoAD, enjoy live performances, dancing, drag, food trucks and more at Downtown First Thursdays.
Friday 7/3
11:00 - Take a parent & child art class. (Pac Heights)
12:00-2:00 - Ask a scientist about meteorites at the Exploratorium.
3:30 - Let your kiddo do an afternoon art class. (Pac Heights)
3:30-5:00 - Let your child’s creativity and imagination run wild at a Free Day of Play. (Mission)
4:30-7:00 - Listen to free live music in Golden Gate Park.
5:00 - Watch the Heat face off the Spurs and the Warriors face off the Lakers at the California Classic presented by CarMax. (Chase Center)
5:00-6:30 - Have a roller disco night with the kiddos. (Hayes Valley)
5:30-7:00 - Kickoff the weekend with a beginner Salsa dance lesson and live music at Yerba Buena Salsa Night. (Yerba Buena)
7:30-9:30 - Join the Grammy Award-winning Los Angeles Children’s Chorus in concert with the San Francisco Boys Chorus. (Pacific Heights)
Dinos Rule! Coming Soon
SF Zoo’s New Dinosaur Exhibition Roars in this Summer
A prehistoric adventure awaits when San Francisco Zoo and Gardens unleashes its colossal, new outdoor exhibition, Dinos Rule! this summer. This limited-time, family-friendly, immersive experience, will run from July 1 through September 15, 2026.
Guests will experience 21 realistic, scientifically-informed dinosaur models based on fossil evidence. Each individual dinosaur uses advanced robotics to enable natural movements like blinking, breathing and tail-swaying. Themed to evolution and extinction, the dinosaurs will be grouped by era and geographic origin, and in dynamic interactions displaying behaviors like nesting, hunting and scavenging.
In addition to the life-sized dinosaur displays, the exhibit will offer interactive activities such as a 5 ft. tall dinosaur egg photo op, a 6 ft.-long Sauropod footprint and a 4-ft. long Tyrannosaurus Rex footprint, a 15 ft. long climbable dinosaur sculpture, and a giant “dig pit” with dinosaur fossils.
Dinos Rule! is a separate fee for all guests and is $9 per person/$8 SF Zoo members (children 2 and under are free) and is not included with general zoo admission. Each ticket is valid for one-time use on any date during the run of the exhibition. Reservations are not required. Tickets will be available both online and in-person. Visit the web page here.
📆 Plan Ahead 📆
Things that we’re looking forward to this weekend. More to come in our weekend guide!
All Weekend
Celebrate the 4th of July at Red, White, & Zoo.
Enjoy live jazz and vibrant community at Fillmore Jazz Festival.
Celebrate and engage in discussions around the future we imagine at the Future of Us Festival.
Want to have a bonfire at Ocean Beach this weekend? Here are the regulations. 🪣
Celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the United States on Angel Island.
Celebrate the 4th of July at Pier 39 and the Fisherman's Wharf Promenade.
Go to a national park for free all weekend. (July 3-5)
Ride the ferry to Treasure Island to see fireworks. 🪣
Saturday 7/4
Celebrate the 4th of July at the Aquarium of the Bay.
Sunday 7/5
Watch San Francisco City Football Club face off Academica at Kezar Stadium.
Take your kiddo to a summer soccer skills class at Sunset Dunes.
Join a “Mulan“ Sing-along and Costume Contest at Sundays at the Asian Art Museum. 🪣
Go to Sunday Fundays with the Randall Museum in Union Square. 🪣
👀 On Our Feed 👀
Posts, threads, and content that made us stop scrolling.
What do your kids have planned for the long weekend?
@mytherapistsays
See you on Friday!
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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