Washington, DC for young kids

[twinmomma]

Has anyone done DC with their kindergarten-ish age kids? We're trying to think of an affordable family vacation to do with my folks and siblings and that keeps coming up as an option. Flights are cheap and all the museums are free. I really love DC, and think between the zoo, air and space museum, natural history museum, etc... my kids would enjoy the trip. They're nerdy and love learning about things, so the museums would likely hold their interest pretty well. But are there other more "active" little kid activities around that area that you'd recommend? Thinking we'd need to break it up with something more little kid focused between museum days. Would the zoo be enough? 

We'd be there in April, if that helps. 

[covergirl82]

My SIL has taken her kids to DC a few times and apparently it was fine. The first time they went was when the kids were 1, 4, and 6, and they went this past July when the older kids were then 5 and 6 (closer to 7). I believe the 4 and 6 year old liked the natural history museum the best, but they also went to the Capitol building and the White House. I'm not sure if they've gone to the zoo, but I would think that would be a good option to break up the museums.

We just went to visit them in northern VA, and decided not to go to DC because it was still about 2 hours away. We did go to Harper's Ferry and Antietam, and my kids actually found both places interesting. I asked them yesterday what they liked best about our trip, and they both said that visiting Harper's Ferry and Antietam were the best (outside of playing with their cousins, of course).

[mommyatty]

I used to live in DC and I have a crazy love affair with the city. Yes! It’s a great place to take kids. The museums are mostly clustered together (though not Air and Space), and they are on the Commons. It’s so easy to take a frisbee or a ball along with a picnic lunch and just play in the grassy area. Also, there are tons of parks, so it’s easy to have a park day. Plus, all the monuments are outside, and you will see lots of kids running around and playing.

If you rent a car, you can go to Annapolis for a day. It’s beautiful there! And it’s on the Chesapeake, so you could go out on a boat. My kids love boat rides. For that matter, you can take a boat ride on the Potomac from DC, but I never think about that.

[twinmomma]

I remember going all the time as a kid, because my aunt lived down there for a while. But I was older than my kids are now, so I wasn't sure if it would still work for them. I'm thinking if we find a hotel with a pool, that would be a good break for the kids too if we need it.

mommyatty, I also love the city! I've been fortunate enough to travel a lot all over Europe and the US, and DC is still one of my top destinations. DH has never been, so I'm also dying to bring him!