Downtown Kids Free October Fun Guide

A Month of Family Fun
Kids Free San Diego

Find Your Favorites in Downtown San Diego

Embarcadero
USS Midway Museum

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to explore a historic aircraft carrier. The USS Midway, the longest-serving aircraft carrier of the 20th Century and one of San Diego’s most popular attractions! The USS Midway Museum has dozens of restored vintage aircraft, including jets and helicopters, on the outside 4-acre flight deck and below in the main hangar. For many, this section is a highlight of visiting the USS Midway Museum.

The Museum’s docents bring the Midway’s history to life, with fascinating accounts of launching and landing naval aircraft aboard the ship, as well as their own stories of adventure on the high seas. Kids Free San Diego offers a great savings opportunity for one of the hottest museum tickets in town. Get your Kids Free coupon here. Or you can download your coupon to get the discount code.

Gaslamp Quarter
Gaslamp Museum at the Davis-Horton House

Local history buffs will enjoy a trip back in time at this San Diego landmark, built when the Gaslamp Quarter was still known as “New Town.” Take a popular self-guided or guided tour at the Gaslamp Museum at the Davis-Horton House the oldest building in downtown San Diego. Kids will love Halloween at the Gaslamp Museum including spooky movies and ghostly tours. In the Museum’s Pocket Park, check out the statues of “Bum,” San Diego’s first and only town dog, and “Bobby,” another famous local canine. Get your Kids Free coupon here.

Embarcadero
Maritime Museum of San Diego

Along the Embarcadero, the Maritime Museum of San Diego is every kid’s ship sailing dream. They can explore the world’s oldest sailing ship, Star of India, the Navy frigate replica H.M.S. Surprise, California’s official tall ship schooner Californian, Spanish galleon replica San Salvador, Victorian-era steam ferry boat Berkeley, and the USS Dolphin submarine.  Get your Kids Free coupon here.

The Kids free coupon includes access to the Museum’s extensive collection of historic vessels, including indoor exhibits and below-deck galleries. If you’re looking to take your maritime adventure up a notch, you can add on a boat tour or sailing adventure on San Diego Bay for an additional fee.

Downtown
Brain Observatory

Explore the all-new Brain Observatory in Downtown San Diego this February. The “brainchild” of Dr. Jacopo Annese, it is part laboratory, part museum and a world-wide archive of human brains for educational and research purposes.

Families and their little scientists are welcome to The Brain Observatory this October where kids can meet real brains and learn about what makes people who they are. Reserve your Kids Free tour now (online reservations required) and experience an open discussion about the brain, art activities, and hands-on experiences in the laboratory. Get your Kids Free coupon here.

Gaslamp
The New Children’s Museum

This is the perfect destination for families with little ones to think, play and create. You can experience the backstage world of Teatro Piñata, the interactive three dimensional WHAMMOCK, and the new Octavia E. Butler: Seeding Futures. Get free admission for youth 17 and under with a paid adult on Wednesdays only (Oct. 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30). Get your Kids Free coupon here.

Kids Free San Diego coupons at the New Children’s Museum are valid on Wednesdays only (Oct. 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30).

Asian Pacific Historic District
San Diego Chinese Historical Museum

One of the best ways to understand San Diego’s Chinatown origin story, is to head into the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum on 3rd Avenue. Located in the heart of San Diego’s downtown Asian Pacific Historic District where the historical San Diego Chinatown once stood, SDCHM has been a stalwart defender of San Diego’s API history currently celebrating over 35 years of special events, exhibitions, and programs.

Explore aspects of Chinese history, culture, and arts at the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum, located among the remnants of the vibrant Chinatown that existed in San Diego a century ago. See the newest exhibition, the Art of Chunming Yu 余春明 and Lan Wang 王藍. The Museum is open from noon to 4 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Get your Kids Free coupon here.

Midtown
San Diego International Airport Arts Program

Arrive. Depart. Be Inspired. Did you know the San Diego International Airport is home to a vibrant and expansive public arts program with a permanent collection of art and sculpture and special temporary exhibitions like the new Kaori Fukuyama installation. See the newest exhibit Espacios & Lines. Access is always free for kids and adults although some parts of the airport are for ticketed passengers only. Get your Kids Free coupon here.

Gaslamp
WNDR Museum San Diego

Located in the heart of downtown’s Gaslamp neighborhood, WNDR is a multisensory interactive art and technology experience that is designed to ignite curiosity within each of us.

What makes the WNDR Museum San Diego completely unique is that it is purely immersive. Visitors can engage in more than 20 multi-sensory installations through sight, sound, touch and movement. And each visitor can make it their own. The museum has curated world-class art by provocative artists and continues to lean into cutting-edge technologies to enhance the experience. 

One Child (12 & under) can get FREE admission with one full-price paid adult with your Kids Free San Diego coupon. Download your coupon here to receive the discount code and link to purchase tickets online.