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I will be moving all the pages over soon. In the meantime, I have posted a new post there on Summer 2019 Family Friendly Festivals.

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Holiday Events in the Santa Barbara Area

The City of Goleta and City of Santa Barbara have various events going on during November and December for the holidays. Below are some events that are more family-friendly and often free or inexpensive to attend.

November 2018

November 20 from 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM: Boys and Girls Club Community Thanksgiving Dinner: free meal for Boys and Girls Club members, family, friends and neighbors.

November 23-December 27 (Thursday-Sunday only) from 4-10 PM: Santa Barbara Night Market at Paseo Nuevo Santa Barbara. Live music, food, decorations, and falling “snow” for the holiday season.

November 23-December 20 (Weekdays 10am – 8pm and Weekends 9am-8pm): Lane Farms Christmas Tree Patch. There will be Christmas trees and wreaths for sale, treats to buy, holiday decorations such as a real vintage sleigh, tractors for kids to sit on, and farm animals.

November 23- December 23 during museum hours: Candy Cane Train at the South Coast Railroad Museum.

November 28 from 5-8 PM: La Arcada Holiday Walk This free event has live music, holiday goodies, popcorn, and photos with Santa. Check out the Peanuts Maternity and Kids Store for balloons for the kids.

December 2018

 

Saturday, December 1, 2018 at 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM Hollister Village Plaza Holiday Market

 

 

Saturday, December 1 at 6 PM: Old Town Goleta Christmas Parade:  After the parade, there will be the lighting of the Christmas tree and pictures with Santa.

Sunday, December 2 from 10 AM to 3 PM: Sledding at the Zoo/Snow Leopard Festival at the Santa Barbara Zoo. The zoo will have various events for the family included in the admission fee. Sledding costs $3 per child.

Friday, December 7 at 6:30 PM: The Downtown Santa Barbara Holiday Parade: an annual nighttime parade along State Street.

Saturday, December 8, 2018 at 8 AM – 11 AM Pancakes, Santa and Reptiles! at San Marcos Parent-Child Workshop (co-op preschool)

Saturday, December 8-Saturday December 9 11 AM-4PM : Holiday at the Ranch
“A holiday open house featuring Santa Claus and his ‘rein-goats’! Kids of all ages love our open house that includes holiday music and caroling, craft-making, tours of the festive Stow House, celebrity story-time and holiday hayrides.”

 

Saturday, December 8 at 2:30, 7:00 PM/Sunday, December 9 at 2:30 PM: The Nutcracker at the Arlington

 

Sunday, December 9 from 3 -6:00 PM (Boat parade starts at 5:30 PM from the Harbor): Parade of Lights event includes a Santa’s Village at Stearn’s Wharf, decorated boats that sail between the Santa Barbara Harbor and Stearns Wharf. The parade ends with a fireworks show.

Saturday, December 15 from 9AM-11AM: Breakfast with Santa at the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Barbara

Saturday, December 15 and 16, 6:00-7:30 PM: A Non-Musical Puppet Christmas at Community Covenant Church of Goleta. Tickets to go on sale on November 25.

Saturday, December 22 at 1 PM: Inspire Dance SB Presents: Clara & the Land of Sweets at the Goleta Valley Library.

 

 

 

 

This blog posted was created when I heard from another parent that there seems to be a shortage of sports in Santa Barbara for children under the age of 5 years old — or at least ones that are well-advertised. So this is a resource for parents who have children in the 2-5 year age range who are looking to find sports for their children. The sports for this age group are listed alphabetically.

Baseball/T-Ball (Spring)

YMCA Santa Barbara has t-ball and baseball during the spring for ages 4 and up.

Basketball

YMCA Santa Barbara has a program called “Itty Bitty Sports” for ages 3.5-5 that includes basketball. More information can be found on the YMCA website.

Cheer

The YMCA cheer program is for children in Pre-K and up.

Dance

Dance classes will be covered in a separate page as there are many options for this age range. The future page will be linked here once it has been created.

Gymnastics

My Gym has various classes from young babies to older children. The monthly fee is $85/child plus there is a yearly registration fee.

Santa Barbara Gymnastics Club has classes for toddlers as young as 18 months and older.

Spirals Gymnastics has classes for children age 2-5 on Saturday mornings. For children age 5 and up there are several other days that have classes, depending on their experience.

Hockey and Ice-Skating

Ice In Paradise provides ice-skating lessons staring at age 3 and hockey lessons starting at the age of 4.

Martial Arts

Martial Arts Family Fitness has classes for kids ages 3 and up.

South Coast Karate has a weekly class for kids age 3-12 starting at $99/month.

For a full list of martial arts, check out the website Karate for Kids or on Yelp.

Soccer

AYSO for kids age 5 and up.

Kidz Love Soccer is for kids age 2 and up and is offered year-round.

YMCA soccer for kids in pre-k and up.

Swimming

Swim classes are found year round at the following locations:

Santa Barbara Aquatics has classes for babies to older children.

UCSB for children age 3 (potty-trained) and up.

Wendy Fereday offers swim classes from babies to older children.

YMCA has classes for babies to older children.

During the summer you can also find swim lessons at Dos Pueblos High School, Wilson Swimming and through the City of Santa Barbara Parks and Recreation.

Various Sports

YMCA Santa Barbara has a program called “Itty Bitty Sports” for ages 3.5-5. More information can be found on the YMCA website.

Did I miss anything? Comment below if I did!

This page has moved here: https://ffcac.blogspot.com/2019/07/santa-barbara-county-parks-and-outdoor.html

This page has moved here: https://ffcac.blogspot.com/2019/07/santa-barbara-area-family-fun.html

 

 

Welcome to the blog for family fun on the California Central Coast. This blog will cover places and activities on the central coast of California (including Monterey, Big Sur, San Luis Obispo, Pismo Beach, Lompoc, Goleta, and Santa Barbara). The main focus at first will be in Santa Barbara County, as that is where my family currently lives. As we go on more trips up the coast, more content will be added from other areas.