Family Fun Across Los Angeles
Family Friendly Activities in Los Angeles
Exposition Park alone can fill a full day with kids and it won’t cost you a dime to get in the door, before you’ve even touched a theme park ticket. Stack that with a Long Beach aquarium and a marionette theater that still hands out free ice cream, and LA’s family lineup holds up against anywhere in the country.
Exposition Park: two free museums, side by side
The California Science Center’s permanent galleries, World of Ecology, Creative World, and Air and Space, are 100% free with no ticket needed, and IMAX documentaries run $9.79 for adults and $7.50 for kids. One heads-up worth planning around: Space Shuttle Endeavour is off public display while the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center is under construction, and it doesn’t reopen until November 13, 2026, so don’t build a visit around seeing it before then, per californiasciencecenter.org . Right next door, the Natural History Museum’s Dinosaur Hall holds 300-plus fossils including a full T. rex growth series from baby to adult, plus a Gem and Mineral Hall with 150,000-plus specimens. Adults run $18, kids 3 to 12 run $7, and it’s free for LA County residents on weekdays after 3pm. Reserve the science center’s IMAX tickets ahead if there’s a specific showtime you want.
Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach
Down in Rainbow Harbor and reachable via the Metro A Line, the Aquarium of the Pacific packs 12,000-plus marine animals across 50 exhibits, with a Shark Lagoon touch tank and a Lorikeet Forest kids won’t want to leave. Adults (12+) run $44.95, kids 3 to 11 run $29.95, and weekend visits need an advance timed reservation per aquariumofpacific.org . Book Aquarium of the Pacific tickets ahead of a weekend trip to skip the box office line.
Bob Baker Marionette Theater and La Brea Tar Pits
Bob Baker’s puppet revues in Highland Park still end every single show with a free Dixie cup of ice cream, a tradition running since 1963; tickets run $25 and kids age 2 and under sit free on a lap. Over on Wilshire, the outdoor tar pits at La Brea are free to view any time, and the fossil lab inside the George C. Page Museum, with its saber-toothed cats and dire wolf skull wall, runs $18 for adults and $7 for kids 3 to 12.
Los Angeles Zoo and Kidspace
The 133-acre LA Zoo in Griffith Park houses over 2,100 animals and charges $24 for adults 13 to 61, $19 for kids 2 to 12, with free parking included. In Pasadena, Kidspace Children’s Museum is built for hands-on outdoor play, from mud kitchens to physics trike tracks, at a flat $15.50 for every visitor over age 1.
Summer midday heat at outdoor spots like the zoo and Kidspace climbs fast, so front-load those visits early and save the air-conditioned museums for the afternoon. For a full-day plan that groups these by neighborhood instead of bouncing across the basin, see the multi-day Los Angeles itinerary .