Your guide to 82 things to do with kids in Los Angeles, including Star Parties and Antarctica 3D, and more — updated weekly. (Updated August 2026)
12 kids activities and family events are listed in Los Angeles right now, including 1 free things to do.
Updated August 2026
Where to take kids across LA — the museums at Exposition Park and Griffith Park, the free beaches and hikes, what works at each age, and how to plan around the traffic.
Exposition Park is the strongest single family day in the city: the California Science Center with the Space Shuttle Endeavour, the Natural History Museum with its dinosaur hall and Nature Gardens, and the rose garden between them, all reachable on the Metro E Line. Griffith Park is the other anchor — the Los Angeles Zoo, Travel Town's train yard, the merry-go-round, pony rides and the Griffith Observatory, which is free to enter and has the best view in Los Angeles.
For a bigger day, Universal Studios Hollywood, Disneyland in Anaheim and the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach each need a full day and advance booking. The Santa Monica Pier has the Pacific Park rides and the free Heal the Bay Aquarium underneath it, Kidspace Children's Museum in Pasadena is built entirely for under-10s, and the Getty Center's tram, gardens and family room are free apart from parking. See the top 10 attractions for kids in Los Angeles for the shortlist.
The beaches are the great free asset: Santa Monica, Venice, Manhattan Beach, Will Rogers and Zuma all cost nothing but parking, and the Marvin Braude bike path runs 22 miles between them. The Griffith Observatory is free, as is the Getty Center and the Getty Villa (reservation plus parking), the Broad museum downtown with a timed ticket, the California Science Center's permanent galleries, and the Annenberg Community Beach House pool grounds. Add free hikes with a payoff — Runyon Canyon, the Griffith Park trails to the Hollywood Sign view, and Ballona Wetlands — plus Grand Park's splash fountain, Kenneth Hahn park, and the Original Farmers Market at Third and Fairfax.
For scheduled free programs, browse kids events in Los Angeles this weekend — library story times, park programs and museum free days dominate the list.
LA gets few wet days, but when the marine layer sits in or a January storm arrives, the indoor list is deep. The California Science Center and the Natural History Museum are the two best value; Kidspace in Pasadena, the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, the Academy Museum for older kids, the La Brea Tar Pits museum, the Discovery Cube in Los Feliz and the Petersen Automotive Museum all work fully undercover. For active indoor time there are climbing gyms in Culver City and Downtown, trampoline parks across the Valley, and ice rinks at Pasadena and El Segundo.
Filter to museum events for kids in Los Angeles or family theater shows when you need to stay inside.
Toddlers (0–4): Travel Town and the Griffith Park merry-go-round, the LA Zoo's Muriel's Ranch, Kidspace's outdoor water play, the Santa Monica beach playground at Original Muscle Beach, and library story times. Go early and skip the afternoon heat.
Ages 5–8: the Natural History Museum dinosaurs, the LA Zoo, the Aquarium of the Pacific, the Santa Monica Pier and the La Brea Tar Pits. Activities for children aged 6–11 lists what is on for this bracket now.
Ages 9–12: the Space Shuttle Endeavour, the Griffith Observatory planetarium, Universal Studios, the Academy Museum, surf lessons in Santa Monica and a Dodgers game. This age also gets more from school holiday programs — camps and multi-day workshops run right through summer.
You will drive, and car seats are required by law for children under eight or 4'9". Plan by traffic window rather than distance: leave before 8am or between 10am and 2pm, and never cross town at 5pm — Exposition Park to Santa Monica can be 25 minutes or 75. Metro is genuinely useful on a few routes: the E Line reaches Exposition Park and Santa Monica, the B Line reaches Hollywood and Universal City, and children under five ride free. Parking is the hidden cost — the Getty, Universal and the beaches all charge, so budget for it. Bring hats, sunscreen and water even in winter, and check whether your attraction closes on Mondays before you set out.