San Francisco Parks - Extracurricular Activities for All

The energetic San Francisco parks and recreation department is offering a huge array of lessons and extra curricular programs in cooking, music, the arts, dance, exercise and sports, new media and other areas. They run Jan. 2-Mar. 12, and many are tailored to groups such as babies, youths, seniors, disabled people and Cantonese speakers.

Among the things you can dabble in each week for the first two months of 2011: Swim lessons, skateboarding, hip-hop turn-tabling, website design, woodworking, robotics, American Sign Language, capoeira, crime scene investigation, claymation, conflict resolution and fashion design.

There are also sessions for a day or less for stand-up paddle boarding, cartooning, making duct tape wallets, teen skiing/snowboarding and night-time kayaking.

Fees are reasonable, and certainly less than what private academies or institutions would charge.

You can browse through the online Winter Activities Guide to see all of the offerings and register for programs online. Or register in person Mondays through Fridays, 9 am-5 pm, at Rec & Park headquarters (in McLaren Lodge in Golden Gate Park, 501 Stanyan St., (415) 831 6800), or Tuesdays through Saturdays at 9 am-5 pm at any of the 10 neighborhood rec centers across the city.