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Cayton Children's Museum is partnering with Connections for Children to bring weekly Parent Cafés and Family Math Workshops to Santa Monica — a new Wednesday evening series designed to support parents and caregivers of children ages 2–5, launching February 18.

Located in Downtown Santa Monica just blocks from the Pacific Ocean, the Cayton Childrens' Museum offers 21,000 square feet of discovery-based exhibits and immersive play. CMS Core Values Everyone Belongs Here Every child and family is welcome here—across cultures, languages, and abilities—treated with dignity, care, and respect. Play Brings Us Together Play helps children connect, cooperate, and understand one another, building relationships grounded in care and empathy. Discovering What’s Right Play gives children the space to explore right and wrong, shaping honesty, courage, and respect in how they act and relate to others. Caring For The Community We foster fairness and shared responsibility, helping children see that their actions matter beyond themselves. Exploring What’s Possible Children are invited to ask questions, imagine possibilities, and think for themselves as they make sense of the world around them. Understanding Ourselves We support emotional understanding, balance, and moments of rest & renewal that help children build resilience over time. Respecting Nature We encourage children to care for nature, understand shared responsibility, and recognize how today’s choices shape tomorrow. Learning Together Children learn best when trusted adults explore alongside them—sharing curiosity, asking questions, and discovering together. Our Vision for 2026 Hands-On Exhibits We aim to create immersive, hands-on exhibits that invite children and families to explore ideas through play, curiosity, and open-ended discovery, supporting joyful and self-directed learning. LEARN MORE Interactive Programs We intend to design interactive programs that bring children together through guided play, creative expression, and shared experiences, helping them practice communication, collaboration, and emotional growth. LEARN MORE Community Connections We aspire to foster community connections that extend play beyond the museum, strengthening relationships among families and linking shared experiences to the broader civic and cultural life around us. LEARN MORE Our History LEARN MORE A Legacy Built Through Play The Cayton’s story spans decades of imagination, learning, and community—from its early beginnings to the Zimmer Children’s Museum, and today’s Cayton. Each chapter reflects a deep belief in the power of play to shape kinder, more connected generations.

Explore exhibits and your creativity. Cayton members have priority access and expedited check-in during museum operation hours. ADMISSION ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP GENERAL ADMISSION FAQ ANNUAL MEMBERS GENERAL ADMISSION General Admission Annual Membership General admission: Free for members and children under the age of 1 Daily entry from 9AM-4PM $18 walk-in / $16 online Twilight entry after 4PM $12 walk-in / $10 online Advance reservations are strongly recommended. Walk-ins may experience a wait during peak hours. Capacity limited daily. Members have priority walk-in entry. Being a member at the Cayton means you get to play at the museum as many times as you like without paying admission. LEARN MORE BOOK TICKETS General Hours Wednesday–Sunday 9AM-5PM FAQ Frequently Asked Questions Check out the FAQ page HERE

The Cayton offers 21,000 square feet of discovery-based exhibits, from a real-life helicopter to a miniature marketplace to immersive augmented reality —and so much more. Add on art studios, a state-of-the-art theatre, and adaptable community spaces: you and your child can experience the Cayton differently every time. EXPLORE OUR SPACE LAUNCH YOUR LET'S HELP REACH FOR REFLECT ON TOGETHER WE COMMUNITY SPACES FAQ It's Time To Play The Cayton offers 21,000 square feet of discovery-based exhibits, from a real-life helicopter to a miniature marketplace to immersive augmented reality —and so much more. Add on art studios, a state-of-the-art theatre, and adaptable community spaces: you and your child can experience the Cayton differently every time. Exhibit Wings Launch Your Let’s Help Reach For Reflect On Together We LAUNCH YOUR Launch Your Launch Your is a special space for our youngest visitors (ages 0-2)—who are just beginning to explore and discover newfound skills and strengths. A moving mobile of colors and shapes brings the ceiling to life as little ones slide, crawl, and make new friends. Crawl, Climb & Grow Our littlest guests stretch their minds and bodies as they climb over hills and valleys, make faces in the mirror, and meet new friends! This special enclosed section gives babies and toddlers a safe, engaging space to practice crawling, walking, and getting to know their community. Skyscape Generously donated by Erwin Rautenberg Foundation Skyscape engages our youngest visitors and all of us who gaze upwards. With gently moving mobiles and a flock of artistic flying shapes, Skyscape combines color, movement, air, and whimsy to stimulate our senses and engage our minds. LET' HELP Let's Help Generously donated by Dr. Gabriel Chiu & Christine Chiu Let’s Help teaches children the many ways they can serve and support their community as active citizens who help one another, respond, rescue, and play. Jump into Community Generously donated by the Danhakl Family Foundation How do we measure up to our best selves? Jump into Community! Watch as a slow-motion video replays each jump attempt and records how much height visitors gain as they leap. Each time visitors return, they can challenge themselves to jump even higher and exceed their goal, gaining confidence and perseverance every time. Fire Station Fire stations are pillars in every community. They are home to our unsung heroes, who are brave enough to put themselves on the line every day for the safety of local citizens. At our own Cayton Fire Station, our visitors imagine themselves as real-life