Snarkitecture transforms the Great Hall into a top family-friendly spot from July 3 through Aug. 30
You won’t want to miss one of Washington, DC’s most buzz-worthy summer installations and family-friendly destinations. After wildly popular builds like The BEACH (2015) and FUNHOUSE (2018), celebrated NYC-based design firm Snarkitecture is back at the National Building Museum to transform its huge Great Hall into THE PLAYGROUND, a large-scale, completely indoor recreation space your kids (and your inner kid) will love. Don’t believe us? Ground yourself in these fun ways you can play below:
1. You can climb, build, relax and more – all under one vaulted, super tall ceiling
The PLAYGROUND covers nine distinct spaces where everyone is welcome to play amid the soaring 75-foot-tall Corinthian columns that make the National Building Museum one of the most remarkable indoor spaces in which you'll ever set foot. Snarkitecture deliberately constructed the built areas with materials that are often overlooked, such as plywood and scaffolding.
2. The Hill is your home base, offering a lay of the land
Slides? Check. Tunnels? Check. Gathering spots? Check. The Hill is the elevated, center of the action and a playground in its own right. This is the anchor piece the rest of THE PLAYGROUND builds around.
3. The Dig Pit turns cork mulch into an excavation site
One of the installation's most tactile spaces, The Dig Pit trades sand for shreds of cork, allowing kids to play hide and seek and burrow to their heart's content.
4. Kids get to play with tools, drills and more in the Adventure Yard
The hands-on Adventure Yard recreates a European-style playground with tools and found objects and is outfitted with a drilling station. It’s meant for kids only, but there are facilitators and parents can easily watch their kids tool around.
5. Toddlers have their own space: Tot Spot
Purposely built for the museum's youngest guests, Tot Spot offers an age-appropriate area to discover, climb and play that is free from older kiddos.
6. Wavy walls make for a fun-house feel
Thread your way through tall, silo-like walls that circle around themselves, creating a disorienting, maze-like vibe.
7. Hoist jumpers on the Sport Court
With multiple basketball hoops, plus a wall for climbing, the court is always in session for fun and games.
8. Lounge around in Hammock Circle
Lunch breaks just got more relaxing! Sway yourself silly on a hammock or rest still and suspended as you look up to the building's vaulted ceiling.
9. Take a spin on one of Thomas Heatherwick's Spun chairs
Wonder what it's like to sit on a symmetrical spinning top? Thanks to the 10 red, spin-ready seats, you'll be sittin' pretty – that is unless you fall off from twirling too fast.
10. Test your ninja skills on a 100-foot-long obstacle course
Race, crawl and climb your way through a course that spans a full 100 feet, which is one of the installation's most physically ambitious spaces.
11. Scale a 15-foot climbing wall
THE PLAYGROUND's climbing wall rises 15 feet, giving kids (and adults) a chance to climb and build confidence.
12. By exploring, you're tapping into America's 250th
The museum created THE PLAYGROUND with celebrating the semiquincentennial in mind, focusing on how placemaking creates opportunities for people to build community, and through the installation, rediscover joy together.
13. Visit on Fridays for artisanal wood-fired pizzas
Timber Pizza, one of DC's homegrown, beloved eateries will be on site serving up slices on Friday afternoons, turning THE PLAYGROUND into a pizza picnic.
14. A packed calendar of events runs all summer long
Beyond the installation, THE PLAYGROUND hosts daytime and evening programming for kids and adults through Aug. 30. Check out the full list and links for more details.
- Storytime at THE PLAYGROUND – Thursdays and Fridays, 9:15-10 a.m.
- Late Night: In Color – Thursday, July 9, 6:30-9 p.m.
- STEAM Saturday: Slides – Saturday, July 11, 1-3 p.m.
- Little Builders – Saturday, July 18, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
- Maker's Workshop: Color as a Building Block – Saturday, July 18, 1-4 p.m.
- Late Night: Unplug – Thursday, July 23, 6-9 p.m.
- Just Drop In! – Saturday, July 25 and Aug. 22, 10 a.m.–2 p.m.
- Late Night: Field Day – Thursday, Aug. 6, 6-9 p.m.
- STEAM Saturday: Swings – Saturday, Aug. 8, 1-3 p.m.
- Little Builders – Sunday, Aug. 16, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
- Building Readers Club – Saturday, Aug. 29, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
15. Play around and plan a return visit
Trust us, the kids are going to want to go back. THE PLAYGROUND will be open for nearly two months, has all kinds of programming for young and young at heart, a gift shop with PLAYGROUND merch, an on-site cafe and the museum's regular exhibits, making it worthy of multiple visits. Good to know: The space is diligently cleaned after each day of play.
Reserve your tickets for THE PLAYGROUND, which is open daily (Thursday to Monday) from July 3 through Aug. 30. Tickets run between $18.95 for adults and $15.95 for youths up to age 17, seniors and students with IDs (kids 2 and under are free). Because it's included as part of general admission, you must book a time slot between 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Note earlier and later entry times give you access to the rest of the museum, but not to THE PLAYGROUND itself.
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