Best Museum Pasadena Near Me

4worldlovers: Please note the final entry time for non-members or visitors without tickets is 45 minutes before the Museum closes.

4worldlovers: Starting June 9, join us for Kidspace Campout, our school’s-out celebration of the best of summer, nature, and exploration, right here in Pasadena, and sized just right for kids and families to share.

Climb inside Los Trompos (The Spinning Tops) for a bright, colorful, whirling ride or work together to get them spinning for new friends. Our new Los Trompos installation is art that’s just made for play, and it’s premiering in Los Angeles only at Kidspace.

Something silly is sprouting at Kidspace! Muddy Boot Farm invites children to “dig in” to planting, growing, and the farm-to-table food movement. Grab a trowel and a wheelbarrow and dig into the goofiest farm stand in the land.

As a member, you’ll receive free admission every time your family visits. Plus, you’ll have access to discounts, pre-sale events, and special experiences created just for member families!


Kidspace admission makes the perfect gift for family, friends, and neighbors. When you give Kidspace admission to a child, you’re sharing a day of exploration, imagination, and play at Kidspace’s 3.5-acre outdoor campus.

Our beautiful 3.5-acre campus near the historic Rose Bowl features dozens of hands-on exhibits for children ages 1-10. Outdoor spaces invite children to climb into a giant hawk’s nest, splash and play in our naturalistic water features, bring out their inner musician, and get physical with rockets and giant levers.

4worldlovers: FROM THE COLLECTIONS OF JORDAN D. SCHNITZER AND HIS FAMILY FOUNDATION

Drawn from the exceptional and diverse Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation, Global Asias examines the cosmopolitan, playful, and subtly subversive characteristics of contemporary Asian and Asian American art.

4worldlovers: Southern California Children’s Museum (SCCM) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides play-based activities and exhibits designed to foster excitement and spark a real sense of wonder. SCCM was founded in 2013 by a group of parents who felt there was an underserved need for public early childhood education in their community. Now ten years in existence, SCCM supports developmental milestone growth for children 0-7 years old through the arts and served nearly 23,000 people in 2022.

4worldlovers: The building was constructed circa 1887 and is designated as South Pasadena Landmark #5. In 1982 it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing property in the South Pasadena Historic Business District. It is among a small number of comparably old wood frame buildings in the city and represents the earliest type of structures seen in the town’s commercial district before the turn of the twentieth century. The two-story, redwood building originally operated as a general store. Over time it has served as a hotel, ticket office, telegraph station, bicycle shop, chapel, and school. In 1943, this and adjacent utility structures, now demolished, became the site of a foundry known as Meridian Iron Works, which remained through the 1970s. The City of South Pasadena acquired the property, and due to its age and significance as a resource for community history, undertook extensive rehabilitation of the property in 1986.

Today, the building houses the South Pasadena Historical Museum operated by the South Pasadena Preservation Foundation. The museum displays a permanent collection of artifacts from the earliest history of South Pasadena and the entire San Gabriel Valley. Occasionally the museum will show private collections.

In January 2016, the City contracted with Architectural Resources Group (ARG) and architectural colorist and designer, Alisa Smith, to assist with historic preservation planning and provide full architectural services, including research on the physical and use history of the facility (through photographs, city documents, and online resources), analysis on the exterior color of the museum, and monitoring to ensure compliance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.

During the August 18, 2016 Cultural Heritage Commission meeting, a presentation was made to solicit feedback regarding the repainting of the Meridian Iron Works Museum. The building is a rare and important historic resource for the City and the City’s goal is that its rehabilitation proceeds according to recognized preservation practices.