Los Angeles is a cultural and entertainment mecca for adults, but children will find plenty to appreciate, too, including educational experiences, pick-your-own farms and engaging family shows.
And in Los Angeles, there’s no shortage of interactive kids’ spaces. These exhibits are not your typical learning experience; they pair education with hands-on entertainment, inspiring curiosity and creativity in younger minds.
Whether your kids dream of becoming scientists, artists, or simply love exploring and playing, there’s something for everyone in LA.
Discover the best hands-on, interactive exhibits for kids in Los Angeles with this complete guide including specific activities you’ll find, the education benefits of each interaction, insider tips for visiting and more.
Kidspace Children’s Museum — Pasadena
Pasadena — The Kidspace Children’s Museum is a sensory wonderland for young adventurers. Covering more than 3.5 acres of interactive discovery, this museum promotes a healthy balance of STEM learning and imaginative exploration.
Top Exhibits & Activities:
The Physics Forest invites children to explore gravity, motion and engineering with hands-on exhibits such as bottle rockets and swinging pendulum for Interactive Exhibits for Kids in Los Angeles.
The Imagination Workshop is built for hands-on creativity, providing tools and materials for kids to build and invent.
And outside, the Arroyo Adventure features nature-related play for kids with elements including rock climbing, mud kitchens and water features.
Educational Benefits:
It helps develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills as children explore concepts within science and cultivate creativity. It also has seasonal events such as Halloween Monster Mash or Winter Frolic to deepen the experience as interactive exhibits for kids in Los Angeles.
Visitor Tip:
Pack a change of clothes for water-based activities and get out there early to avoid the crowds. For locals, membership is a great value, including free admission and exclusive event benefits.
California Science Center — Exposition Park
A crown jewel on the list of interactive exhibits for kids in Los Angeles, the California Science Center will give kids of all ages a sense of wonder. From the farthest reaches of space to the most profound ecosystems underwater, its exhibits bring science to life.
Top Exhibits & Activities:
One highlight is the Space Shuttle Endeavour, which allows families to see a real-life NASA spacecraft. The Ecosystems Exhibit allows children to engage with live desert and aquatic animals, crawl through a kelp forest tunnel and touch tidepool creatures. And hands-on engineering challenges promote building and design in the Creative World exhibit.
Educational Benefits:
Kids learn STEM principles in an engaging, accessible way, opening a world of science, technology, and innovation.
Visitor Tip:
For admission fees, special exhibits and the IMAX Theater are extra. Spend some time taking in the rose garden out front!
Cayton Children’s Museum – Santa Monica
Located on the highest level of Santa Monica Place, the Cayton Children’s Museum features more than 21,000 square feet of play-based learning and discovery. Previously the Zimmer Museum, this site fosters creativity, community values, and personal development.
Top Exhibits & Activities:
The Courage Climber is a massive, 20-foot-tall play structure that challenges children physically and represents bravery. The Art Studio promotes creative expression through paint, clay, and other materials, and the Community Market is a pretend exhibit where children can play cashier, shopper, or worker to inspire collaboration and problem-solving in interactive exhibits for kids in Los Angeles.
Educational Benefits:
The activities are structured around aspects of social-emotional growth, teamwork and creative artistic expression, so it is unlike any learning they get in school.
Visitor Tip:
Look for free access days and participate in activities organized in conjunction with local schools.
Los Angeles County Natural History Museum – Exposition Park
The Natural History Museum is famous for its dinosaur exhibits, but it offers far more than fossils. It’s one of the more immersive interactive exhibits for kids in Los Angeles, allowing little ones to physically explore history, animals and science with interactive exhibits for kids in Los Angeles
Top Exhibits & Activities:
At the Discovery Center, kids can touch fossils, watch live insects, and look at precious gemstones. Kids can “become paleontologists” and dig for mock fossils at the Dinosaur Hall. The Nature Lab offers a close-up view of LA wildlife, including live snakes and rats.
