Best Way to Convince Your Kids to Get Outside
Mellano Farm Stand
Spend a screen-free afternoon with fun activities like pick-your-own strawberries, blueberries, and wildflowers; tractor rides; and animal encounters with pigs, goats, and chickens at Mellano Farm Stand in Oceanside. The family-owned locale also holds weekly farmers’ markets, plus festival weekends that bring bounce houses, lawn games, and rock-mining activities onsite. Mellano is celebrating its 100th anniversary as one of San Diego County’s largest flower and foliage growers—it’s even part of the farming team behind The Flower Fields in Carlsbad.
Best Deal to Beat the Heat
Gaylord Pacific Resort
The hardest-to-get ticket in town isn’t a seat at the ultra-exclusive backyard supper club Warung RieRie or Les Miserables at the Civic Theater. It’s a day pass to the new Gaylord Pacific Resort’s 4.25-acre waterpark, which boasts every aquatic delight a water lover dreams of. For $12.50, visitors can hit waterslides, lounge in a cabana, and relax on the lazy river—that is, if you’re quick enough to snag one of the very limited number of day passes. Since hotel guests get in free, your best chance might be booking a full staycation to get your slide on.
Best Use of a First-Aid Badge
Girl Scout Angela King
Six years ago, San Diegan Angela King was in the airport, headed back home after an eighth-grade trip to Washington, DC, when she noticed one of her classmates appeared to be choking on her dinner. She recalled something she learned in Girl Scouts: the Heimlich. She performed the maneuver, dislodging the food and saving her peer’s life. In 2024, Girl Scouts honored her heroic quick thinking with a Medal of Honor, one of only 15 given out last year.
Best Star-Studded Play Date
Kids & Coffee
Who says a children’s playroom can’t come with a side of great java? Opened in November 2024 in Carlsbad, Kids & Coffee gives parents the chance to kick back and caffeinate while their kids run wild in a supervised space rendered in calm, neutral tones and cozy wood finishes. The bustling locale has summoned big names like soccer star Alex Morgan, actor Madison Bontempo, and Bachelor alum Tenley Molzahn, so don’t be surprised if your little one’s post-play date bestie happens to have a superstar parent.
Best Prep for Biking Moab
Bradley Bike Park
California offers an abundance of environs for mountain bikers to flex their skills—but until last year, North County kids had nowhere to hone ’em. Luckily for aspiring BMXers, Bradley Bike Park opened in June 2024 in San Marcos with support from donors and an $1.1 million grant. With a pump track, a bike trail, and three jump lines, the eight-acre sanctuary will have young cyclists ready for unpaved paths in no time.
Best Tot-Sized Traffic Jam
Driving School at Legoland
Mini motorists are honking their horns to celebrate the dual reopening of two of Legoland’s most popular attractions, Driving School (ages 6 to 13) and Jr. Driving School (ages 3 to 5). Now in a different location of the park, these new tracks have realistic road scenarios, intersections, roundabouts, and even a car wash with bubbles that activate as kids drive through. Just look for the giant Lego gear—built using more than 2,500 bricks—that puts Lego vehicles in motion. The attractions were closed temporarily to make way for a new space-themed area that’s slated to open next year with an indoor roller coaster.
Best Alternative to MomTok
New Mom School Encinitas
The phrase “It takes a village” exists for a reason—even if you’ve technically had months to prepare, bringing home a tiny human being is often overwhelming, and a little support can be a big deal. That’s where the New Mom School comes in. Inspired by her own postpartum challenges, Alexandra Spitz partnered with doctors to develop a curriculum for newly minted parents navigating the infant stage and beyond. Cohorts at the school’s Encinitas and incoming Liberty Station locations are grouped by the baby’s age, so you’ll connect with other families going through the same phases.
Best Spot to Tackle a Warped Wall
Kid Wonder Ninja Gym
Alpine resident Kim Bryant created Kid Wonder children’s gyms for aspiring competitors—and little ones who just need a safe space to bounce off the walls. A mother of four and a former trainee for the 2016 Olympics in diving, Bryant believes athletics can transform kids’ growth and well-being. Future American Ninja Warrior contestants can start their journey with ninja classes, but for the less intense set, there’s also gymnastics, open gym time, camps, and even Montessori-inspired classes that blend learning with movement. Visit Kid Wonder locations in Linda Vista, Pacific Beach, and Encinitas.
Best Space Where Every Body Plays
Play My Way
Adaptive recreation center Play My Way recently launched in Mission Valley. Rachel Kushner, mom of a medically complex child, founded this spot to encourage inclusive fun for everyone. Kids in wheelchairs experience the joy of their bodies in motion alongside typically developing kids on an adaptive zipline, climbing wall, trampoline, and swings. A sensory wall and murals painted by special needs young adults invite tots to touch the rainbow, and energetic coaches facilitate play and art for all.
Best Inedible Oatmeal
Tubby Todd Bath Co.
Driven by a need for gentle skincare solutions for their own four kids, Carlsbad residents Andrea Faulkner Williams and Brian Williams founded Tubby Todd Bath Co. with a goal to create chemical-free bath and skincare staples like hair and body wash, moisturizers, sunscreen, diaper rash cream, and bath bombs. The product that launched Tubby Todd’s success as a cult favorite among parents is the All Over Ointment (nicknamed “AOO”) that helps treat eczema and dry skin using colloidal oatmeal. Tubby Todd sells an average of 1,944 jars of the cream per day—more than one per minute.
