Malibu with kids
 

My husband and I will be spending 10 days in Malibu with our 2 kids (1 and 3 years old) at the end of the month. We'll be staying at a house on the beach. Can anyone recommend good child friendly activities and/or restaurants? We're planning to take our 3 year old to Disneyland one day (the 1 year old will stay with our sitter that day), but we haven't planned much else besides hanging out on the beach. Thanks.

I am not sure if you mean activities just in Malibu or in Southern California generally (since Anaheim isn't in Malibu either). I think your kids would enjoy Legoland even more than Disneyland at their ages. My youngest was 4 when he went and he still talks about Legoland. The entire family can "compete" on a fire engine ride, and the wonderful little Volvo race course, the medieval "horsey ride" -- the designers really had my kids figured out. Hope this helps.

There is a cute little play area/park in the center of the Malibu Country Mart. Great place to sit, have a cup of coffee and people watch while the kids play.

Disneyland, CA Adventure, THE BEACH, try Malibu Seafood for a nice, casual meal... they have outdoor seating.

My kids loved Disneyland at that age and still talk about it!

The feed store at the bottom of Topanga Cny on
Ventura used to have lots of chickens and roosters scurrying around, other farm animals, too, i think.

The tidepools (at low tide) at Leo Carillo Beach are fun to explore -- caves, sea stars, etc.

The Reel Inn and Allegria are both family friendly in that they are fairly loud places --good food, too.

In Santa Monica, there is the Pier with attached mini-amusement park, historic merry go around, and small aquarium. they have a great ferris wheel.

I have a feeling you'll be happy to stay on the beach for most days. sounds heavenly! lucky you!

I think the feed store that dina4 mentions is the Malibu Feed Bin at Topanga and Pacific Coast Highway. The animals are gone now, they mainly sell furniture.

Ditto the Santa Monica Pier, it's great fun. Explore the beaches north of Malibu, Leo Carrillo and the beach at Sycamore Canyon are beautiful. You can hike a ways up Sycamore, it's flat for several miles, the 3 year old may enjoy looking for stinkbugs. Keep watch for snakes, though.

Thanks for all the responses and great suggestions. I should have made clear the main thing we're planning to do is hang out at the beach outside the house. I'm just looking for any other fun things to do with the kids in the malibu area. The play area/ park at the Country Mart sounds great, and we'll be sure to check out Leo Carillo Beach. 5alive, thanks for the legoland suggestion, and yes, I'm aware disneyland is not in malibu; that is the one excursion we've planned already. My 3 year old is obsessed with all things disney, especially the princesses, so we have to make that trip. If we decide to venture to another theme park, we'll definitely check out legoland. Thanks!

Not sure if you're from Southern California, but you could potentially venture out to Santa Monica, about 30 mins away and arrange some activities there.