Educational Benefits:
History and science come alive through tactile discovery as kids retain information more effectively and have fun in the program of interactive exhibits for kids in Los Angeles.
Visitor Tip:
At the entrance, pick up a scavenger hunt guide to make your visit even more interactive. Having Butterfly Pavilion and Spider Pavilion seasonal exhibits.
Sponsors: Discovery Cube Los Angeles – Sylmar
The Discovery Cube in Sylmar is a STEM wonderland, meant to inspire experimentation and innovation. It has some of the most high-tech hands-on exhibits in L.A., and is a favorite of kids and parents alike.
Top Exhibits & Activities:
The Eco Challenge encourages kids to act as “real-life recyclers,” asking them to sort a variety of items at a mock waste-processing center. For the young detective who loves solving mysteries using a trail of clues and deductive reasoning, the Inspector Training Course is the one for you. Seasonal exhibits such as “Science of Sports” help keep the experience new throughout the year.
Educational Benefits:
Each exhibit is purpose-built to hit specific educational benchmarks, such as environmentalism, critical thinking, and science exploration.
Visitor Tip:
Budget a half-day to take it all in — it’s a jam-packed landscape of things that invite kids’ full digital and creative engagement.
La Brea Tar Pits and Page Museum — Miracle Mile
La Brea Tar Pits and Page Museum: Offering visitors a glimpse into the world of the Ice Age, with live excavation sites and intriguing fossils, the La Brea Tar Pits and Page Museum is one of the most unique attractions in the world of interactive exhibits for kids in Los Angeles.
Top Exhibits & Activities:
The Fossil Lab lets kids watch real scientists clean and study bones in a lab setting. Outdoors, children can stroll along bubbling tar pits or have a go at hands-on excavation drills. New augmented reality features engage families in what L.A. was like during the Ice Age.
Educational Benefits:
Ideal for kids interested in science and history, this exhibit nurtures an understanding of Earth’s distant past.
Visitor Tip:
Bring comfortable walking shoes and a picnic to enjoy at the nearby Hancock Park.
Aquarium of the Pacific – Long Beach
A few miles south of downtown Los Angeles, the Aquarium of the Pacific is one of the area’s best family-friendly attractions. This aquarium delights visitors of all ages with more than 12,000 animals and unlimited interactive possibilities.
Top Exhibits & Activities:
Kids can visit touch tanks at the Shark Lagoon, hand-feed vibrant lorikeets and learn about jellyfish at the Moon Jelly Touch Lab. Other highlights not to be missed include the multimedia immersive experience in the Pacific Visions Theater and the Tropical Reef Habitat with its underwater tunnel.
Educational Benefits:
The aquarium mixes marine biology with conservation messaging, inspiring kids to respect and protect the natural world.
Visitor Tip:
Buy your tickets online for e-tickets that offer discounts and quicker entry, especially during busy tourism months.
Discovering More Must See Places
The first few of these exhibits are a fantastic experience, but don’t overlook other places to go for interactive exhibits for kids in Los Angeles:
Noah’s Ark Exhibit at Skirball Cultural Center —A magical ark-like construct that kids can build, climb and engage in group problem-solving at music and craft stations.
Pretend City Children’s Museum — This museum in Irvine is designed as a small city where kids can act as chefs, firefighters and other community helpers while learning skills for real life.
Zimmerman Automobile Driving Museum — Vintage vehicles and interactive opportunities for young gearheads.
Why Interactive Exhibits Are Important
Interactive exhibits for kids in Los Angeles are a great tool for entertaining children and stimulating their cerebral development; they can contribute to your kids’ critical thinking and emotional intelligence.
They also feel especially ripe for unique fun, learning and quality family time across Los Angeles.
Get our guide to the best to-do kids activities in Los Angeles — then make your sparingly visit to these hands-on displays and see your little one’s eyes twinkle with wonder and delight as they create happy memories that can last a lifetime.
What is your favorite family-friendly activity in LA? Keep the conversation going and comment down below with your thoughts!
