Happy Friday! I often get asked for recommendations for fun, creative art studios for kids in Los Angeles. And since schools are releasing for summer, I'm rounding up NINE of my all-time favorite places to take my girls. Summer is such a great time to play, explore, and try new things, and these are a few great spots to do just that. Click on each one below for all the nitty-gritty details (like hours, location, and specific class offerings!), but first I'll tell you a bit about each one and why we love them…
Marciano Arts Foundation – The Marciano Arts Foundation has open times for families on the weekends to explore their current exhibits. They even make these amazing booklets for kids to help visually guide them through the museum and gives pages for them to draw what they see! This spot is best for kids over 5 who can be a bit more gentle with the space as they are very strict with not touching artwork.
Genius Kids LA – Genius Kids Club is an explorative space for kids that focuses on hands-on science and art experiences. They offer classes (arts & crafts and science!) for children ages 6 months to 13 years, and focus on creating a place where kids can try new activities, guess, explore, make mistakes, dream, create, question, problem solve, and more!
Meri Cherry – Former K-2 teacher, Meri Cherry, created a studio and process art classes for kids. There's something for everyone here, from classes for babies, toddlers, children, adults, and open studio time for the whole family! They have scheduled classes and camps for kids, but they also provide a studio space where kids can stop by and use the materials to play and create.
Play - PLAY specializes in music and art that children can participate in with their parents or caregivers. They have art classes for ages 2-5, and they have mixed-age music classes for babies, toddlers, and pre-schoolers.
Purple Twig - Purple Twig is a studio space that offers classes and camps! They're focused on creating a collaborative space so that parents can create alongside their children. Each month, the projects and materials change slightly – one month might be paper, the next sculpture, and the next string for weaving! It's a great play-date activity and the open studio space is great for kids 2 years and older. .
LACMA – An LA landmark, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art offers great classes for kids, teens, families, and adults on all sorts of topics. There is an art center at the museum, and they offer painting, printmaking, collage, and lots more. The classes include learning in the galleries, looking at original works of art, and creating studio projects. Kids get free membership (and can be accompanied with an adult for free) until they are 18!
The Skirball – You can get a two-for-one at the Skirball by heading to the Noah's Ark interactive exhibit first, and then when the kiddos have had their fill, head on over to the family art center. At the Family Art Studio they have one-of-a-kind art projects themed around the Skirball exhibitions. These projects will inspire everyone of all ages!
Art Camp LA – Art Camp is a mobile art/craft/diy studio, and this June they'll be hosting a two-week bilingual art camp experience for children ages 4 to 10! Campers will work on different mediums and forms of art including painting, drawing, print-making, sculpture, textiles and mixed media to learn about different Latin American cultures and traditions.
Makers Mess – Located in Silverlake, this creative art studio has lots of fun art and design classes for kids (and adults!). Since school is out for the summer, they have lots of camps and workshops for the kids starting in June and running through August. You can choose a week long program for your mini maker or a just got for a day. The camp theme changes weekly, from "Color Theory" to "Fun with Felt!". They also offer parties for kiddos, too!
{First Photo by Lily Glass, styling by Julia Wester, styling assistance by Jess Hong.}
These kid friendly posts are awesome. Any other kids play space that you can recommend is much appreciated.
Thanks Jana!
Joy
There’s also Makers Mess in Silverlake!!!