La Brea Tar Pits & Museum

Happy August! I’m super excited to share my new series on the blog, 

“Exploring LA with Kids”

Both Danny and I were born and raised in Los Angeles to immigrant parents, so LA Life is all we know…which says A LOT, because Los Angeles is a huge melting pot of rich cultures. You can explore this city and meet people from all different backgrounds, and most importantly…you can try FOOD from all over the World without boarding a plane! Since I grew-up in the 80s, there was no internet for my parents to see recommended family friendly activities or places to visit. If they caught it on the news or heard something from friends…or happen to drive by it, then we were there! So, rediscovering LA has been something I’ve done since Caiden was born. Some of the places we’ve visited together has also been my first experience. We love this city and everything she has to offer. So I hope you and your kids get to explore LA!  

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Have you been to the La Brea Tar Pits Museum? 

Located in Mid City, next to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the La Brea Tar Pits & Museum are one of the World’s most famous fossil sites. The museum displays Ice Age fossils, including mammoths, saber-tooth cats, and dire wolves, NOT dinosaurs! And I repeat, there are no dinosaur fossils in the museum. I need to emphasize this because parents and kids (us included) have been corrected by staff members. Oops 🙂

If it’s your first visit and you have slightly older kids (then mine), the museum has a guided tour that’s free with admission. The Excavator Tour gives an overview of the work that’s currently being done  and you get the inside scope of the La Brea Tar Pits! When my boys are old enough…we’ll be checking out the tour. Don’t forget to check tour times before you go! Check the calendar, here. 

What I love about the Museum is the Paleontology Laboratory. You can watch scientists and volunteers work on fossils. I don’t know how they can work while everyone’s staring at them…but they do! 

Want to test your strength? Try the Tar Pull to feel what it’s like to be trapped in Tar! 

The museum also has educational entertainment with an additional fee. Currently there’s Titans of the Ice Age 3D and a Live Show, Ice Age Encounters , which features a life-size adult saber-tooth cat puppet! 

Kids love to touch! Here, Caiden got to feel the claw of a replica Ground Sloth fossil. 

My boys and I had so much fun exploring the museum and the Tar Pits! 

 For more info, visit www.tarpits.org

AND don’t forget to pack a picnic lunch…Hancock Park is beautifully situated in the middle of

 La Brea Tar Pits. 

What: La Brea Tar Pits Musuem

Where: 5801 Wilshire Blvd.