All Family Fun in Santa Barbara, CA | 11 Activities

Pick an activity

Tap an activity to see top picks in Santa Barbara.

Top picks across Santa Barbara

Highly rated across categories

Santa Barbara Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History

★★★★☆ 4.7 (1594)

Children's Museums

View details

Santa Barbara SB Roller Hockey Rink

★★★★★ 5 (2)

Skating Rinks

View details

Santa Barbara Jump! City

★★★★☆ 4.6 (31)

Family Fun Centers

View details

Santa Barbara The Golf Lounge

★★★★★ 5 (19)

Mini Golf

View details

Santa Barbara Santa Barbara Zoo

★★★★☆ 4.6 (6767)

Zoos

View details

Santa Barbara Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Sea Center

★★★★☆ 4.6 (947)

Aquariums

View details

While You're in Santa Barbara

Make it a full day

Parks & Nature

Shoreline Park
Alice Keck Park Memorial Garden
El Presidio de Santa Bárbara State Historic Park

Museums & Culture

MOXI, The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation

Attractions

Pier Santa Barbara
Lizards Mouth Rock
Lagoon Island Labyrinth
The Funk Zone
Point Castillo
Stearns Wharf

Planning notes

Santa Barbara has 11 family activities across 7 categories. Pick an activity to see top picks, or explore a nearby city.

Venue notes from Santa Barbara tracks

Jump! City

Operates as a climate-controlled indoor facility with a deliberate emphasis on cleanliness and safety as core operational principles
The venue features multiple bounce houses designed to be large enough for active play while remaining compact enough that parents can easily supervise and retrieve their children without cramping into kid-sized spaces

The House of Clues Escape room games

Features four distinctly themed escape rooms (The Castle, Alcatraz, Museum, and Grandma's Attic) with multiple rooms per game, allowing players to progress through interconnected spaces within a single 60-minute session
Offers a Werewolf game with a minimum of 8+ players that can match groups with other players, expanding beyond traditional escape room gameplay

Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Sea Center

The Pick Your Pack crayon wall contains nearly half a million crayons across 74 different colors, allowing visitors to create custom crayon boxes
Crayola Experience hosts a Million Crayon Giveaway on National Crayon Day (March 31), distributing free custom 32-count crayon boxes while supplies last

Santa Barbara Zoo

The miniature train ride is the most frequently mentioned feature in visitor reviews with 340 mentions, making it the zoo's most distinctive attraction.
The zoo features a seasonal Zoo Lights display during winter holidays with over 50,000 LED bulbs integrated into more than 50 handcrafted silk-covered lanterns in animal and flower shapes.

MOXI, The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation

MOXI features a three-floor interactive STEAM museum with a rooftop water play area, making it one of the few science centers to integrate outdoor water exploration into its core exhibit design
The museum offers dedicated Toddler Tuesdays programming (9 AM-12 PM) with a specialized crawling baby and toddler play area, showing intentional design for children under 2 years old

More venue notes

Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History

The museum features the largest whale skeleton in the world according to visitor reviews
The Sprague Butterfly Pavilion is currently nominated for USA Today's 10 Best Readers' Choice Awards 2026

Susan Quinlan Doll & Teddy Bear Museum & Library

The museum houses over 4,000 dolls and teddy bears displayed across 150 individual display cases, organized thematically throughout multiple rooms
Owner Susan Quinlan personally conducts museum tours and provides expert crash courses on artist dolls and teddy bears, sharing detailed historical stories about individual pieces in the collection

Bosse Toy Train Museum

Features authentic railroad artifacts from the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific Railroad, plus an original observation car from circa 1900s
Houses a comprehensive Lionel train collection spanning from the 1930s-1940s era, including pre- and post-war O gauge and Standard gauge models

The Golf Lounge

Uses TrackMan technology, a professional-grade golf simulator system that provides accurate swing analysis and allows players to practice on famous golf courses
Partners with Validation Brewery for an integrated food and beverage experience, combining a golf simulator venue with craft beer and dining in an upscale clubhouse setting

SB Roller Hockey Rink

Operates year-round with affordable Thursday pickup sessions at $10 (6-7:30 pm), making it accessible for casual players
The rink explicitly welcomes beginners and offers Learn to Skate programs, with staff encouraging new players to contact [email protected] to join

Roller Rink at Earl Warren Showgrounds

Located at Earl Warren Showgrounds in Santa Barbara, positioned near multiple major attractions including Stearns Wharf, Pier Santa Barbara, and the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden

← All family fun in CA

Family Fun in Santa Barbara

Pick an activity

Children's Museums in Santa Barbara

Skating Rinks in Santa Barbara

Family Fun Centers in Santa Barbara

Mini Golf in Santa Barbara

Zoos in Santa Barbara

Aquariums in Santa Barbara

Escape Rooms in Santa Barbara

Top picks across Santa Barbara

While You're in Santa Barbara

Parks & Nature

Museums & Culture

Attractions

Planning notes