The concept is pretty simple.

“Kids Free San Diego is about kids and families having fun at museums and saving money," San Diego Museum Council Executive Director Bob Lehman said.

Now through Oct. 31, the treats include free-admission offers for kids age 12 and under at more than 50 local museums and other attractions, including the Birch Aquarium at Scripps, the San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum, the San Diego Natural History Museum and the USS Midway Museum.

The selections run the gamut from art museums and wildlife centers to venues dedicated to science, music and all things maritime. Your destinations are as far south as the Tijuana Estuary in Imperial Beach and as far north as the California Surf Museum in Oceanside, with many stops in between.

Several organizations are sponsoring the event, including First 5 San Diego. Alethea Arguilez is the group's executive director.

“First 5 San Diego is a local commission that funds a variety of programs and initiatives for pregnant women and young children first to five throughout the county," she said.

Arguilez said the Kids Free event fits right into its core mission — the healthy development of children.

“90% of brain development occurs in the first five years of life. And so when children are experiencing hands on, tactile experiences, their brain is developing... And when children are really young, they learn through all their senses... So all of those experiences are really gonna help them learn and eventually just be ready for school," she said.