Best Museums & Educational Spots for Kids
Explore the best best museums & educational spots for kids 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.
Museum of Flying
Aircraft & aviation artifacts on display. Museum exploring Southern California's aviation history through historic aircraft & artifacts.
Hammer Museum
Displays of classic & cutting-edge art. Gallery with a permanent collection of historical works & special exhibits of edgy contemporary art.
Museum West Pavilion
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.
The Getty Villa
Manor on bluff with artifact collection. Former tycoon's residence modeled after 1st-century Italian villa, with Greek & Roman artifacts.
The Fowler Museum at UCLA
Exhibits of global arts & cultures. Museum exploring historic & contemporary works from Africa, Asia, the Pacific & the Americas.
The Wende Museum
Cold War history museum. Museum featuring Cold War-era European & Soviet Union artifacts & history archives.
Diorama-Museum of Bhagavad-gita
Visit this great place for kids and families!
The Museum of Jurassic Technology
Quirky exhibits of art & natural history. Collection of microscopic sculpture & other eccentric curiosities in art, science & natural history.
Noah's Ark
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Skirball Cultural Center
Modern Jewish museum with many events. This contemporary facility offers Jewish historical exhibits & a range of courses, readings & talks.
Flight Path Museum & Learning Center
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Petersen Automotive Museum
Showing classic hot rods & concept cars. A vast collection of autos including restored antiques, race cars & vehicles from famous movies.
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.
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.
The Hollywood Museum
Movie, TV, stage & music exhibits. Hollywood history, including props, costumes, scripts & photos, housed in a historic building.
Hollywood Wax Museum
Museum containing waxwork celebrities. Famous Hollywood faces are cast out of wax at this museum with late-night hours.
Medieval Torture Museum
Visit this great place for kids and families!
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.
Hollywood Bowl Museum
Visit this great place for kids and families!
BLUE PLANET
Visit this great place for kids and families!
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Story-themed rides, shops & dining. Theme-park attraction featuring thrill rides, shows, shops & restaurants based on Harry Potter.
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.
USC Fisher Museum of Art
From old masters to contemporary works. Museum presents fine art with a diverse permanent collection of more than 1,800 objects.
Exposition Park
Public green space with museums & arenas. Urban space comprising 160 acres with arenas & museums, plus some green areas with trees & gardens.
California Science Center
Hands-on exhibits, IMAX & the Endeavor. Admission's free to permanent exhibits at this kid-friendly spot, also boasting IMAX & the Endeavor.
Hermosa Beach Museum
Historical society & heritage museum. Historical society featuring a quaint museum devoted to local heritage, with archival photos & more.
Space Shuttle Endeavour
Visit this great place for kids and families!
California African American Museum
Art, culture & history exhibits. Center presents art, culture & history exhibits with a focus on California, plus live events.
The Great Wall of Los Angeles
Iconic mural depicting state history. 2,754-foot-long mural depicting the history of California, with a focus on women & minorities.
The Los Angeles Museum of Love
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Leonis Adobe Museum
Center exploring 19th-century ranch life. Living history museum focusing on the old West, depicting California ranch life in the 1880s.
Wonder of Dinosaurs
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.
GRAMMY Museum L.A. Live
Interactive exhibits & music memorabilia. Interactive exhibits & showbiz artifacts honor music greats past & present at this sprawling center.
ASU FIDM Museum
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Valley Relics Museum
Visit this great place for kids and families!
The Mystic Museum
Oddities museum & eclectic gift shop. Novelty & vintage memorabilia store also featuring a small museum for Ouija boards, oddities & more.
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Museum showcasing art created after 1940. Iconic contemporary art museum with a vast collection of multimedia works produced since 1940.
The Broad
Contemporary museum with many works. Modern art museum with a honeycomb-like facade housing rotating exhibits, plus a shop & restaurant.
Travel Town Railroad
Miniature train offering mile-long rides. Miniature, mile-long train ride that circles the Travel Town Train Museum in Griffith Park.
Los Angeles Live Steamers Railroad Museum
A railroad museum with display trains. A steam, gas-mechanical & electronic train history museum, with outdoor exhibits of vintage cars.
Japanese American National Museum
Modern venue with historical exhibits. Art, artifacts & historical exhibits exploring over 130 years of the Japanese-American experience.
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