Spotlight: Kidspace Children’s Museum (Pasadena, CA)

Just about everyone has heard of Pasadena, California. Home of the Rose Bowl and the Rose Parade, Pasadena is steeped in history. Despite growing up just two towns over from Pasadena and having spent the past nine years traveling to the area to visit family, we managed to overlook a gold mine of an activity for kids’ fun and entertainment: the Kidspace Children’s Museum!

The Kidspace Children’s Museum is presently located on over two acres of land right in the shadows of the Rose Bowl. Originally, the museum was located at the California Institute of Technology as a community project of the Junior League of Pasadena, but over the decades, the museum has evolved from a small local attraction to encompass over 2.2 acres of gardens designed to encourage children to learn and explore.

As I mentioned earlier, my family has been traveling to the Los Angeles / Pasadena area for nearly nine years with children, but for one reason or another, we never actually made it over to Kidspace. After our visit this month, I’m pretty sure we are going to be regulars!

My three year old sensed that he was going to have a blast from the minute he spied Kidspace’s entrance off in the distance. There was a trail of large rocks leading to the museum, which begged to be climbed. My son made a beeline for the brightly colored balls which collectively held the topiary that spelled out “kidspace” as soon as we parked.  The entrance to the museum itself was whacky and fun, with lots of bright colors and shiny objects to touch and feel.

The first thing my kids did after we entered was run off to explore the “Physics Garden.” The Physics Garden contains a number of stations where kids can conduct hands on experiments with science. My three year old loved simply hopping from station to station and seeing what the older kids were doing, but I was surprised to find that my 8.5 year old seemed to enjoy the stations and had fun running his own experiments.

We spent a good amount of time in this area, before heading indoors, where my preschooler discovered, much to his delight, multiple indoor climbing structures. I literally thought, at times, that we might never see him again, he was so happy to climb out of our sight.

We spent quite a bit of time exploring the indoor climbing structures before we realized that there was another outdoor area that was even larger and more expansive that the outdoor science garden. The immediate concrete area outside the indoor climbing building was set up like a miniature city, with tricycles and street signs.

Although my preschooler was not interested, the city driving area was adjacent to a small playground that would be suitable for toddlers.

What drew my boys like magnets was the large playground structure located further beyond this immediate paved area. My kids literally sprinted off and spent the next 15-20 minutes running, climbing, chasing.

There were a number of separate stations in this “big kid” play area, including a climbing wall, which my 8.5 year old was happy to test out. Sadly, our time exploring was cut short because the weather turned bad – yes! We actually got caught in a rare downpour during our visit to Los Angeles!

We ended up spending a good 2 hours at the museum and upon leaving, my preschooler said, “I had fun there. I wish we could go back again.” High praise for a little boy who spends his days visiting museums all over Washington, DC! I am looking forward to returning to Kidspace the next time we are in town as there’s much more to explore, including the indoor reading and crafting areas.

Pro Tips:

• I had never heard of the ASTC Travel Passport Program before Catherine’s post on visiting the La Brea Tar Pits, but I decided to look into the program just prior to our trip to California when I realized that many museums located in Los Angeles participate in the program. Indeed, I paid $100 for an annual membership to my local children’s museum and in exchange, received free reciprocal entry for my family of four to Kidspace ($56 value). I know we will be back and plan to visit other participating museums as well, so this benefit will quickly pay for itself over the course of the upcoming year.
• Parking at Kidspace is a bit of a logistical nightmare if, like us, you’re visiting when there’s an event at the Rose Bowl. Kidspace shares a parking lot with the Rose Bowl and the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center and also happens to be located along the Arroyo Seco Trail…. So, there’s lots of cars and although the parking lot is large with plenty of parking, expect to do some walking. I’ll also note that the parking lot isn’t numbered or sectioned off in any way, so it’s a bit of a treasure hunt to find your car when you’re ready to go home!

• Although we visited between meals, there’s plenty of space to sit and enjoy a picnic, and we saw many families doing  so throughout the museum.

• Consider bringing an extra pair of shoes/pants if you have children who like getting wet. It was muddy and overcast/raining on the day we visited, but I gathered from numerous parents around us that kids like to run and jump in the streams located at the far end of the museum. I’m sure on hot days it is a welcome reprieve, so come prepared!
• If you’re a nursing mom, there are these nursing pods located sporadically throughout the museum. I have never seen these before, but it’s a nice option to have!

Every so often, we encounter a place that is so fabulous for those traveling with kids that it is worthy of being featured on its own. For more of our favorite locations, please check out our other Spotlight features! And, be sure to check out our entire series on fun things to do with kids in Los Angeles!