Best places to visit for kids in DC

[nsmith]

My children are the artsy types and preferred the attractions they had a connection to. That being said they absolutely love the Hirshorn Museaum it is right behind the Castle on the Mall. One of the best modern art museums we have every been to. It isn't often crowded so you can really enjoy the art as it was ment to be seen

They also enjoyed the monuments especially the WWII as there grandfather was a sergeant in the war. They were awed and struck by the Vietnam more then they thought they would have been.

Funny thing they were not as interested in the air and space as their dad and I were. Space travel has been part of their whole lives and didn't feel the amazement in it as we did.

My dd did not like the Natural History Museums taxidermy exhibits...we had to tell her that they were not skins of real animals lol. She also passed on the zoo as seeing animals in captivity bothers her.

We took a walk up to the mall after dark. The monuments are something to see after dark.

 

[bdcp]

Seems like they have a new baby panda at the zoo...you'll need a reservation to see that unless you get there really early. I think your children would find Mt. Vernon boring-except maybe the 10yo. The house is hot and there are often very long lines for that tour. You can spend your time on the green space at the mall outside and take in a museum or two. Air and Space is cool for kids and the Natural History museum with the dinosaurs is always a hit too. Don't try to do too much, especially if it's hot. Take a change of socks for everyone so they don't get blisters-Disney people know how to beat foot exhaustion, eh?! Did you notice that the Lincoln Memorial is closed right now due to vandalism? I love sitting in the grass, watching the squirrels on the Mall.

No new baby Panda at the National Zoo. They think they might be expecting one, but currently there isn't one. There are new twin pandas at the Atlanta zoo.

Air and Space and Natural History have always been my favorites and I grew up in the DC area. If you had plenty of lead time, you could request a tour of the Capitol from your Congressman/Senator, but they need lead time to fulfill those. My cousin just brough her two daughters up and they did that tour as well as went to multiple museums. They used to run a shuttle between the Air and Space museum on the mall and Udvar-Hazy, but not sure if that's still going. We live 5 miles from Udvar-Hazy and have been several times. DC is just a great place to walk around and there is so much to see.

 

[djmeredith]

Check out Goldstar.com for discounts on D.C. attractions. They offer discounts on Spy Museum tix, Nationals baseball tix, and many other activities. I used them last fall for spy museum tix and saved quite a bit. My 9 y/o nephew loved the spy museum.

 

[luvmy3]

My kids really enjoyed seeing The White House, I think it was their favorite thing to do in DC.
They also enjoyed Air and Space and Natural History museums. We went to the Spy museum and they liked it but they said they would have like the Treasury tour better.
We have been 2 times and still haven't seen everything in DC. Don't feel like you need to do it all

 

[katie111]

Thanks so much for all of your suggestions. We had a great quick trip to DC and are leaving this morning. We realized we couldn't do it all in a day and a half but we certainly did a lot. The first day we did the Air & Space and the Postal museum which was a nice break from the very crowded A & S museum. My kids lived both. We also walked through the sculpture garden which was great and saw the outside of the Capitol. Everyone was tired by 6 so we headed back to our hotel for dinner & a swim.

Yesterday we did the zoo in the AM. Got there by 9 and were done by 12. Saw almost everything. What a great zoo. We then went back to our hotel for lunch & a swim (kind of felt like Disney with the mid-day break). We then went to the Museum of Natural History. Kids lived the fossils and the gems. Also saw an Omni 3d movie which was really good. Grabbed dinner and walked to the White House, Vietnam memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and the Korean memorial. All were great and the kids really enjoyed seeing them. Made me realize that I need to study history a little more as I couldn't answer many of their questions!

Thanks again for all the responses!

 

[trip]

Thanks for the update. It seems you were able to do a lot in your short visit.