Zeum
221 4th St
(between Clementina St & Howard St)
San Francisco, CA 94103 (415) 820-3320
- Hours:
Wed-Fri 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.
Sat-Sun 11:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. - Good for Kids: Yes
53 reviews
Neighborhood: Fisherman's Wharf
"Very cool. The Aquarium is a little on the small side but, it's awesome! Basically, the SF Aquarium shows off all the marine life that…" read more »
18 Reviews for Zeum
I went here with my best friend's kids. They loved it and had a great time. I've also been here for birthday parties and everyone (including parents) had a great time. I wish ZEUM was around when I was a kid! The merry go round is also a hit with the youngsters!
Definitely a great place to bring your kids! I just wish we had gone a little earlier (we got there at 3:30pm but they close at 5pm). The clay animation area was hit with my kids. They have so many cool things to do there and you get to keep whatever you "create". It's perfectly situated in the same area as the Metreon, Yerba Buena Gardens and they have a good size playground outside and that huge carousel. Spend a day with your kids out here, you can't go wrong!
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I went to the Zeum Theatre for the first time tonight. I guess my review is "tainted" by the strangely fascinating play I watched there, but I really did like the space a lot and will actively look for opportunities to see another show there.
Okay okay, the reception are where one waits for the theatre doors to open is a little crowded.
The theatre itself is pretty small, and I really liked the fact that the stage is below or at the same level as the seating. It made me feel more a part of the show.
The actual Zeum Museum also looks cool, though it was closed by the time I got there. Next time...
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I love ZEUM and the carousel! Such a great place to take the kids. I feel so fortunate to live in a City that has such amazing destinations for both children and their parents.
Want to find out if your kid's got a creative streak? Zeum might do it for you. Remember those posters w/ the smiling kids on them last summer promoting Zeum? My kid was one of those.
It's one part media wonderland -- green screen complete w/ earthquake, flying (falling?) and was that a rock storm? -- and several parts movie making, Karaoke, animation and storytelling.
Claymation? If you can focus, you can make very interesting, very cool stuff.
Summer camps too.
This place is crazy busy cuz kids seems to love it. We couldn't get in right away because there were so many people that the last time to get in was 4pm on Sat 11/10/07 for Yerba Buena Free4All.
If you're a kid you can star in your own show, make paper hats, see how they do animation, play a silly floor game: Metafield Maze, mask making, etc.
Bathrooms available. Zeum cafe outside. Skating, & bowling too.
I'd probably give it five stars if they had opened the main hall. Zeum is adding/renovating the main exhibits, including the green screen where people make mini movies.
The museum is very unique in that it focuses on visual arts...animation, music videos, graphic arts (using photoshop to doc up your own photo), etc. It's all very cool and hands on. My kids loved it. They even have Colorform boards and lego boards glued to the walls so that the kids can continue to have their fun while the parents sit back and relax in between big projects.
It's been an exhausting summer with them home, and me taking a lot of time off to entertain them. At Zeum, they were never bored and the projects are so engaging that even the adults enjoy their time here too. I actually felt like I was getting a mental break, even though they were right in front of me.
For the especially energetic, hit the Steinhardt Aquarium afterwards, which is just a block or two from Zeum. It's small enough to cover in a short amount of time. Just big enough to squeeze all the energy out the kids. You can really knock them out then...hee hee... and get some quiet time in the car on the way home!
My 5 year old son says "Zeum is fun and cool. Your whole family will like it. 5 stars for Zeum because you can make good stuff and bring it home."
I think his favorite thing was making a music video that intailed standing in front of a green screen with his hands in his pockets, staring terrifed at the camera swaying slightly to 'hay now youre an all star'- smash mouth watch out! Not much of a music video to watch but he told his whole class about how hes the star of a DVD. He also loved the photo shop area, where you can mutilate a photo of yourself. The claymation area was a bit too advanced for a kindergardener, but thats one of the joys of Zeum, there is something great for kids (and care givers) of all ages!
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Mentoring creates relationships built on trust. My mentee and her guardian trust that I will keep my mentee safe, provide her with guidance and fun activities.