heroes in our communities. With an accompanying closet of bunker gear and fire hats, aspiring firefighters can play the part with pride as they practice responsibility through rescue. To the Rescue! Generously donated by DiPaola Family Foundation Made from a recycled Coast Guard rescue boat, To the Rescue! floats in a ball-pit sea where young visitors imagine their roles as first responders. To the Rescue! prompts ideas of selflessness, community responsibility, and compassion for all those in need of help, as visitors work together with life-savers, vests, and ropes to jump to safety. Help-a-Copter Generously donated by The Birkhofer Family, The Freed Family, and Richard and Suzanne Norton. This exhibit is more than a helicopter. Our Help-a-copter, powered by friends, is covered in chrome and shines its message of rescue throughout Let’s Help. When entering the Help-a-copter cockpit, visitors heed a call to action as first responders flying to rescue, fueled by the power of imagination. Our Animal Hospital In Collaboration with the Santa Monica Animal Shelter Foundation Treating animals, fixing what is broken, and caring for animals in need: Our Animal Hospital provides accessible and imaginative ways to practice caretaking and healing. Children and youth can become veterinarians-- and the animals in need of care!-- at Our Animal Hospital. Costumes line the walls, and with an examination table, instruments, and more, the creative play possibilities are infinite. Community Market In Collaboration with the Westside Food Bank The Community Market is a discovery-based space for our visitors to play, shop, and serve. Complete with a working scanner and register, the Market gives little visitors the opportunity to take turns playing the part of shopper, stocker, and cashier, helping them to understand what it means to serve in a community. Surfside Café Generously donated by The Kallick Family The Surfside Café serves as an homage to the modern food truck culture renaissance pioneered in Los Angeles in 2008. It offers a reimagined food experience that explores diverse cuisine and expands visitors food play beyond the Café and nearby Market. REACH FOR Reach For In Reach For, children discover their individual ability to achieve. These exhibits inspire children to test new heights and strive further with each visit. Reach For is our platform for visitors to see the world through new perspectives. Courage Climber Suspended from the ceiling in a canopy of colorful ropes, the Courage Climber gives children opportunities to experience many different vantage points and perspectives. Climbers can safely reach different levels of the exhibit per their ability and work their way up to greater heights over time. Sinking circles, rocky valleys, flexible tunnels, and lookout perches join together in this exhibit of challenges and discoveries. REFLCT ON Reflect On Through introspection, reflection, and connection, children learn to listen and observe the world around them. Reflect On provides the opportunity for our visitors to interact with each other gently, and practice being calm, quiet, and introspective. This area can be a great space for sensory sensitive visitors who need a break. In Tune With Nature This room uses immersive technology to recreate lively nature scenes to nurture our appreciation for the stillness and beauty of the environment. When you enter the space full of energy, movement and sound, butterflies scatter and leave the walls--but when you are quiet, still, and calm, the butterflies return, encouraging us to slow down, notice, look, and reflect. Hello Booth Generously donated by The Braun Family Inspired by the Telephone of the Wind in Japan, this is a very special and profound exhibit at the Cayton. A small, telephone booth-like space, the Hello Booth is filled with traditional, corded telephones. Calls can reach anywhere you desire because they’re activated by the most powerful and effective network in the world: your imagination. Ripple Effect Generously donated by The Perlstein Family With touch, Ripple Effect shows the patterns of currents and flow. As the exhibit spins, so too do the suspended particles. The rotation produces patterns that resemble the currents of the ocean, the spirals of our galaxy, and the wonder of infinity. Calming, patterned, and quiet, the experience focuses us on thought, imagination, and observation. Wishing Wall Generously donated by Larry & Stacey Kohl A profoundly moving exhibit in the museum, our Wishing Wall is created with inspiration from many cultures, sacred spaces, sites, and memorials throughout the world. Here, open-ended prompts invite children and adults to draw and write their own wishes, ideas, and thoughts, in any language or format. This wall prompts reflection, response, and questioning, evolving every day as it fills with the hopes and dreams of our visitors. Glow With Us Always glowing dimly, Glow with Us shines brighter with each hand that touches it. As little visitors add their hands to the wall, a symphony of sound, light, and vibration creates a full sensory experience that represents the way our inner light is magnified when we connect with others. Infinite Reflection Generously donated by The Held Foundation Here, a child’s reflection is represented infinitely, highlighting each person’s ability to make a difference simply with their existence. There are ripple effects to what one says, how one acts, and how one shows up in all parts of life; this space helps young people visualize the extraordinary impact of their presence. TOGETHER WE Together We Teamwork is at the heart of Together We, where exhibits are designed to encourage collaborative play, communication, and discovery to explore what is possible when we work together. Together We is a collection of exhibit experiences that you can do on your own, but the experience is amplified when done together with others. Together We is a space that reminds us that we need each other and celebrates the magic that happens when we come together. All Systems Go! Generously donated by Simms/Mann Family Foundation This interactive