La Brea Tarpits and Museum

Website:Urban Los Angeles is home to the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum, a location of ongoing paleontological research, that is one of the best kids museums in Los Angeles. Hancock Park was built around a collection of tar pits where natural asphalt, also known as asphaltum, bitumen, pitch, or tar, or brea in Spanish, has been seeping up from the earth for tens of thousands of years. The tar preserved the animal bones for many centuries. The George C. Page Museum is devoted to learning more about the tar pits and showcasing samples of the dead animals that perished there. A registered National Natural Landmark.

Gilsonite, a type of heavy oil fraction that seeps from the Earth as oil, is what makes up tar pits. From the Salt Lake Oil Field, which lies beneath much of the Fairfax District north of Hancock Park, crude oil seeps up along the 6th Street Fault. As the lighter petroleum parts biodegrade or evaporate, the oil rises to the surface, where it collects in pools and turns into asphalt. The asphalt typically forms stubby mounds when it solidifies. The park's pools and mounds can be seen in a number of locations.

This historic Los Angeles Museum on Wilshire Boulevard is a kid favorite. Aside from the open grassy area where youngsters may roll down a sloping grassy hill and climb on animal sculptures throughout the park, the bubbling tar pit is a popular sight. Titans of the Ice Age 3D is a must-see.

Google Rating: 4.6/5.0

Hours: Open 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.; closed Tues.
Admission: $7 for kids, $15 for adults, tots under 3 are free; L.A. County residents receive free admission to the museum between 3-5 p.m.
Location: 5801 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles
Website: tarpits.org