📆 The Shortlist. Issue 10 - May 12-15, 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.
📌 On the agenda 📌
Things that we are pinning to do with our kiddos this week.
All Week
Tuesday 5/12
Say yes to digging in the dirt at Bean Sprouts Family Days. (Golden Gate Park)
Join a playgroup for kiddos ages 6-36 months. (Excelsior)
Find the traveling bookmobile at Koret Playground.
Learn the basics of sewing and become certified to use the machines independently. (Civic Center)
Enjoy a dance and creative movement class with JAMaROO Kids. (SoMA)
Join Music Magic Tuesday with JAMaROO Kids. (Mission)
Join a lactation support circle for parents and pregnant people. (Mission)
Attend a children’s music class. (Inner Sunset)
Join a Pop n Play to support your kiddo’s learning and development. (Excelsior)
Join moms and caretakers for The Melt Method for Mamas & Caretakers. (Laurel Heights)
Give your little one a chance to engage in hands on STEM activities at Tinker Tuesday. (Excelsior)
Go to a developmental playgroup for toddlers. (Inner Sunset)
Wednesday 5/13
Go to a development playgroup for babies. (Inner Sunset)
Join a playgroup for kiddos ages 6-30 months. (Portola)
Join a toddler drum circle. (McCoppin Playground)
Join a Family Storytime at Salesforce Park. (Salesforce Park)
Take part in Whimsy Wednesday, a magical outdoor activities with Salesforce Park's resident fairies from Happily Ever Laughter. (Salesforce Park)
Learn how to use a scanning electron microscope. (Pier 15)
Meet new moms at a new mother’s circle. (Mission)
Learn sign language with your baby. (Mission)
Take your family to a community craft night. (Mission)
Take a parent & child art class. (Pac Heights)
Take a baby-friendly postpartum strength training class. (Sutro Heights)
Thursday 5/14
Participate in Bike to Wherever Day 2026.
Attend a Postpartum Yoga class. (Mission)
Have a baby + me spa day. (Mission)
Join a Pop n Play to support your kiddo’s learning and development. (Excelsior)
Bond with newborn parents or parents of growing babies at a new parent circle. (Mission)
Bond with dads at a Fatherhood Group. (Inner Sunset)
Join a playgroup for kiddos ages 6-36 months. (Excelsior)
Join a playgroup for kiddos ages 18-36 months. (Visitacion Valley)
Say yes to digging in the dirt at Bean Sprouts Family Days. (Golden Gate Park)
Take a postpartum movement fusion (cardio+core) class (Sutro Heights) and a postpartum yoga sculpt class (Golden Gate Heights).
Make a tie-dye coffee filter butterflies at Crafternoons in Union Square.
Toddlers unite for outdoor musical fun with JAMaROO Kids at Toddler Thursday. (Salesforce Park)
See the San Francisco Symphony give a free community chamber concert at SFPL Marina.
Gather at the beach for a soulful Ocean Drum Circle. (Sunset Dunes)
Join a neighborhood celebration with music, dancing and art-making at Valencia LIVE!
Sip wine and chill with community at Castro Wine Walk and Castro Night Market. (Castro)
Friday 5/15
Attend a morning music class for toddlers and preschoolers. (Chase Center)
Attend a children’s music class. (Inner Sunset)
Join a toddler drum circle. (McCoppin Playground)
Let your child’s creativity and imagination run wild at a Free Day of Play. (Mission)
Take a parent & child art class with your toddler or have your older kiddo do an art class solo. (Pac Heights)
Feel the rhythm and move with community at an Afro-Brazilian drumming workshop. (Ingleside)
Learn to code with Scratch. (Sunset)
Have a roller disco night with the kiddos. (Hayes Valley)
Braid challah and celebrate community at Twist of Tradition: Hands-On Challah.
Join youth from across the Bay Area, alongside United Playaz, for a kid-led dog competition supporting gun violence prevention at Pawz for Pierce's Playaz 2026.
Join Project Commotion for a movement workshop for educators and parents. (Mission)
Sip wine and take a stroller walk around your community at Hayes Valley Wine Walk. (Hayes Valley)
Have a night at the museum at the Penguins+Pajamas Sleepover at the California Academy of Sciences.
📆 Plan Ahead 📆
Things that we’re looking forward to this weekend.
All Weekend
Join Young Performers Theatre for Tunnel Top Travelers, a story about growing up, speaking up, and finding connection in uncertain times.
Enjoy Breathing the Soil, an original piece of theater written and performed by students of A.C.T.’s Education and Community Programs Department and Downtown High School’s Acting for Critical Transformations Project.
Saturday 5/16
Enjoy art-making, entertainment and live music at the 5th annual de Youngsters Day Out.
See Laurie Berkner in concert to hear all of your kiddo’s favorite
Participate in an intergenerational day of service in Excelsior.
Join the Warriors and Valkyries to celebrate literacy at Thrive City.
Enjoy live music from local musicians, food trucks, workshops and family-friendly activities at Secondhand Saturdays.
Connect with BIPOC families seeking collective liberation at Radical Roots.
Dance and do Zumba as a family.
Join Bay Area students, educators, families, and community partners in conversation, reflection, and skill-building through the lenses of identity, justice, and community care at LWHS Head, Heart, Hands EIB Conference Series.
Celebrate community and let your kiddo get their face painted at the Slow Sanchez Annual Block Party.
Celebrate community and support local merchants at the Heart of Richmond Night Market.
See classic cars and celebrate community at the Chrome X Community Bike and Car Show.
Sunday 5/17
Stomp, shake, and RAWR your way into the ultimate toddler dance party at Boogie Social: Dino Dance Party!
Join the San Francisco Girl’s Chorus at the 90th Birthday Celebration: Philip Glass and The Poets.
👀 On Our Feed 👀
Posts, threads, and content that made us stop scrolling.
📖 Tabs We’ve Closed 📖
Things we’ve actually finished.
Byeeee! Be back 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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