fun things to do with kids in los angeles california - family travel    
  Travel for Kids
  | California
     
    Los Angeles
Disneyland
Los Angeles is really a patchwork of 1,001 neighborhoods, so have fun tasting a little of everything. You need a car in Los Angeles, because those neighborhoods are spread out. But that mobility means as you travel around Los Angeles with your kids, you'll discover hidden treasures such as the La Brea Tar Pits or the El Capitan Theatre, and the local favorites of Travel Town in Griffith Park and Olvera Street, without missing the must-dos, like Disneyland and Universal Studios.
Tip: Don't miss our top picks for children's books on Los Angeles, recommended by the staff of Travel for Kids, see below.
  Universal City – Universal Studios Hollywood
    Griffith Park
    Downtown – Olvera St., Chinatown, Little Tokyo
    Hollywood
   

Park La Brea – Museums, La Brea Tar Pits

Greater Los Angeles
  Disneyland – Disneyland and other attractions
    Long Beach
    Santa Monica and Beach Towns
family hotels los angeles
Travel for Kids has so many fun things to do with kids in Los Angeles, but you'll need a fun place to stay.

Here's our own Travel for Kids hand-picked list of family hotels for the Los Angeles area, all styles and price ranges, and near to Universal Studios, Disneyland and Los Angeles International Airport:

Family hotels Los Angeles
Family hotels Anaheim
Family hotels Los Angeles International Airport
travel tools los angeles

Planning to do lots of fun things in Los Angeles, get a Go Los Angeles Card for 1, 2, 3, 5 or 7 days. It gives you free direct access to plenty of attractions and museums, including Universal Studios, Hollywood Wax Museum and Guiness World Records Museum in Hollywood, the Queen Mary and a harbor bay cruise in Long Beach, Petersen Automotive Museum, the Los Angeles Zoo and more. Savings for the whole family and best of all, no waiting in lines:

Go Los Angeles Card 
kids books los angeles
     
City of Angels - kids books Los Angeles  

Charming tour of Los Angeles neighborhoods, plus fun facts about the city. Intricate collage illustrations capture the color and incredible variety of this spread-out metropolis. (Picture book)

 

     
Young Zorro: The Iron Brand
Diego Vega, Jan Adkins

Ride with the vaqueros near the Pueblo de Los Angeles, and young Diego de la Vega, who grew up to become el Zorro, the masked hero. Diego and his best friend Bernard search for stolen cattle and skilled workers who've disappeared from their rancho. A dashing mystery adventure, and wonderful ambiance of early 19th century California.
(Chapter book)

 

 
Young Zorro: The Iron Brand - kids books Los Angeles
     
Chato's Kitchen - kids books Los Angeles  
Chato's Kitchen
Gary Soto, Susan Guevara

Chato, the coolest cat in East Los Angeles, has some new neighbors, a family of mice. Chato invites the mice to a dinner, with guacamole, fajitas, carne asada, enchiladas, frijoles, arroz, and tortillas, but Chato's in for a surprise. Irresistible story with fabulous illustrations. (Picture book)

 

     
Papá and Me
Arthur Dorros, Rudy Gutierrez

"When I am with my papá, I hear the best cuentos, stories, and I give him the biggest abrazos, hugs." A young boy and his father speak Spanish back and forth as they spend the day together. (Picture book)

 

 
Papa and Me - kids books Los Angeles
     
Sammy Keyes and the Hollywood Mummy  

Wisecracking Sammy Keyes and her best friend Marissa hop on a bus to Hollywood to find Sammy's mom, who's decided to be an actress. Tinsel Town mystery adventure as Sammy and Marissa look for missing jewels, steer clear of a pitchfork-toting mummy and rescue Sammy's mother from a nutsy movie producer. (Chapter book)

 

     

A fizzy fashion adventure in Los Angeles – Imogene's here for a fashion-filled spring break, and overnight she's surrounded by celebrities, but what about that fire on the set and does she really want a movie of her life? (Chapter book)

 

 
     
Where's Waldo? In Hollywood  

Try to find Waldo and his dog Woof, Wenda, the wizard, the bad guy Odlaw, and a bunch of Waldo-Watchers on Hollywood film sets a silent movie, wild west adventure, musical extravaganza, scenes packed with musketeers, spacemen, dinosaurs and more. (Picture book)

 

     
Eloise in Hollywood
Kay Thompson, Hilary Knight, J. David Stem, David N. Weiss, Ted Enik

Brand-new adventures of fizzy, fun-loving Eloise in Hollywood. Accompanied by Nanny (plus her dog and turtle), Eloise takes Hollywood by storm, pushing all the buttons in her chauffeur-driven limo, scribbling her name in cement, and making waves on the movie set. Eloise is back! (Picture book)

 

 
Eloise in Hollywood - kids books Los Angeles
     
You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?  
You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?
Jonah Winter, Andre Carrilho

The great left-handed baseball pitcher Sandy Koufax played for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He fired rockets over the plate, striking out every guy in sight, game after game. Vibrant illustrations capture the excitement of a Dodgers game. (Picture book)

 

     
Bottle Houses
Melissa Eskridge Slaymaker, Julie Paschkis

Grandma Prisbrey collected glass bottles of every shape and color, and built them into houses, plus a bottle birdbath, a blue bottle wishing well, a singing tree with glass bottle wind chimes, and more. This is her story. Sparkling illustrations express the fun and creativity of the bottle houses. (Picture book)

 

 
 Bottle Houses - kids books  Los Angeles
     
The Wonderful Towers of Watts - kids books Los Angeles  
The Wonderful Towers of Watts
Patricia Zelver, Frane Lessac

In his backyard in Watts, Simon Rodia, a one-of-a-kind artist, constructed colorful towers from steel, concrete, and glittering bits of discarded pottery, tile, mirrors, glass and seashells. This is the story of a unique Los Angeles landmark, wonderfully illustrated with folk-art style illustrations. (Picture book)

 

     
Going to the Getty
J. Otto Seibold, Vivian Walsh

Before you visit the Getty Center, this is a delightful guide bird's eye view of the complex, how it was built (tons of marble), paintings, drawings, photographs, decorative arts, sculptures in the galleries. (Picture book)

 

 
Going to the Getty - kids books Los Angeles
     
The Neddiad - kids books Los Angeles  
The Neddiad
Daniel Pinkwater

Neddie Wentworthstein is new in town, but he’s the guy with the sacred turtle, a talisman so powerful that Neddie takes on evil Sholmos Bunyip, saves Los Angeles from the ice age, and pops out of the La Brea Tar Pits. A hilarious adventure! (Chapter book)

In continuing adventures, the ghosts of Los Angeles are all disappearing: The Yggyssey.

 

More children's books on other California pages