Petersen Automobile Museum (photo courtesy of Khan Media)

While the Petersen Automotive Museum is temporarily closed due to the coronavirus, museum staff have compiled educational programming for young children.

The museum is offering “Hammertime Education Activities” which include videos, coloring pages and building activities all about the world of automobiles.

The educational videos are livestreamed daily and hosted out of the Rob and Melani Walton Discovery Center, and they are available on the museum’s website at petersen.org/educational-livestream.

Museum staff educate viewers on a variety of topics such as “How to Build a Balloon Car,” “Storytime! Race Car Dreams,” a lesson on “Areodynamics | Everything You NEED to know” and more.

Coloring pages are accessible at petersen.org/coloring-activities. Parents can download coloring pages of race cars that are in the museum’s collections like the 1972 De Tomaso Pantera or 1966 Volkswagen Beetle.

There are numerous building activities that teach children how to build their own racecar, race course and learn about all things automotive. All lessons are accessible and are easy to download at petersen.org/building-activities.

The museum also released a new video called “We Discovered Hypercar Heaven | Ferrari, Bugatti, Porsche” at the museum’s YouTube channel. This will be a two-part video series exploring car enthusiast Bill Swanson’s car collection.

The first video explored Swanson’s supercars which include the Ferrari F40, Ferrari F50, Enzo, LaFerrari, Alperta, Ferrari TDF, Porsche Carrera GT, Porsche 918 Spyder, Ford GT, 2020 FT and Bugatti Veyron. The second video will highlight Swanson’s classic cars and will be available at a later date.

The Petersen Automotive Museum is also preparing for its upcoming digital car week. It will run from Aug. 1-10 and Aug. 12-16. Car enthusiasts from around the world will showcase their love of cars and those who participate will be able to build community while staying safe at home.

For information, visit the petersen.org.