Museums & Educational Attractions in Los Angeles, CA
There are 49 museums & educational attractions in and around Los Angeles. Each card below shows what it costs, when it opens and which ages it suits.
Sorted by distance from the middle of Los Angeles, nearest first. Those are straight-line miles, so every drive is longer than the number on the card.
A museum dedicated to Chinese American history and culture in Los Angeles. The permanent exhibition covers the arrival and settlement of Chinese immigrants in the…
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LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes is a community hub where people gather to celebrate Latinx culture through transformative exhibitions, music, dance, culinary arts, and…
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Through history and art exhibitions, an expansive resource and research center, family programs and video presentations in its one-of-a kind Pavilion, share a…
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A museum dedicated to contemporary art created after 1940, holding nearly 8,000 works across all media. The collection spans painting, sculpture, photography…
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The Grammy Museum is a Los Angeles institution dedicated to celebrating music history through interactive exhibits, artist collections, and rotating displays…
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The Grammy Museum is a Los Angeles institution dedicated to celebrating music history through interactive exhibits, artist collections, and rotating displays…
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Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is a large museum offering exhibits on paleontology, biodiversity, and natural science for visitors of all ages…
Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County, located at 900 Exposition Blvd in Los Angeles, California, is a museum system encompassing the Natural History…
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California Science Center is a science museum located at 700 Exposition Park Drive in Los Angeles, California. Families can explore hands-on exhibits along with…
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Robot Edutainment is a developer and distributor of innovative teaching and learning solutions focused on STEM education in Los Angeles, California. The venue…
A nonprofit contemporary art gallery on Hollywood Boulevard that exhibits experimental and socially engaged work. The space shows paintings, performances…
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“The Craft & Folk Art Museum is losing an ampersand — and gaining a new name: The Wilshire Boulevard museum will go by Craft Contemporary effective immediately…
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Since 1961, the Holocaust Museum LA has provided free Holocaust education to students and visitors from across Los Angeles, the United States and the world…
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Voted “Favorite Museum” by L.A. Daily News readers for five years in a row! Located across from the L.A. Zoo in the heart of Griffith Park and with plentiful free…
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The Amory Center for the Arts builds on the power of art to transform lives and communities through creating, teaching and presenting the arts. At the core of the…
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A museum in Pasadena dedicated to art, history and culture from across Pacific Asia. The collection spans more than five thousand years and includes objects from…
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USC Pacific Asia Museum is the only Museum in Southern California dedicated to furthering intercultural understanding through the arts and cultures of Asia and the…
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Columbia Memorial Space Center is an educational museum located at 12400 Columbia Way in Downey, California. Families can explore interactive, hands-on exhibits…
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A Los Angeles art museum housing medieval to contemporary works within modernist buildings and gardens. Families can explore galleries displaying paintings…
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Noah's Ark At the Skirball is a family-oriented exhibit located within the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, California. It offers children and families an…
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Museum of Illusions in Santa Monica offers visitors perspective-changing rooms, mind-bending installations, and optical illusions designed to create visual and…
The Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) is the only museum in the United States dedicated to modern and contemporary Latin American art. MOLAA expands knowledge…
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A museum in Long Beach showcasing work by artists from Southern California, housed in a historic building that overlooks the ocean. The collection spans painting…
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An art education center offering classes for children and adults across a range of media including painting, drawing, ceramics, printmaking and digital design. The…
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Blue Planet is a children's museum in Woodland Hills, California where kids can create structures and objects including animals, rocket ships, robots, and castles…
Arboretum and Botanical Garden at Cal State Fullerton is a 26 acre botanic garden on the campus of California State University. The garden hosts two museums…
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A museum and cultural center in Anaheim housed in a restored 1906 Carnegie Library building alongside a contemporary gallery space. Families can explore rotating…
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The Sasse Museum is a living experience with art. Experience works of art, speak with the artists who created them, and mingle with art enthusiasts, students, and…
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Discovery Cube Orange County, located at 2500 N Main St in Santa Ana, CA, is a hands-on science center designed for children, educators, and families. Kids can…
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The Claremont Museum of Art, located in the historic Claremont Depot, is a jewel of a small art museum that celebrates the community’s rich artistic legacy and…
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Lucky Art Crayonology operates as a vibrant children's museum located at 5135 Holt Blvd in Montclair, California. This engaging space offers guided tours designed…
Chino Youth Museum is a kids museum located in Chino, California where families can engage in hands-on activities and exploration. The museum offers interactive…
The museum is open and located on the campus of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa
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The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, CA offers families a chance to explore exhibits on the life and presidency of Ronald Reagan…
Play Street Museum – Ontario is an interactive children's museum in Ontario, California, designed for kids up to 8 years old. The museum features educational…
Randall Lewis Second Story and Beyond® is an interactive discovery space on the second floor of the Paul A. Biane Library in Rancho Cucamonga, California, designed…
Laguna Art Museum is the museum of California art. It collects, cares for, and exhibits works of art that were created by California artists or represent the life…
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Where a card says no price or no hours listed, the venue does not publish it. We would rather leave the gap than fill it with a guess. Prices come from each venue's own website, and we publish one only when the figure appears on the page we took it from. Tell us if we are missing one you know.
