Looking for the best things to do with kids in Culver City? This walkable Westside city offers a hands-on eco-museum, a hilltop stair climb, and quick access to LA’s biggest family attractions. This local family guide covers Culver City’s top kid-friendly attractions, museums, outdoor fun, and rainy-day options — plus how to find what local parents actually recommend.

Top things to do with kids in Culver City

The STAR Eco Station is Culver City’s standout kid spot — an environmental science museum and exotic-animal rescue where children meet reptiles, birds, and other rescued creatures. Older kids enjoy the quirky Museum of Jurassic Technology and the Sony Pictures Studio Tour, and the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook stairs are a fun family challenge with big views.

Kid-friendly museums & attractions in Culver City

The STAR Eco Station is the family museum highlight, and the Wende Museum offers rotating exhibits. Nearby LA adds the free California Science Center and the Natural History Museum, both a short drive away.

Parks & outdoor fun for families

Culver City Park and the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook offer hillside trails and playgrounds with sweeping views, the Ballona Creek path is great for family biking to the beach, and Kenneth Hahn Park nearby has lawns and lakes. For more, see our guide to the best parks and outdoor spots in Culver City.

Rainy-day & indoor options in Culver City

On rainy days, families visit the indoor STAR Eco Station, or take the short drive to LA’s free California Science Center or the Natural History Museum.

What local parents in Culver City recommend

Kids’ favorites, new attractions, and which spots are worth it at each age change all the time — and local parents know the details that listings miss. On Neighborhood Nurturers’ Culver City community, real Culver City parents share what their kids genuinely love. For more ideas, see our guide to the best things to do in Culver City. Join your Culver City neighbors free and get real family recommendations →

Where this fits in Culver City

Family spots here range from playgrounds to hands-on museums, and locals know which hold up on a rainy day. The picks in this guide make the most sense once you know how Culver City is laid out. the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook and the Culver City Stairs sit at the center of where locals actually spend their time, so planning a day out with the kids around one of them rarely goes wrong. When you want something calmer, the Ballona Creek Trail pulls you away from the busiest blocks, and the historic downtown is the kind of spot regulars mention but visitors miss. Anchor your plan to one of those and the rest of the day in Culver City tends to fall into place.

More Culver City guides

Culver City rewards people who dig a little deeper. These related guides map the same neighborhoods from different starting points: Free things to do in Culver City, Parks in Culver City, Things to do in Culver City — enough to plan a whole day or two.

Ask a Culver City neighbor

The best tips never make the guidebooks — they come from neighbors who know which spot is worth it this week. That is what the Culver City community on Neighborhood Nurturers is for. Ask Culver City locals what they would do, or join free and get honest answers from people who actually know Culver City.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best things to do with kids in Culver City?

The STAR Eco Station environmental museum and animal rescue, the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook stairs, Culver City Park, and nearby LA’s free California Science Center.

What can you do with kids in Culver City on a rainy day?

Visit the indoor STAR Eco Station, or drive to LA’s free California Science Center or Natural History Museum.

What do local parents recommend in Culver City?

Culver City parents share their kids’ genuine favorites and current tips in our community.

STAR Eco Station: the one to do first

STAR Eco Station at 10101 Jefferson Boulevard is the standout children’s attraction in Culver City, and it is genuinely unusual — part museum, part working exotic-wildlife rescue. It houses more than 200 rescued animals: tropical fish, tortoises, parrots, pythons, wildcats and more, in a jungle-style setting.

Visits are by guided tour, and the emphasis is hands-on ecology and environmental education rather than passive looking — animal encounters, nature walks and workshops on things like composting and water conservation. It also runs field trips and summer camps, which makes it a useful name to know beyond a single afternoon. Because the animals are rescues rather than a collection, the staff have real stories about how each arrived, which lands with children far better than a label on a tank.

Parks and playgrounds

Culver City Park is the big one at roughly 41.5 acres, and it covers most ages at once: a playground for the small ones, a skate park for older children, ball fields, basketball courts, a ropes course, nature trails and barbecue and picnic areas. It is built into a hillside, so there is real space and a view.

Veterans Memorial Park at 4117 Overland Avenue has the municipal pool plus a teen centre, and sits next to the Wende Museum. Lindberg Park and Syd Kronenthal Park are the neighbourhood greens. Culver City runs around 13 to 14 parks for roughly 39,000 residents, so wherever you are, one is close — our parks guide maps them all.

For wet or very hot days, Under the Sea Indoor Playground is the indoor answer, with bounce activities, slides and climbing structures plus a dedicated soft baby corner and toddler swing for the youngest.

Village Well and rainy-day indoors

Village Well is a bookstore and café that has become one of the genuine community anchors in the city. It has a substantial children’s section and runs three weekly storytimes plus art and chess classes and author readings — which makes it a recurring fixture rather than a one-off visit, and a good way for a new family to meet other people. Coffee for the adults is part of the design.

The plaza, and a cheap winning afternoon

Do not underestimate The Culver Steps. The grand outdoor staircase doubles as amphitheatre seating and an open, car-free space children can simply run up and down, with Salt & Straw at the bottom as the obvious incentive. On a Tuesday the farmers market takes over Main Street alongside it from 2pm to 7pm — after-school timing, outdoors, pushchair-friendly and free to wander.

The free Wende Museum (Friday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm) works better with older children than toddlers. And in summer, the free Summer Sunset concerts run Thursday evenings at 7pm on the plaza from mid-July to late August — children can move around while the music plays, which is the whole appeal. More in our free things to do guide.

Fiesta La Ballona — the big one for kids

If you can time a visit for it, Fiesta La Ballona is the city’s 75th annual festival and the highlight of the children’s year here: 28 to 30 August 2026 at Veterans Memorial Park, free entry, two entertainment stages, food stalls and funfair rides. Ride wristbands go on sale in advance and buying ahead is both cheaper and quicker than queuing. Friday runs 4:30pm to 10pm, Saturday noon to 10pm, Sunday noon to 8pm.

One thing that is not for children

Worth flagging clearly, because families plan around it and get caught out: the Sony Pictures Studio Tour is ages 12 and up only, with under-18s accompanied by an adult. It is a two-hour walking tour of a working lot, runs Monday to Friday, costs $55 per person and requires reservations. Excellent for teenagers who like film; not an option for young children.

Eating out with children

Culver City is easier than most of Los Angeles here, mainly because outdoor seating is widespread and usable nearly year-round. Counter-service places remove the hardest part of eating out with small children — there is no long wait between ordering and eating, and leaving early costs nothing. Pasta Sisters at 3280 Helms Avenue is the standout for exactly that reason, and Helms around it has its own parking and open walkways. Yunomi Handroll on the plaza works the same way for sushi, and Cafe Vida has a patio that suits a family brunch. See our breakfast and brunch guide and pizza guide.

Practical note: park once and walk. Helms, Platform and the downtown structures all let you leave the car and cover everything on foot, which with children is worth more than being marginally closer to any single destination.