RANDALL MUSEUM

199 Museum Way
415-554-9600

It's nearly impossible to visit the Randall Museum without trying on the beekeeper's uniform. There's just something irresistible about that big white hat with the mesh face.  The Randall is one of the nicest small museums for kids. Located at the top of a rural hill, it offers an amazing view of the city, but anyone under 10 years old will prefer to head straight to the Animal Room, and that beekeeper's hat.  The Animal Room is home to all kinds of creepy crawlies; Red Velvet Ants that look like pom pom slippers, a Rose Haired Tarantula from Chile, a collection of enormous Costa Rican Wood Roaches that resemble everyday house roaches on steroids, and of course, the bees. 

Each year, what appears to be hundreds of bees return to build a new hive in the Animal room - thankfully, between two panes of sealed glass.  But the Animal Room's residents aren't limited to things that crawl. You'll also find a rare white raccoon, a near-blind opossum, and an aggressive red-tailed hawk named Betty. There's even a small pen where children can wander among nervous-looking rabbits, chickens, geese, andm guinea pigs.  Every Saturday, the Golden Gate Model Railroad Club meets downstairs at the museum, and anyone can stop by to see the trains. The entire room has been turned into a miniature metropolis, with a miniscule McDonald's, petite redwood trees, match-box-sized cars, even tiny nuns waiting at a train station. Along the edges of this diminutive world, grown men in engineer's caps stand with remote controls, sending their trains around the tracks, through tunnels, and past a midget movie theater showing Cat Women from Mars.

Also on Saturdays, from 1 pm to 3 pm, The Randall runs a program called Saturdays are Special. This is a series of hands-on workshops that feature everything from an encounter with live bats to making a monster mask from a recycled milk carton. The workshops cost $4/person for both adults and children. You can call the museum to find out what workshops are being offered.  The Randall also has a small earthquake exhibit with an anxiety-producing faultline map, and a computer seismograph that lets you create your own earthquake by jumping on the floor.

Insider's Tip: 
Arrive at the animal room around noon to watch the
animals and crawling creatures being fed.  The Randall Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am until 5 pm. The model train exhibit is open on Saturdays from 10 am to 5 pm. Admission to the museum is free, however donations are appreciated.