Which one, by age
Two children three years apart do not have to be a compromise. The age line on every card shows what that venue serves.
Noah’s Ark At the Skirball
Best here for under 2, 14 miles out, listed ages 0–9 and admission from $12.
BLUE PLANET
Best here for two to five, 21 miles out, listed ages 3–9 and admission from $20.
Lucky art crayonology
Best here for six to nine, 32 miles out, listed ages 3–9 and admission $21.99.
Chinese American Museum
Best here for ten and up, 1 miles out, listed ages 6–16 and admission $2.
Free museums & educational attractions in Los Angeles
6 places on this page get you in free. That makes a short trip easy to justify on a day when nobody is sure how long they will last.
LA PLaza de Cultura y Artes
Free to get in and 1 miles out.
Armory Center for the Arts
Free to get in and 8 miles out.
The Getty
Free to get in, 13 miles out and listed ages 6–16.
Palos Verdes Art Center
Free to get in, 21 miles out and listed ages 6–16.
Sasse Museum of Art
Free to get in and 28 miles out.
Orange County Museum of Art
Free to get in and 33 miles out.
By town
Most of these are not in Los Angeles proper, and the town is usually what decides whether a place is worth the trip.
Museums & Educational Attractions in Los Angeles
17 of them: Chinese American Museum, LA PLaza de Cultura y Artes, Japanese American National Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) of Los Angeles and The Grammy Museum, the closest 1 miles from the middle of Los Angeles and 6 with a published admission price.
Museums & Educational Attractions in Pasadena
3 of them: Armory Center for the Arts, Pacific Asia Museum and USC Pacific Asia Museum, the closest 8 miles from the middle of Los Angeles and 1 with a published admission price.
Museums & Educational Attractions in Long Beach
2 of them: Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) and Long Beach Museum of Art, the closest 20 miles from the middle of Los Angeles and 2 with a published admission price.
Museums & Educational Attractions in Santa Ana
2 of them: Discovery Cube Orange County and Bowers Museum, the closest 29 miles from the middle of Los Angeles and 2 with a published admission price.
Planning a visit
These run from 1 to 45 miles out from the middle of Los Angeles. Hours move with the season and with school holidays, so check the listing before you set off. If you run one of the places on this page, you can claim it for free and keep its hours and prices right.
Before you go
Grip socks. Almost every venue requires them for children and several require them for adults. Most sell them at the door for a few dollars. Bringing your own is cheaper and means you are not buying a fourth pair.
Check whether adults pay. It runs from free to full price and it changes the cost of a visit by a lot when there are two of you.
Weekday mornings are the toddler rush. If you want space, aim for after two on a school day. Weekend mornings are the busiest hours of the week almost everywhere.
Ninety minutes is the realistic ceiling for most children under five. There is rarely a gradual wind down. Leaving with time left on the clock is not wasted money, it is a better afternoon.
Call ahead in school holidays. Several of these venues run camps and private events that close open play with no notice on the website.
Looking somewhere else in the metro? Browse every kid-friendly place in Los Angeles.
Other things to do in Los Angeles
Museums & Educational Attractions in nearby cities
Common questions about museums & educational attractions in Los Angeles
How many museums & educational attractions are there in Los Angeles?
We list 49 museums & educational attractions within 90 miles of Los Angeles, CA. Every one is a published listing with an address we checked.
Which museums & educational attractions in Los Angeles publish their prices?
24 of the 49 here do, and each price was checked word for word against the venue's own page before we published it. The rest do not publish one, so their card says no price listed rather than carrying a guess.
Are any museums & educational attractions in Los Angeles free?
Yes. 5 places get you in free: LA PLaza de Cultura y Artes, Armory Center for the Arts, The Getty, Palos Verdes Art Center and Sasse Museum of Art.
Which museums & educational attractions in Los Angeles suit a toddler?
6 of them list an age range starting at two or under. Check the age line on each card, because a place that suits a six-year-old does not always suit a two-year-old.
How did Mini Navigators choose these museums & educational attractions?
We list every one we have within 90 miles of the center of Los Angeles. Each is a published place with an address we geocoded and checked, and the business can claim its listing to keep the hours and prices current.
Do adults have to pay?
It varies more than you would expect, from free to full price, and it changes the cost of a visit by a lot when there are two of you. The price on each card is what it costs to get a child in. Where a venue publishes an adult price it is on the listing, and where it does not we have left it out rather than assume.
Do I need to book ahead?
Usually not for open play, but several venues cap capacity at weekends and during school holidays, and some close open play entirely for private events. Where a venue has its own booking page, the listing links straight to it.
What should I bring?
Grip socks, a water bottle, a change of clothes for anyone under four, and a plan for leaving before the meltdown rather than after it.
What else is there to do with kids in Los Angeles?
Los Angeles has 14 categories of kid-friendly places on Mini Navigators, from playgrounds and museums to splash pads and zoos. The Los Angeles hub lists all of them.
Listings last checked August 21, 2026.