MAY: What To Do With Kids In San Diego (May 2025)
- Fam Diego
- Apr 27
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 29
May Adventures are here! 🙌 Which ones will you go on this month?! 💗 🎳 💦 🌊 🎏 ⭐️ 💥 🦋 🍓
May's List of What To Do With Kids in San Diego
Looking for kid-friendly things to do in San Diego this May? Here's your ultimate guide for 2025! Updated with fresh dates, prices, and new additions so your family can get out and have fun without missing a thing!
Contents:
💦 Water Park Openings
🎏 The BIG Exchange
💗 MOTHER'S DAY ACTIVITIES
Sun May 11, 2025. Celebrate MOM with sweet adventures! 🌸 Enjoy high tea, wine tasting, brunch, secret gardens, free concerts, and boat cruises. 🌼 New this year: Mother’s Day Garden Party at San Diego Botanic Garden!
May - August, 2025. Yep, FREE bowling for kids all summer! 🎉 Registered kids get 2 free games a day. Bumper lanes and ball ramps make it extra fun! Shoes required (rent or bring your own). No outside food or drinks allowed. More info here
Bowling alleys are limited this year to:
SDSU AZTEC LANES
Located on the SDSU campus, Aztec Lanes is perfect for young bowlers with lightweight balls, automatic bumpers, and ball ramps. The facility also features billiards, table tennis, and arcade games for added fun. Note: Bowling is available on a walk-in basis only.
📅 Dates: May 17 - August 17, 2025
🕒 Hours: Daily - open-close
📍 6075 Aztec Circle Dr., San Diego, CA 92182
📞 619-594-2695
🚙 Parking:
• Parking is kind of a pain here, take the trolley - it stops right at SDSU!
NEW: EAST VILLAGE TAVERN + BOWL is participating this year!
This downtown San Diego bowling alley offers a family-friendly atmosphere, lightweight bowling balls, automatic bumpers, and a full-service menu featuring gourmet bites. Paid parking lots are nearby, see below for where to park.
📅 Dates: May 16 - August 20, 2025
🕒 Hours: • Monday – Thursday: 3-6pm
• Friday: 11a-6p
• Not available on weekends
📍 930 Market St., San Diego, CA 92101
📞 619-677-2695
🚙 Parking:
• Grocery Outlet Lot – 1 min walk
• 1002 Market St., approx. $5 for 2 hours
• Park It On Market Garage – 5 min walk
• 614 Market St., approx. $1 per hour
TEMECULA LANES
This is a family-run bowling center where you can enjoy an on-site arcade, pool tables, and a snack bar serving pizza, salads, and drinks.
📅 Dates: June 9 – August 29, 2025
🕒 Hours:
• Monday – Thursday: 2:30-5pm
• Friday: 11a-5p
• Not available on weekends
📍 27475 Jefferson Ave., Temecula, CA 92590
📞 951-676-1111
💦 WATER PARK OPENINGS IN MAY
Get ready to splash into summer! Here’s where to find kid-friendly water parks opening this May around San Diego County:
🧼 SESAME PLACE
May TBA, 2025. Water rides don't have an opening date yet, but they will open sometime in May. Keep checking their website and socials for updates.
