One of San Francisco's kids' museums has a Halloween birthday. The Children's Creativity Museum opened as Zeum on Oct. 31, 1998, according to Wikipedia. It sits on top of the Moscone Center at Yerba Buena Gardens.

What kids do there

The museum is for kids ages 2 to 12. It's built around making things rather than looking at exhibits. Kids make stop-motion animation, program robots, produce music videos, take on design challenges and do art projects, all organized around what the museum calls an "Imagine-Create-Share" creativity cycle. Its stated mission is to "build creative confidence through playful learning." San Francisco Magazine named it Best Children's Museum in its 2026 Best of the Bay, according to the museum's website.

The carousel

Next to the museum is a 1906 carousel built by Charles I. D. Looff. The museum's two-story building also has a 200-seat theater and about 3,000 square feet of exhibit space.

From Zeum to CCM

Zeum was part of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency's 87-acre South of Market urban renewal project. It changed its name in 2011. In its announcement, the museum said that "although the name Zeum sounded fun, it didn't provide parents with any clues" about what was inside. As of 2016-17, it drew about 100,000 visitors a year, had annual revenue of about $2.1 million and got $600,000 in city funding.

Plan your visit

  • Hours: Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to the museum's website.
  • Where: 221 Fourth St., San Francisco, in Yerba Buena Gardens.
  • Tickets and memberships: Buy them on the museum's website.

Nearby this season: SF family Halloween events, including Yerba Buena.