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Home | Sleepover Science Fun at Penguins + Pajamas

Sleepover Science Fun at Penguins + Pajamas

Cal Academy t-rex at nightWhat's the best way to experience San Francisco's California Academy of Sciences? Sleep over on one of their Penguins + Pajamas events, of course. You'll get what amounts to a private viewing of the Cal Academy's favorite attractions and exhibits, as well as speciall activities and presentations, a late-night snack, and breakfast in the Academy's café. Sound like fun?

My 8-year-old son and I had a chance to check out Penguins + Pajamas on their final "Summer of Slither" sleepover at the end of August. Backpacks, sleeping bags, and other overnight essentials in hand, we trekked to Golden Gate Park on a foggy Saturday evening, and, after parking in the park's Music Concourse Garage, lined up outside the Academy entrance with the rest of our fellow campers. Check in between 6 and 7:30 pm and select your sleeping area—you can choose from the aquarium, the swamp, African Hall, or the Islands of Evolution exhibit, then stow your gear in a tent in the museum's West Garden, and you're good to go.

Cal Academy rain forests of the worldFirst order of business for us was to grab some dinner. Since once you're in, you're in (if you leave the building, no readmittance is allowed until the next morning), we headed to the Academy's café (open 6–9 pm) for a meal. It's not cheap, but the food's good, you won't leave hungry, and you don't have to go anywhere. For the sleepover, several themed food stations were available, including tacos, noodles, and fried stuff. We opted for spaghetti and meatballs and a fried chicken sandwich. The Academy's Moss Room restaurant was open for dinner, too, if you wanted the whole fine-dining experience.

After dinner we were free to roam the Academy at our leisure. A handy schedule informed us of the different programs and presentations happening that evening. What was particularly great about this sleepover is that we were able to visit the Academy's more popular attractions, like the planetarium and rain forest exhibit, without having to stand in line or compete with the crowds for first-come, first-served tickets.

Although there must have been a couple hundred people spending the night, the museum always seemed pretty empty. We were able to wander the Rain Forests of the World enclosure (easily the coolest thing in the Academy) pretty much by ourselves, and it was only when you went into the planetarium or set up your sleeping gear that you realized there were a lot of other people here with you.

TidepoolAfter the rain forest, we visited the Discovery Tidepool, the Snakes & Lizards exhibition, the African Hall, and took in a live snake presentation, and then it was time for a show in the planetarium. When the show ended, it was time to pick up our gear and find a place to bed down. This process was a bit of a free-for-all as we all grabbed our sleeping bags and luggage and raced toward our assigned areas.

Good spots got snapped up quickly, but we managed to secure ourselves a cozy place in the California Coast section, near the tidepool and the sand dollar display. After our air mattress was inflated and our sleeping bags laid out, we headed back out into the Academy for a late night snack of milk, cookies, and fruit, and a late night activity. We had the choice of seeing an astronomy movie in the planetarium, a nature movie, working at a craft table, or listening to storytime in the African Hall. We opted for the astronomy movie, since we were to wowed by the earlier planetarium show. Unfortunately, it was just an episode of the PBS Nova series, and while I found it interesting, for an 8-year-old it was kind of a snooze. Maybe we should have gone to story time after all…

Lions in the Cal Academy's African HallLights out was at 11 pm. Academy staff handed out complimentary earplugs and everyone was pretty much out by 11:30 or so. Except me, apparently, but I think I got a little sleep at some point.

Wake-up was at 6:15 am, and we got dressed, stowed our gear, and headed to the café for breakfast. While it was described as a continetal breakfast, it was really much more than that, with scrambled eggs, pancakes, pastries, orange juice, yogurt, cereal, and plenty of coffee. After breakfast, there was time for one last look around and we were out the door by about 7:30 am, but not before we picked up a commemorative gift, which turned out to be a deck of Penguins + Pajamas playing cards and some Snakes & Lizards temporary tattoos.

Overall, the Penguins + Pajamas sleepover was a great experience. Cal Academy staff were all friendly and helpful, even if many of them did have to stay up all night. Programs were scheduled to keep everyone busy until bedtime, and the breakfast really exceeded our expectations. Even before the event was over, my son kept asking me when we could go back and do it again!

If you go

Late night snackPenguins + Pajamas is for children ages 5–17 and their adult chaperones (one adult chaperone aged 25 or older is required for every five children). Admission begins at 6 pm, and the event ends at 8 am the next morning. They'll stamp your hand if you'd like to come back into the Academy later on that day.

Remaining Penguins + Pajamas sleepovers for 2011 take place on Saturday, October 15, Saturday, November 12, and Friday December 30. The program costs $119 per person ($99 for California Academy of Sciences members). Group rates are available for groups of 10 or more.

The sleepover includes the overnight stay, all after-hours presentations, demonstrations, exhibits, and shows, late-night snack, breakfast, and overnight parking in the garage (don't forget to get your card validated before you leave).

You'll need to bring all your own sleeping gear, including pillows, an air mattress or ground pads, and sleeping bags. Power is available for air mattress pumps.

For more information and to order tickets for Penguins + Pajamas, visit www.calacademy.org/events/sleepovers or call (888) 670-4433.