Best Family-Friendly Attractions
Explore the best best family-friendly attractions options for kids and families in Santa Monica
Cayton Children's Museum
Educational play for ages 8 & under. Designed for children 8 & under, this museum boasts hands-on exhibits & frequent family programs.
Tongva Park
Modern space with play areas for kids. Public park boasting modern architectural features plus play equipment, a splash pad & benches.
Santa Monica Pier
Popular landmark for rides & restaurants. Storied seaside destination showcasing a range of shops & cafes, plus an amusement park & aquarium.
Crescent Bay Park
Grassy space with ocean views. Tranquil park featuring grassy areas, benches & a pergola, plus views of the ocean.
Palisades Park
Palm-studded greenspace with big views. This sizable strip of grass, palm trees & walking trails features expansive ocean views.
Fisherman's Village
Visit this great place for kids and families!
The Getty
Celebrated free venue for art exhibits. Famous, sizable free museum highlighting American & European art, architecture & manicured gardens.
Tellefson Park
Park with a kids' playground & restrooms. Compact city park with various sports facilities, a playground for children, restrooms & parking.
Ballona Discovery Park
Educational park with wetland plants. Educational wetland park featuring an interpretive walk & gardens with native plants.
The Wende Museum
Cold War history museum. Museum featuring Cold War-era European & Soviet Union artifacts & history archives.
Vista del Mar Park
Pocket green space near ocean & runways. Pocket green space & recreation area with ocean & airport views plus barbecue pits & picnic spots.
Culver City Park
Sports, picnics, a dog zone & skating. Leisure space on 41+ acres for ball sports, picnics & grilling, plus a dog park & skateboard area.
Coldwater Canyon Park
Greenspace with play areas & picnicking. Public park offering play equipment for kids, plus areas for picnicking & a water feature.
Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area
Expansive park for outdoor activities. This 308-acre park features a Japanese garden, a workout course, athletic fields & scenic trails.
Clutter's Park
Open space known for airport views. Planes can be seen taking off & landing at this small park that overlooks LAX.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
From pre-Columbian to contemporary works. This 20-acre campus with diverse collections spanning art history also offers screenings & concerts.
La Brea Tar Pits and Museum
Prehistoric-fossil excavation site. Ice Age–fossil excavation site with an adjacent museum, plus a re-created prehistoric garden.
Los Encinos State Historic Park
Former rancho with a preserved adobe. This historic rancho features a visitor center & 9-room 19th century adobe open by appointment only.
Sherman Oaks Castle Park
Fun center with an arcade & mini-golf. Family amusement center with batting cages, arcade games & 3 miniature golf courses.
Roundhouse Aquarium
No-cost ocean & marine life education. This free aquarium sits at the end of Manhattan Beach Pier & is host to classes, parties & camps.
Top of Topanga Overlook
Visit this great place for kids and families!
The Walk Of Fun Hollywood
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Stunt Ranch
Nature reserve with educational programs. Educational programs are offered to students at this reserve with a creek & varied plant life.
Runyon Canyon Park
Popular hiking trails with scenic views. Landmark hiking trails known for sweeping city views & people watching, plus an off-leash dog park.
Adamson House Museum
Spanish Revival beach home & gardens. Tile-rich Spanish Colonial Revival beach house, built in 1929 & now open for home & garden tours.
The Hollywood Museum
Movie, TV, stage & music exhibits. Hollywood history, including props, costumes, scripts & photos, housed in a historic building.
Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Museum for unusual & bizarre artifacts. Museum with kitschy oddities on display, including shrunken human heads & rare animal skeletons.
Hollywood Wax Museum
Museum containing waxwork celebrities. Famous Hollywood faces are cast out of wax at this museum with late-night hours.
World of Illusions Los Angeles
Interactive experiences in trendy museum. 3D illusions & an Upside-Down House exhibit, plus other interactive experiences in a popular museum.
Polliwog Park
Playgrounds, disc golf & a large pond. Park boasting a large pond & amphitheater for events plus a 9-hole disc golf course & play areas.
Legacy Park
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Hollywood Walk of Fame
Star-studded Hollywood sidewalk. Famous Hollywood sidewalk area emblazoned with stars & celebrity names since 1960.
Valley Park
Small park for picnicking, events & more. Petite local park with picnic areas, courts & a playground, plus annual performing arts events.
