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The winter -- especially after all the holiday gifts are open and tossed aside -- can prove a great time to visit a museum or two. The key is to choose exhibits that will engage kids as much as the Broad does.

"Kids forget that there are great museums to check out in LA," said Christopher Morales, who grew up here and is now a college student on the East Coast. His pick: the GRAMMY Museum at L.A. Live. "Because music has had such a strong impact in history," he said, "this museum gives people a moment to reflect on what the music meant during a specific era." For kids, he added, "the interactive stations for visitors to create their own music and learn how music is made." And parents can introduce their kids to what they listened to growing up.

There are many museums to choose from, including the J. Paul Getty Museum with locations at the Getty Center in LA and the Getty Villa in Malibu with interactive family rooms and activities. Here are three others guaranteed to please LA museum picks for families, all located on the city's so-called Museum Row:

-- The LA County Museum of Art, known as LACMA, which offers free admission to anyone 17 and under, as well as one accompanying adult through the youth membership program. Kids especially love the sculpture gardens, the Boone Children's Gallery where they can create art and Andell Family Sundays, which offers special tours. Make sure to pick up a special family guide with activity cards.

The Petersen Automotive Museum displays trucks, buses, limos, SUVs and Model Ts and also offers a kids' Discovery Center in the Cars Mechanical Institute, inspired by the film "Cars," created in partnership with Pixar. There are interactive stations to help visitors learn how cars work and you can paint and personalize your own virtual cars. Check out CARSpads to play the "Build a Virtual Racecar" game. Come on a Family Discovery Day!

Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits, which many kids think is the best museum in LA. It's the world's most famous Ice Age fossil excavation and an active Ice Age dig site where you might see discoveries being made right in front of you. See how Ice Age creatures got trapped in tar and are still being unearthed. Watch up close at the Fossil Lab as scientists work. Play in Hancock Park, right in the middle of the La Brea Tar Pits. Roll down the hill.

Who said museums were boring?

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(For more Taking the Kids, visit www.takingthekids.com and also follow "taking the kids" on www.twitter.com, where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments.)

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