Rainy-Day Indoor Activities in Orange County

Long Beach · Animals & Nature

Sea otters play in the Northern Pacific Gallery, sand tiger and hammerhead sharks patrol the 350,000-gallon outdoor Shark Lagoon (with a touch pool for rays and small sharks), and the 5,400-square-foot Lorikeet Forest lets kids hand-feed nectar to more than 100 colorful lorikeets. With over 11,000 animals across 500 species, it's one of SoCal's best rainy-day-proof outings for animal-loving kids.

Ontario · Indoor Play

Huge indoor outlet mall anchored by Dave & Buster's arcade, an AMC 30 movie theater, and the Improv Comedy Club & Dinner Theatre — a reliable rainy-day plan with dining and entertainment under one roof.

Free entry; attractions extra

Long Beach · Museums & Learning

Historic 1936 ocean liner turned floating hotel and museum, permanently docked in Long Beach since the 1960s. Self-guided tours and paranormal-themed experiences let you explore the ship's Art Deco decks, and the Queen Mary continues to host seasonal events like its long-running Dark Harbor Halloween happening each fall.

Costa Mesa · Shopping & Treats

Window-shop the famous mall, watch koi in the carousel court, then lace up at the year-round ice rink for a treat-day combo.

Anaheim · Shopping & Treats

A restored 1919 citrus-packing warehouse turned two-level indoor food hall with dozens of independent stalls and regular live music. Entirely indoors and free to walk into.

Temecula · Shopping & Treats

An enclosed regional mall with roughly 170 stores, a food court and an IMAX cinema under one roof — the obvious indoor fallback in the valley.

Rancho Santa Margarita · Museums & Learning

The branch at 30902 La Promesa has an AWE Station with educational games for ages 2–8 in English and Spanish, and posts storytimes and youth programs on its branch calendar. It sits directly across from Central Park, so it pairs easily with the splash pad and playground. Check the calendar or call 949-459-6094 for the current storytime day.

Lake Forest · Indoor Play

Wall-to-wall inflatable bounce houses, slides, and obstacle courses fill this indoor jump park, with public open-jump sessions running year-round alongside private birthday parties. A wind tunnel reaching speeds up to 78 mph and glow-light sessions add variety — it's the go-to when little ones need to burn energy and it's too hot (or wet) outside.

Mission Viejo · Arts & Culture

Paint-your-own pottery studio — calm, creative, air-conditioned, and you leave with a keepsake. Great for a rainy afternoon. Pick from hundreds of blank pieces — mugs, plates, figurines — paint them on the spot, and the studio kiln-fires your work so you come back a few days later to collect the finished piece.

Foothill Ranch · Museums & Learning

The branch at 27002 Cabriole Way has private study rooms, a quiet room, laptop checkout and a Library of Things with musical instruments and kitchen items. Kids' programs are listed on its online branch calendar; the branch page doesn't name a storytime day, so check there before you go. It sits beside Borrego Park, so you can add a playground stop.

Aliso Viejo · Museums & Learning

The branch at 1 Journey has an AWE Station computer with educational games in English and Spanish for ages 2–8, plus a first-come quiet room. The county page doesn't list storytimes, so check the branch calendar or call 949-360-1730 for the current schedule.

Laguna Niguel · Museums & Learning

A 2,600 sq ft OC Parks center at 28373 Alicia Pkwy (Laguna Niguel address, on the Aliso Viejo border) with child-friendly exhibits including a mock cave, a full-scale animal and plant diorama, and an interactive topographic trail map. It's a good warm-up before the wilderness park's trails. If the site already lists Aliso and Wood Canyons as a park, this is the center inside it, so merge or drop as you see fit.

Center admission not listed by OC Parks; the park charges parking (about $3/day, confirm at the gate)

Irvine · Indoor Play

The Anaheim Ducks' official practice facility, this 280,000-square-foot complex — the largest ice facility in California, with four rinks including one Olympic-sized sheet — opens several of its rinks for public skating sessions. It's a cool, indoor energy-burner on a hot OC afternoon, with an arcade and restaurant on site.

Irvine · Museums & Learning

A 10,000-square-foot former El Toro hangar showing historical photographs and a nine-minute archive film about the Marine air station that became Great Park.

Irvine · Arts & Culture

A free city gallery inside a restored El Toro air base building at Great Park, with rotating exhibitions and working artist studios alongside.

Irvine · Indoor Play

A miniature city of 17 interactive learning spaces — designed by architect David Rockwell — where kids run a grocery store, hop in a fire truck, tend a farm, or check in at the health center and police station. Built for ages 0-10, it's a nonprofit museum and a genuine lifesaver on hot or rainy days.

Laguna Niguel · Museums & Learning

The branch at 30341 Crown Valley Pkwy lists Sensory Storytimes and Toddler Tunes for young kids, plus makerspace equipment (3D printing, Cricut, VR). Call 949-249-5252 or check the branch calendar for the current storytime day and time.

Irvine · Arts & Culture

An 18,000-square-foot city art centre in Heritage Park with rotating local-artist exhibitions and ceramics, painting and printmaking studios. Free to walk into; the family art camps are charged.

Irvine · Museums & Learning

Irvine's largest library branch, next door to the Fine Arts Center in Heritage Park, with a big children's collection and a used bookstore. Moved from county to city operation in 2025.