Cool off and play at Sesame Place’s water rides, splash zones, lazy river, and wave pool — all designed for little ones! Meet Sesame Street friends during special character shows and parades. Water attractions and dry rides included with park admission. 💻 More info here
💵 from $65 online (ages 2+); free under 2. 📍2052 Entertainment Circle, Chula Vista, CA 91911
🧱 LEGOLAND Water Park
April - May: weekends only. May 25, 2025: full time. Build your best day ever at LEGOLAND’s splashy water park! Enjoy lazy rivers, raft rides, wave pools, and creative LEGO-themed play zones. Water Park admission requires a LEGOLAND ticket with water park add-on. 💻 More info here
💵 starts at $119 for Resort Hopper (ages 3+); free under 3. 📍One LEGOLAND Drive, Carlsbad, CA 92008
🌊 THE WAVE WATERPARK
May 18, 2025 from 1pm–4pm (Season Passholder Preview Day)
Season Passholders bring a friend for free at the gate. Duck Race at 2:30pm + $5 raffle tickets. Ducks will race around the lazy river for a chance to win prizes. 💻 More info here
May 26, 2025 from 10am–4pm (public opening date). Jump into the summer season early with waterslides, lazy rivers, kiddie splash zones, and the special Duck Race event! Full daily operations start Memorial Day. 💻 Calendar here
💵 $11-$24; discounted season passes available. 📍101 Wave Drive, Vista, CA 92083
May 10-18, 2025. Celebrate the San Diego River with two weeks of free nature fun! Join kid-friendly hikes, cleanups, bike rides, art projects, and more — from Julian to Ocean Beach. Let’s get outside and show some love to OUR river! | Activities See the full schedule of events online. 💻 More info here
Just a few kid-friendly events:
5/10/25 from 9a-12p - Wildlife Tracking Exhibit Mission Trails Park at Kumeyaay Lake Campground
5/10/25 from 9a-12p - El Monte Valley Cleanup
El Monte County Park
5/11/25 from 9a-12p - Free Fly Casting Lessons Lake Murray
5/12/25 from 12:30-2p - Guided 2mile Hike
Old Mission Dam at Mission Trails
5/13/25 from 4-6pm - Seed Bomb Sculptures
Town & Country Park behind Fashion Valley Mall
5/14/25 from 4-5pm - Storytime
Serra Mesa Library
5/16/25 from 10:30-11:30am - Storytime
Mast Park, Santee
5/17/25 from 8a-12p - Kids Adventure Hike
Louis Stelzer County Park, Lakeside
5/17/25 from 7-9pm - Bat & Moth Walk at Moonlight
Grant Park, Mission Valley
5/18/25 from 1-2pm - Community Bike Ride
Town & County Park behind Fashion Valley Mall
(some require advance registration, click Activities link for details)
🎏 THE BIG EXCHANGE
May 1-18, 2025. Use your current museum membership to "exchange" it for FREE "Reciprocal" admission into 50+ other participating museums, gardens, historic sites, and more! 💻 More info here
⭐️ BLUE STAR MUSEUMS
May 17 - Sept. 1, 2025. Blue Star Museums gives FREE Admission to military families from Armed Forces Day through Labor Day.
Our favorites for kids include: New Children's Museum, Japanese Friendship Garden, SD Museum of Art, Mingei, SD Auto Museum & Museum of Making Music. Find all of them online. 💻 More info here
💥 SEAWORLD FIREWORKS
May 23 - Sept. 1, 2025. Catch SeaWorld’s fireworks for free from Fiesta Island! 🎇 Drive around Mission Bay until you see the SeaWorld Tower across the water. BYO blanket, picnic, and enjoy the show! 🌟 Tip: It gets loud — bring noise-canceling headphones for little ones. 🚗 Angle park for easy exit and to make more parking spots!
Dates/Times:
Fireworks start 10 min prior to park closing. Check closing times here.
May: 23-26, 31
June: 1, 6-30
July: 1-31
Aug: 1-10, 15-16, 22-23, 29-31
Sept: 1
🦋 SPRING FESTIVAL & BUTTERFLY RELEASE
🦋 BUTTERFLY RELEASE
May 3, 2025 from 9am-3pm. The Spring Festival is a full day of fun! Enjoy FREE admission to a day filled with specialty vendors, food trucks, plant sales, live music, and fun, family-friendly activities throughout the campus. Some individual activities listed have a *separate fee. 💻 More info here
Join us in our beautiful outdoor Butterfly Pavilion and native Habitat Garden to release your very own butterfly to nectar on nearby flowers. 💵 $10 butterfly release (register here).
Water Conservation Garden📍 12122 Cuyamaca College Dr. West, El Cajon, CA 92019 | FREE Parking
🌷 SPRING FESTIVAL
May 4, 2025 from 10am–1pm. Join us for a FREE zero-waste family event full of eco crafts, live animals, nature education, bounce house fun, face painting & more! Let’s celebrate spring sustainably together! 💻 More info here
💵 FREE, Parking $5 | San Dieguito County Park📍1628 Lomas Santa Fe Dr., Del Mar 📞 858-755-2386
May 25, 2025 from 8-6. Family fun ‘Celebration of the Berry’. Enjoy vendors, great food, 5K or 1-mile Strawberry Run for kids, all things strawberry with delicious treats, live entertainment, kids play zone, and even a pie eating contest. More info here
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