Lake Balboa/Anthony C. Beilenson Park
Picnic spot & maritime-themed playground. Grassy open space with a 19,600-sq.-ft. maritime-themed playground & interactive drum play area.
Super Silly Fun Land
Minion-themed rides, games & merch. Wacky, Minion-inspired play zone with 80 water features, plus rides, arcade games & a souvenir shop.
Silly Swirly
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Raptor Encounter
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Universal Studio Tour
Behind-the-scenes ride in a theme park. Long-running tram tour at Universal Studios Hollywood exploring movie & TV-show backlots.
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Dinosaur skeletons & rotating exhibits. From T. rex skeletons to an insect zoo, popular attraction holds more than 35-million artifacts.
Exposition Park
Public green space with museums & arenas. Urban space comprising 160 acres with arenas & museums, plus some green areas with trees & gardens.
Malibu Bluffs Park
Sports & whale watching on the ocean. Scenic waterfront community park with sports fields & a playground, plus a whale watching station.
Exposition Park Rose Garden
Charming park devoted to roses. Cheerful formal park featuring a collection of roses & a gazebo.
Hermosa Beach Museum
Historical society & heritage museum. Historical society featuring a quaint museum devoted to local heritage, with archival photos & more.
South Park
Open green space & a playground. A playground, picnic tables & plenty of open green space are available at this community park.
Fort Lots-o-Fun Park
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Fern Dell Nature Preserve
Outdoor space with lush foliage & trails. Serene enclave at Griffith Park featuring walking paths amid tropical foliage & a man-made brook.
Reseda Stones
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Bronson Caves
Man-made caves featured in iconic films. Seen in many iconic films, these man-made caves provide trails & scenic views of the Hollywood Sign.
Calabasas Creek Park
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Hollywood Sign
Iconic letters atop Mount Lee since 1923. Erected in 1923, this symbolic landmark on Mount Lee is often viewed from Griffith Park Observatory.
Hollyhock House
A Frank Lloyd Wright house with gardens. Self-guided tours are available of this Wright-designed home, with roof terraces & gardens.
Dominguez Park
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Griffith Observatory
Planetarium, telescopes & city views. This art deco landmark from 1935 features a high-tech planetarium, public telescopes & city views.
King Gillette Ranch, Mountains Recreation & Conservation Authority
588-acre park in Santa Monica mountains. Sprawling ranch in the heart of Malibu Creek Watershed offers 1920s architecture, views & hiking.
Johnny Carson Park
Neighborhood spot for picnics & playing. Named after the TV legend, this space features a picnic area, playground & small performance stage.
Grand Hope Park
Playground, lawns & iconic clock tower. 2.5-acre urban park featuring a playground & grass lawns amid an iconic mosaic-adorned clock tower.
Columbia Park
52-acre recreational park & gardens. A variety of sports courts & fields on 52 acres, along with community gardens & picnic areas.
Public Art "Aquarius"
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Griffith Park
Hiking trails, city views & L.A. Zoo. Urban oasis featuring hiking & equestrian trails, plus city views, the Greek Theatre & the L.A. Zoo.
Angels Flight Railway
Historical landmark with a short ride. World's shortest railway, built in 1901, with 2 funicular cars that travel on a 298ft incline.
Shadow Ranch Park
Sports fields, playgrounds & picnicking. Compact but well-equipped park offering sports fields, basketball courts, picnicking & playgrounds.
The Broad
Contemporary museum with many works. Modern art museum with a honeycomb-like facade housing rotating exhibits, plus a shop & restaurant.
Old Los Angeles Zoo
Abandoned zoo with ruins & hiking trails. Founded in 1912, this now-abandoned zoo offers past enclosure ruins, picnic space & hiking trails.
Juan Bautista de Anza Park
Open green space for picnics & playing. Recreational retreat offering a children's playground, covered picnic tables & walking trails.
Augustus F. Hawkins Nature Park
Tranquil green space with nature center. Calm, 8.5-acre retreat featuring native flora & wetlands, plus a small museum with nature exhibits.
Gloria Molina Grand Park
Memorial fountain & a performance lawn. Gathering place featuring an intimate performance area, memorial fountain & wade-able membrane pool.
Griffith Park & Southern Railroad
Park featuring rides on mini trains. Center for train rides on reproductions of classic American locomotives, with a mile-long track.
Kyoto Garden
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Gordon R Howard Museum
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Explore More Activities
Discover more events and activities happening in Santa Monica.