Dana Point · Museums & Learning

Touch tanks, a research vessel outfitted with underwater cameras and video microscopes, and maritime history programs right on the Dana Point harbor. The Institute's own tall ship is the Spirit of Dana Point, a working replica schooner built from historic plans. Pair a visit with a harbor walk and ice cream.

Irvine · Museums & Learning

A neighbourhood library on Sandburg Way, two minutes' walk from Adventure Playground — which makes it the obvious swap when the weather turns mid-outing.

Irvine · Museums & Learning

A library rebuilt as a faithful replica of the 1876 Irvine family ranch house, with a children's room, a wraparound porch and an orange-grove setting. Worth the visit for the building alone.

Irvine · Museums & Learning

Irvine's oldest surviving building, an 1868 ranch cookhouse, now a small volunteer-run history museum. Volunteer-staffed, so their own site asks you to ring before coming.

Irvine · Indoor Play

A forty-lane bowling centre on Michelson with animated scoring, an arcade and late-night blacklight bowling. Priced by the lane-hour rather than per game.

Irvine · Arts & Culture

A 750-seat theatre on the UC Irvine campus with a family performance series alongside dance, music and touring shows. Tickets are priced per production.

Irvine · Museums & Learning

A free UC Irvine gallery devoted to interactive digital and electronic art — screens, robotics and sound installations. Short, free and genuinely unusual for a rainy hour.

Tustin · Museums & Learning

The OC Public Libraries branch at 345 E Main St lists storytimes and youth activities on its branch calendar, so check dates before you go. Call 714-544-7725 for details.

Irvine · Indoor Play

Electric go-karts race on an indoor track, with junior karts (48-inch minimum height, capped around 20 mph) for younger racers and 20-horsepower adult karts for teens and grown-ups. Staff measure every junior driver on-site and reserve final say over who races, so it's worth confirming a first-timer's height before building a trip around it.

Costa Mesa · Shopping & Treats

A Japanese grocery and indoor food court with ramen, sushi and bento counters and free parking. Entirely indoors, which makes it a genuine wet-afternoon option, and walkable from The CAMP and The LAB.

Costa Mesa · Arts & Culture

A modern art museum with 25,000 square feet of galleries focused on California art, plus free drop-in family art sessions. Admission is endowed free for at least a decade.

Fontana · Museums & Learning

A large, modern county library with a kids' area and free tech access — a cool, free indoor refuge with regular children's programs.

West Covina · Museums & Learning

A 3-acre slice of San Gabriel Valley pioneer history founded by the Hurst family in 1906, with a restored barn, pump house, and home from the area's walnut- and orange-growing days. A genuinely kid-friendly little museum showing early-1900s ranch life before the orchards became neighborhoods. Public hours are limited and it's volunteer-run, so call ahead to confirm an open day.

San Dimas · Museums & Learning

Housed in the 1880s Walker House in San Dimas's walkable old downtown, this small museum tells the story of the town's railroad and citrus roots. A short, easy visit you can pair with a stroll and a treat along Bonita Avenue. For the full house tour, reserve ahead for the third-Saturday guided visit, as space is limited.

San Dimas · Museums & Learning

Run by the Pacific Railroad Society in a historic depot, this free little museum is a train-lover kid's dream with model layouts and rail memorabilia. Friendly docents give tours, so don't be shy about asking questions. It's staffed by volunteers and only open most Saturdays, so call before driving out to make sure they're open.

Claremont · Museums & Learning

A paleontology museum on the Webb Schools campus at 1175 W Baseline Rd, with real fossils and a fossil dig experience for kids. Payment is by card or tap at the kiosk, and bills over $20 aren't accepted. Call (909) 624-2798 for youth program details.

Hemet · Museums & Learning

A compact paleontology museum starring "Max," the largest mastodon ever discovered in the western United States, alongside Ice Age fossils dug from Diamond Valley Lake during its construction. Opened in 2006 as a LEED Platinum building, the first museum in the U.S. to earn that distinction, it also holds Smithsonian affiliate status.

Colton · Museums & Learning

The city library at 656 N 9th St offers weekly preschool story-time craft programs and after-school homework help. Call ahead for the story-time day and current hours.

Long Beach · Museums & Learning

A Bixby Knolls gallery and archive telling Long Beach's story through photographs and artifacts, with rotating local-history exhibits.

West Covina · Museums & Learning

Part of the LA County Library system and a reliable rainy-day or beat-the-heat option right by the Civic Center, with a children's section and regular kids' programming. Note the unusual schedule — noon opens on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, closed Sundays and Mondays — so check before you go. A free card unlocks story times and the county's digital catalog.

Covina · Museums & Learning

Covina runs its own city library rather than a county branch, with a dedicated children's area and regular story times. A cool, quiet reset in the middle of downtown, walkable to Citrus Ave shops and restaurants. Check the events calendar since hours are limited and it's closed Sundays and Mondays.

Rialto · Museums & Learning

This San Bernardino County branch on W 1st St is an easy free rainy-day or beat-the-heat option right downtown near City Park. Kids can grab books and cool off in the air conditioning, and county libraries run free children's story times and craft programs. Closed Sundays, so plan a Saturday visit if the weekend is your only window.

Downey · Museums & Learning

The library's own calendar lists weekly children's programs, including bilingual Hora de Cuentos storytimes for toddlers and preschoolers and the On the Grow play series. It's at 11121 Brookshire Ave next to City Hall; programs change weekly, so check the events list first.