Rube Goldberg-inspired ball machine engages children and adults of all ages, sizes, and abilities in a constantly moving process. Balls move upward with solo play, but visitors find the activity exponentially more complex and fun when working together as in a group. Teamwork Table Build, collaborate, and construct using magnetic tiles, building blocks, and so much more on this imaginatively shaped fidget table. Masterpiece Makers Generously donated by The Younes & Soraya Nazarian Family Foundation A larger-than-life two-sided art and technology experience engages visitors instantly at Masterpiece Makers. On one side, every move you make triggers sweeping bursts of colorful light, and on the other, interchangeable magnets can be shaped and stacked in infinitely different ways to create a new network of patterns every time. Wisdom Wall As Albert Einstein once said, “Play is the highest form of research.” The Wisdom Wall is where we aim to inspire by sharing the wisdom of great thinkers, artists, and leaders. This exhibit uses real train-station split-flap technology to share thousands of quotes every day, providing an ever-changing treasure trove of inspiration. Together We Celebrate Together We Celebrate is an enclosed, clear booth ready to be filled with celebration. Press the magic button and watch the confetti and colored fabric swirl all around the air. This experience illustrates how even the smallest actions can illuminate our surroundings and inspire joy in one another. Bubbles, Bubbles, Bubbles Generously donated by Sydney D. Holland Foundation This exhibit allows visitors to create larger-than-life, iridescent bubbles. Little ones can work together to raise the bubble bar and blow through the shimmery layer to produce mesmerizing shapes that float throughout the museum space! The exhibit is currently being repaired, and will be back on the floor soon. Leave Your Footprint Generously donated by Jennifer & Curtis Cohen Leave Your Mark features a ceiling projection that gives our visitors the opportunity to leave footprints for others to follow. Engaging virtual landscapes make visitors dance and chase the shifting patterns, leaping and turning as the environment responds to their movements. COMMUNITY SPACES Community Spaces Community spaces are just that: for the whole community. These spaces bring together people from all walks of life into a welcoming and accessible space, transforming for a wide range of events. S. Mark Taper Foundation Brilliant Blue Room Generously donated by S. Mark Taper Foundation The S. Mark Taper Brilliant Blue Room seamlessly blends into the Cayton play space, combining creative aesthetic and functionality. It provides an adaptable space for after-school programs, art workshops, museum programming, and an endless variety of events tailored just for you. To book this space for your next celebration, click here . Generosity Garden Words cannot fully express our gratitude to all the donors who contributed to making the Cayton Children’s Museum possible. “Blades of Grass” adorned with the names of our donors of $25,000 and above run the length of our Lobby’s south wall, creating a garden of gratitude to our community of dreamers and supporters. Nursing Nook At the Cayton, we strive to create spaces that support, welcome, and encourage a family experience. The Lounge is where families rest and recharge in between play. Tucked just behind The Lounge is the Nursery Nook— our designated breastfeeding room for visitors who prefer some privacy while feeding their babies. The Derfner Theater Generously donated by The Derfner Foundation Imagination leads the way in the Derfner Theater, the Cayton’s central place of gathering. Our carpeted Theater features Big Green Blocks generously donated by Bright Day, and transforms for story times, music and dance, and so much more. The Theater offers state-of-the-art media capacity and an adaptable environment for a wide range of events, providing an ideal space for product launches, fundraisers, and more elaborate celebrations. To book this space for your next event, click here . Museum Store Highly curated and thoughtfully imagined, the Cayton’s Museum Store is a reflection of all of the values and principles that live within the museum’s exhibits and programs. Costumes give children an opportunity to put themselves in the shoes of a first responder, veterinarian, or superhero in their own homes. Book titles by local authors educate visitors on universal values, injustice, and social responsibility. Exhibit-inspired toys like fire trucks and helicopters let them practice what they learn in the museum beyond our walls. From puzzles to plush animals, every item sold in our store has been brought here with intention and purpose. And, as a 501c3 nonprofit organization, every dollar spent in the store goes back into the museum to underwrite free admission for L.A. County residents. Kevin & Chelsea Washington Art Studio Generously donated by Kevin & Chelsea Washington The Kevin & Chelsea Washington Art Studio is our pivotal center for creativity. From our daily free art studio programs to compelling classes, the Art Studio invites visitors to explore, create, imagine, and play. Pick up a paintbrush, mold some clay, or gather materials to build a collage--anything is possible here. Art Studio II In Art Studio II, visitors don’t just make masterpieces--they become them. This studio is primarily used for our littlest creators at Art Crawls, where they put on paintable onesies or diapers and are free to paint the floors, walls, and whatever else they please. Masterful spills, globs, fingerprints, footprints and more fill the room with energy, joy, giggles, and inspiration. The Grand Exit Generously donated by Rayni & Branden Williams Strike a pose in front of the massive mural, snap a photo and capture your memory in the most photogenic space of the museum. The Grand Exit is the place for a final gathering of groups, families, and events before leaving the museum, so our guests can say one final goodbye--until next time! FAQ Frequently Asked Questions Check out the FAQ page HERE