Discovery Center

Dig for dinosaurs, wonder at live insects, and organize your own diorama.

Children standing around the Paleo Play Zone, a counter with imitation sand and fossils, with mounted taxidermy up high on the wall in the background

General Info

Free with paid museum admission
Free for Members
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Discover the natural world! The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation Discovery Center has something for every investigator. Pretend to be a paleontologist in the Paleo Playzone; marvel at the beauty and variety of bugs in Bugtopia; and create your own nature scene in the Moveable Museum. You can even get a backstage peek of our puppeteers suiting up for their popular Dinosaur Encounters show.

Bugtopia exhibit in the Discovery Center
Visitors digging in the Paleo Play Zone
Kids dig up fossils

Fossil treasures lie buried in the dig pit, waiting to be unearthed.

Bugtopia exhibit in the Discovery Center
Bugtopia exhibition in the Discovery Center
Family playing on a climbing structure in the Discovery Center
Child meeting a dinosaur puppet in the Discovery Center
Visitors drawing in the Paleo Play Zone in the Discovery Center

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Fossil treasures lie buried in the dig pit, waiting to be unearthed.

Along the way, you'll:

  • Use your imagination to color in dinosaur skin.
  • Count the legs on a live tarantula.
  • Snap the perfect selfie with the L.A. Dodgers’ old polar bear.

This exhibition includes live animals. Did you know the museum has a professional animal care team on site 365 days a year? They take excellent care of all animals on exhibit at the museum, utilizing the natural history expertise of our scientists as well as our veterinarian, who advises on any medical and nutritional needs. Because even a frog needs a doctor sometimes.