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Discover top family-friendly museums, hands-on exhibits and kid-approved attractions in the nation's capital.
The National Museum of Natural History is an outstanding family destination. Kids of all ages will be fascinated by daily tarantula feedings or a stroll among live butterflies in the Butterfly Pavilion. There's also the Fossil Basecamp at the David H. Koch Hall of Fossils Deep Time exhibit, an interactive area that enlightens visitors on the topics of fossil dating, fossilization and evolution.
The International Spy Museum lives in a purpose-built facility in L’Enfant Plaza located in the Southwest Waterfront. The state-of-the-art museum offers enough spy-related intrigue and interactive family fun to fill an entire day. Not only is there lots and lots of stuff to see, but you can take part in an Undercover Mission and discover numerous interactive elements at the museum. Admission fills up quickly; get your tickets in advance online.
Visit the U.S. Botanic Garden for a scavenger hunt that sends kids off to identify plants and get their passports stamped. Stop in the Children’s Garden so kids can play in the playhouse, pump water, dig with shovels, water plants and on occasion, help the staff plant flowers.
The American Presidency, America on the Move and The Price of Freedom are all interactive exhibits in the National Museum of American History. Be sure to ask the Welcome Center about the museum’s programs that day, which may include activities like peeking through a stereoscope, using a printing press or handling a cotton gin. Don’t leave without visiting Spark!Lab, where kids can try their hand at inventing. Wegmans Wonderplace is another kid-centric exhibition (geared towards ages 0-6) that provides a wealth of interactive experiences, including a kid-sized version of Julia Child's kitchen and a tugboat that the young ones can captain.
The National Children's Museum welcomes visitors with its Dream Machine, a three-level jungle gym with climbing areas and huge slides, plus large-scale, cloud-like balls lit up with colorful LEDs. Tickets are required for admission.
The National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center offers an impressive soup to nuts experience about all things air and space travel. The hangar-like museum houses dozens of aircraft and spacecraft, including the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, a Concorde and the space shuttle Discovery. Kids can strap into a fighter jet simulator to do barrel rolls, while visitors can also experience an on-site Observation Tower where they can watch planes land and take off at nearby Washington Dulles International Airport. While visiting is free, on-site parking requires payment.
The free-to-visit National Gallery of Art welcomes families for all kinds of unique programming. On any given week, you could attend an artist conversation or bring a sketchbook as you learn about featured artists and works. Check out the museum's list of family activities for inspiration during your visit.
Kids can discover architectural wonders at the National Building Museum, the country’s only cultural institution dedicated to the built environment. While entering the building is free of charge (and worth the experience), exhibits require tickets.
At the National Museum of the American Indian, kids can explore ancient cultures at the ImagiNations Activity Center. Options include building an igloo, playing with real percussion instruments, stepping inside a traditional Native home and earning badges playing an interactive quiz show.
At the National Postal Museum, kids can create a stamp using their own design, write and mail a postcard, sit in the cab of a postal truck, ride in a stagecoach and sort packages like folks in the mail room. Check out the museum’s activities for both kids and adults before you embark.
The White House Visitor Center has several charming interactive exhibits. Activities include guessing who ordered from various plates of food on display, watching a film about the presidency and reading letters from children to past presidents.
The Phillips Collection provides kids 18 and under with an opportunity to explore America's first museum of modern art for free. There, they can enjoy a variety of coloring and activity pages, as well as tutorials. Young guests may want to partake in Phillips Plays Gallery Games prompts or get hands-on with a scavenger hunt through the museum. Learn more about ticketing for adults, students and seniors.
The U.S. Holocaust Museum is appropriate for children eight or older accompanied by an adult. Daniel’s Story is an exhibit explaining the Holocaust from a child’s point of view. Children can write messages to other visitors at the end of the exhibit. There is also an interactive component (appropriate for teens) that follows the journey that Holocaust victims experienced during World War II. Timed entry tickets are required for the permanent exhibit but not for other special exhibitions.
The National Law Enforcement Museum is a state-of-the-art facility that memorializes American law enforcement and is home to 20,000-plus objects that tell the story of this country’s law enforcers, including the past, present and future. Visitors can participate in a training simulator and the museum hosts a number of family-friendly programs and tours throughout the year. The museum is open Thursday – Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Paid admission is required.
Portraiture is the theme at the museum’s Explore! exhibit, a space that uses various media to help kids understand the artform, from tracing a living silhouette to adding your own four-second snippet to a video wall. Toddler-friendly stations with felt and magnetic canvases allow for fun, colorful combinations, while reading nooks with books and face-covered building blocks round out the room. Explore a variety of online programming for families.
Planet Word is the world’s first voice-activated museum and brings language and words to life with immersive and interactive exhibits for all ages. Visitors can deliver a famous speech, watch a library book come to life, sing karaoke tunes and more. The museum also offers a variety of programming and events. Tickets can be reserved for free in advance, although donations are appreciated.
The only museum of its kind, you'll search for secret doors (the Mansion has more than 80 of them!), find your way through themed rooms and discover covert passages to a world never experienced at the O Museum in the Mansion. You'll be walking in the footsteps of presidents and freedom fighters, historians, authors, artists, musicians, athletes and scholars.
This 430,000-square-foot museum brings one of the most influential (and best-selling) books of all time to life in a way that is engaging for any visitor. It combines modern, interactive galleries with astounding biblical artifacts and history. Tickets can be purchased on the museum's website.
Ages 4-10: Courageous Pages children's area with Bible-themed games
Ages 8+: General exhibits on the Bible's history and cultural impact
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