Summer activities for SLO County kids: Here’s your guide of local things to do
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- San Luis Obispo County offers a variety of diverse summer activities for local families.
- Options include children’s museums, surf lessons, summer camps and a waterpark.
- Costs range from free events to paid camps and admission-based attractions.
It’s summertime in San Luis Obispo County.
If you’re looking for ways to keep your child entertained, there’s plenty of family-friendly fun for kids and parents alike — from surf lessons and mini golf to movie screenings and aquarium adventures.
Here are 10 summer activities for local kids:
Head to the California Mid-State Fair
Enjoy fried food, take a whirl on a carnival ride or listen to some live music at the California Mid-State Fair in Paso Robles.
You can head to the Paso Robles Event Center with your family from July 16 to 27 when dozens of activities will be in full swing.
Tickets cost $14, or $10 for youth and $12 for seniors if you buy them in advance of the fair.
On Friday, July 25, children ages 12 and under get into the fairgrounds free for Kids Day.
Check out a children’s museum
SLO County has a number of children’s museums where youngsters can enjoy interactive exhibits and arts and crafts activities.
The San Luis Obispo Children’s Museum boasts three floors of hands-on exhibits and an outside playscape for children ages 2 to 10. Tickets cost $10 for kids and adults.
At the Paso Robles Children’s Museum, children and their families can enjoy a fire station, an outdoor play area and other attractions. Tickets are $8 for kids ages 1 to 13 and $7 for adults.
The Exploration Discovery Center in Grover Beach offers kids a place to “explore, discover and dream” through multi-cultural projects, science experiments and a new arts and crafts room, the center said on its website.
Admission costs $5 for children ages 2 to 12 and $15 for adults.
College classes for kids
Cuesta College is offering dozens of classes for kids at its San Luis Obispo campus this summer.
Parents can sign up their children for a 10-day session of 50-minute, two-hour or three-hour classes stretching from July 7 to 17.
Available courses range from competitive Pokemon and photojournalism to Dungeons and Dragons, rollerskating and puppet and mask making.
Class enrollment costs $75 to $225.
Go to the Central Coast Zoo
Take a walk on the wild side at the Central Coast Zoo in Atascadero.
The San Luis Obispo County zoo — formerly known as the Charles Paddock Zoo — is home to about a hundred different animal species from around the world.
Kids can gaze at a Malayan tiger, spider monkeys, a great horned owl, an American alligator and Carribean flamingos.
“From rare and endangered species to educational opportunities and family-friendly events, there’s always something new to discover,” the zoo said on its website.
Tickets cost $5 for children ages 3 to 4, $8 for kids ages 5 to 12 and $15 for adults. Children ages 2 and under get in for free.
Have an adventure at SLO County aquarium
Kids can get an up-close look at more than 50 local sea creatures at the Central Coast Aquarium in Avila Beach.
Families can experience “the wonders of marine life” through 16 different exhibits, with interactive touch tanks, daily fish feedings and swell sharks viewings, the aquarium said on its website.
Admission costs $8 for children and $10 for adults.
Sign up for summer camp
The city of San Luis Obispo is offering a variety of summer camps for kids throughout June, July and August.
Parents can send their children to a summer fun day camp, a sports camp, an arts and craft summer camp and more.
Some of the week-long courses are free, while others cost up to $161 to attend.
Splash around at a water park
When temperatures soar this summer, take your child over to SLO County’s only water park.
The Ravine Waterpark in Paso Robles has four fun slides, including a five-story high “mammoth” slide and a slide down a “325-foot open flume,” the park said on its website.
There’s also a wave pool and a “tadpool” for little kids.
Admission costs $34.29 for guests under 42 inches tall and $42.55 for taller attendees. Kids under 2 years old get in for free.
Start surf lessons
San Luis Obispo County is home to a variety of beaches where you can hop on a surfboard and catch a wave or two.
You can get your kid safely in on the action by signing them up for surf lessons.
Central Coast Surf School and Sandbar Surf School are running multi-day surf camps where kids can learn how to ride some waves.
Sessions run from about 8 a.m. to noon. every week this summer.
The lessons cost about $100 per day and include a board and wetsuit rentals.
Watch a family-friendly film
The San Luis Obispo Public Market is screening children’s movies for free in its outside courtyard in July.
As part of its “Movies at the Market” series, the food hall is welcoming families to bring a blanket or pull up a chair and watch a movie after grabbing a bite to eat.
The market plans to screen “Madagascar” at 8:30 p.m. on July 11, “Jumanji” at 8:30 p.m. on July 18 and “Mulan” at 8:30 p.m. on July 25.
Play some mini golf
Mr. Putters’ Putt Putt in Atascadero is the county’s only 18-hole miniature golf course.
For $13 per person, you and your family can whack some balls around the course during a round of mini-golf.
If you get tired of swinging a club, the neighboring Andy’s Awesome Arcade offers more than 70 arcade games.
You can get unlimited game play for $13.
