The New Children's Museum4512

Light-filled, open-aired, expansive, flexible, industrial, modern - there are plenty unique adjectives to describe San Diego's distinctive The New Children's Museum. Formerly the Children's Museum/Museo de los Ninos San Diego, the new building opened in 2008 and continues its tradition of providing dynamic, playful, and hands-on exhibits and studios - all with one goal in mind: inspire kids to think, create, and play. Maybe the best adjective is the simplest one: Fun!

The Museum's award-winning, environmentally sustainable home is one of the first "green" museums in California, and its architecture is reason enough to visit. The three-story building includes a 17-foot concrete entrance bridge, angled saw tooth roof structure, tilt-up concrete panels, and a glass-enclosed elevator shaft that functions as a heating and cooling tower. Adults will marvel at the physical space; kids just see plenty of open places to experiment and play. The building also includes an education center, birthday party rooms, and an organic cafe.

We were wowed by the open-air balcony studios where kids can create and craft to their hearts' content; on the day we visited, little ones were busy making clay cupcakes, paper butterflies, tissue-paper blossoms, and inventive cardboard creations. Tweens and teens aren't left out; the Teen Studio features exquisite repurposed-trash artwork on display. Our tween rolled up her sleeves and got right to work at the giant art table.

If some rambunctious energy needs to be burned off among your group, head just across the street to the museum's outdoor park, which includes plenty of space for running, climbing, swinging, family picnics, and a view of the trains and trolley going by.

The museum offers a Target Free Sunday for Families on the second Sunday of each month.