September 13, 2018

Hollywood Walk of Fame with Kids

As often as we come to L.A. to visit family, we’ve never taken our kids to one of the biggest tourist destinations in the area – Hollywood. It may not necessarily seem like the most kid-friendly place (because #hollywood), but there are a few things to do that kids will enjoy!

The kids are old enough now that they requested to be taken to this iconic location that they’ve seen over and over again in maps, books, and movies. Also, they had a very specific reason to come to the area … to look for their great-great grandpa’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame!

Most people today may not remember who Laurel and Hardy were, but they happened to be some of the best comedians of Old Hollywood. The brains behind this duo, Stan Laurel, is the kids’ great-great grandpa (Patrick’s great-grandpa). In fact, much of today’s comedy was influenced by his comedic genius.

Gracie drew her great-great grandpa and an outfit inspired by him.

Although we’ve shared a lot about this part of their heritage to our kids, their interest in who their grandpa was and what he did really just took off in the last year. This is partly because they are getting older and are more interested in stories about family members who have preceded them, and partly because a movie is being made about him and his partner, Oliver Hardy!

“Stan and Ollie” will be a film that depicts Laurel and Hardy’s twilight years, but more importantly, their friendship. It premiers early next year in London. Leading up to the movie coming out, the kids have enjoyed going through old family and industry photos when visiting Patrick’s sister (who has been contributing information to the film) in L.A. They also love listening in on memories and stories that were shared.

Consequently, we decided to take the kids on a “field trip” to Hollywood on our most recent visit to Southern California. We arrived very early, before things were open, so it was more of a walking tour. We wanted to beat the crowds so the kids could have their best shot at locating Stan’s star.

We went here for reasons that most others may not. However, if you are ever here with your kids, here are some things to do with them:

Visit the front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater. Your children will enjoy comparing their hand and foot sizes to those of famous stars.

Browse one of the many boulevard shops … and maybe take home your own Oscar, LOL.

Watch a movie at the El Capital Theatre. Owned by Disney, this is where many of their movies are premiered. When I was younger, my mom took me to see Beauty and the Beast here. I remember props and costumes on display and a live stage performance before the feature film. Hands-down, my most favorite and unique movie-going experience.

Tour the Hollywood Wax Museum. It was still closed when we arrived, but the kids spent a long time looking through the glass doors and begged to be able to do it on our next trip. It’s such a quirky, but fun place … the closest you’ll probable get to snapping a selfie with a celebrity, LOL.