LA County Museum of Art Visitors Guide

The Boone Children's Gallery at LACMA West is always free to children and adults. During construction at the museum, Construct, a hands-on exhibit, teaches kids to draw a plan, build a model building or a whole city.

The rest of LACMA is always free for children 17 and under, but kids who join LACMA's free NextGen program have access to additional benefits. The best one is that they can bring one adult to the museum with them for free.

Kids don't have to live in LA to be members. You can print out and mail in the application from the web site or take it with you when you go.

Members receive a Family Guide to the museum, with tips on how to talk to your kids about several different pieces in the permanent collection. Members can check out an Art Tote with more fun tools to help kids understand the art they see. There's also a free children's audio tour with stories about particular pieces of art.

Family Sundays offer special children's programming from 12:30 to 3:15 pm every week, with activities coordinated with special exhibits.

To prepare your offspring for the visit, you can play the online game Families and Children in American Art.

There are art classes available for children, starting as young as 3 and a half, but most art classes run five weeks.

If you'd like to take you family on a guided museum tour especially designed for kids, you might want to book a private Quick Culture for Kids tour.