In turn, I trust that my mentee will never let her souvenir karaoke video produced at the Zeum ever leave her hands. Seriously, no one else needs to see me in a borrowed red velvet pimp hat and matching pants, singing "Under the Sea" off-key with my mentee.
This place is filled with fun activities. It is a museum filled with all the techno-toys, costumes, and other production props any kid would want. Since I assume most parents do not have the physical space or the budget for these things, the Zeum is the perfect place for them to bring their kids for interactive play.
My mentee had such a great time that I decided to buy the annual membership. I suspect we will be back again throughout the year, even if this means the production of even more videos that should never, ever be released to the public.
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A really fun place for kids. Lots of things to do here. And it's right next to the Yerba Buena Ice Skating Rink. Make a day of it !
Friendly and with endless activities. I went for the first time recently, taking my bf's kids, and I was worried it would be mobbed because it was a vacation day -- but it was fine! totally cool. we made videos and drew on computers and -- ya know what, it was pretty great.
Not so car-accessible though. Really hard to park -- you have to park at that dumb mall, and getting in there made me want to hurl pitchforks at random strangers. Fortunately a very nice man in a Mercedes (!!) let me cut in front of him so I could join BF and kids before, like, dinnertime.
Oh and the teens who work here? soooo cute and sweet with the kids. really.
I am not a parent - just an aunt - and lacking that vital daily experience with kids I sometimes find myself at a complete loss as to where to take them for entertainment that will not leave me banging my head against a wall out of sheer boredom.
Take your nieces, nephews, godchildren, friends' little ones and all the rest here. This hands on tech museum is brilliantly set up to appeal to a multitude of age ranges in the same area (so you can keep an eye on the 4-year old and the 11-year old at the same time). Plus, the activities and exhibits are cool enough for adults to have fun with the kids.
One warning - Zeum runs a great scam of selling copies of the various recordings/films that the kids create. Take actual cash to purchase the 30-second snippets of incipient fame.
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Excellent place to spend the day with children ages 3 and up. This is the ultimate hands-on art museum. My kids particularly enjoyed making videos of themselves telling stories and singing songs, and I appreciated being able to take these wonderful moments home on DVD for a small fee. The claymation studio is amazing. While the kids played with the clay, I was fascinated to see how claymation films are created.
The Zeum has been such a hit with my kids that I plan to get a family membership the next time we visit. Also, I'm considering holding my son's fifth birthday party at Zeum.
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I wish this place had been around when I was a kid...Saul and I go here once a month to teach a Howtoons workshop, and the kids always seem totally jazzed by the whole place, even the too-cool-for-school teenagers whose parents dragged them there.
You can make your own stop-motion claymation DVD, be in film special effects, dress up in fun costumes...not sure what else is there since I don't actually have a kid and we just walked through, but I'm sure it's all amazing. A nice alternative to the Exploratorium for kids who are more interested in art and technology than science.
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I went there with my step-brother, and he knew right where we had to go...to the claymation studio. You build your figurines around wires cores, they supply the clay and the wires, and then you choose one of several scenes (city, skate ramp, island with a Dr. Suess tree on it, etc.) and use the cameras and computers there to (surprisingly easily) make claymation movies. The only downsides are (1) it can get a bit crowded and (2) it's interesting enough that the adults really get into it, which is cool, until the shoving starts.
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Zeum has a theater aspect, too. Please note that the following review covers the theater only. I went to Zeum last night for Free Theater night (www.tixbayarea.com) The theater sits 210. The weird thing about it was that there was this repeated buzzing sound between scenes, like when a Blackberry is next to a phone speaker. BAD. Also, you could hear people chatting in what appeared to be the sound booth. These two reasons, coupled with the usher who got so engrossed in a personal conversation that she failed to notice the roughly ten people waiting in line, would make it tough to get me to return for a show there, although it will be on my list now to take "little friends" during the day, based on these other reviews.
Really unique hands on museum. Geared towards children but really fun for adults too!
Four stars for the merry go round.
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