310 North Main Street
(213) 687-8800


Learning though play is the theme of this museum. Opened in 1978 on a two-month test concept period, today the Los Angeles Children's Museum is the home of a unique learning center where kids and families can interact with the exhibits. You won't see any "do not touch" signs to halt exploration and discovery at this museum.

The world-renowned architect Frank Gehry, of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao fame, designed the discovery maze ramp system, which continues today as the core structure of the museum exhibit area.

Sticky City, City Streets, the Shadow Box, the Video Zone, and the Art Loft were all original exhibits that remain popular with kids today. Some of the new exhibits you can see at the Children's Museum are the Cave that premiered in 1993, H2O and the Story of Water launched in 1994. In early 1995, Club Eco, an environmental clubhouse for kids was added.

At the City Streets exhibit kids can pretend to drive a city bus, a police motorcycle or even a Sparkletts truck. Need gas for your vehicle? Just zoom over to the gas pump. See how streets work. Kids get a real kick out of this exhibit. When parents want to ride in the cars too, kids can relegate them to the back seat.

On the art landscape, budding artists can draw their own stories, then view them on spinning discs, the early form of animation in the Zoetrop exhibit. Face Paints allow kids the opportunity to paint themselves up like a mime or a monster. Everyone likes legos so head over to the Lego Building Site where there is plenty of building space and tons of legos for everyone.

The Recording Studio is another favorite. Put the headphones on, grab the microphone, and sing to your heart's content. Don't worry if you can carry a tune, you'll get applause. Play with sound effects and experiment with a mixer, and take the tape home as a lasting memento of a pleasant day spent at the Children's Museum.

For the Museum, art and ecology co-exist. By using recyclable and industrial excess as recycled art materials, the museum stimulates creativity and helps slow the tide of waste to landfills. These recycled materials are gathered from local manufacturers, corporations, and stores that donate useable items. As an added tie-in, the museum has launched a Recycle Exhibit on the second floor where materials are collected, stored, and displayed. Families are encouraged to purchase the materials to take home with instructions on how to complete a project with the materials. The fee for the materials is then re-invested into the museum.

The ever-popular Reader's Theater Project began as a literacy program. The museum staff created a unique blend of theater, music, story telling and books. Each of the 40-minute musical productions brings children's books to life with professional actors, dancers, and musicians from the Los Angeles performing arts community. The costumes and props for each story are taken directly from the illustrations within each book.

Located at 310 North Main Street, Los Angeles. Easy to access from the Harbor Freeway (110), Santa Monica Freeway (10E), Hollywood Freeway (101S), Pasadena Freeway South (110), Santa Ana Freeway (5N), Golden State Freeway (5S), and the San Bernardino Freeway (10W).
Admission is $5.00 for children and adults.
The Museum is open on Saturday and Sunday from10: 00 am to 5:00 pm and during the week on school holidays. Parking is $3.30 at the Los Angeles Mall on the weekends.

For further information: (213) 687-8800