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Washington DC with a 4 yo


aggieamy
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I'm meeting my parents in DC for a couple of days next week. It will just be me, DS (4 yo), and my parents. What are some must do activities? We're all strong walkers. My DS is full of energy and does better with things that involve movement or really interesting things to look at. For instance art museums are a no-go but possibly the air and space one would be fine.

 

Any other suggestions?

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Natural History is our favorite and very kid-friendly. 

 

American Indian is a beautiful building and has a good kid’s room. Also good food. 

 

Not on the mall but my kids always loved the Building Museum. It’s not free, although you can go in the building itself without paying. It’s a HUGE space and my kids loved just running around in there. It’s a good option if you are looking for a place to burn off energy on a bad weather day. It’s not on the Mall but you can get there by Metro. There is a good kids’ play area (you have to pay to go in). And a really fun exhibit called Work Play Build (or something like that). Legos, huge foam building blocks. 

 

 

 

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The Air and Spave Museum out at Dulles airport was great when my son was that age and maybe a bit younger. You do have to pay for parking but it’s worth it. American Indian Museum has a great kids area too. The zoo is also free and of course little kid friendly.

 

We did a lot of other museums too, but those were the two that were best for my youngest son.

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I did DC with a four year old and a five year old, and we wound up carrying both kids a lot, even though they both were strong walkers. They just got overwhelmed. I’d be tempted to take a stroller. Honestly, the zoo was meh to us. We’d been to a lot of zoos. All the Smithsonian Museums and monuments were neat. Actually they loved the National Cathedral. I’ve heard great stuff about the spy museum.

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If you go to an air and space museum, I’d go to the one by the Dulles airport, not the one in the middle of DC with the other museums.

 

When my kids were small, they hated all of the museums at the mall except for the American Indian one. And they only liked that one because there were lots of little tiny nooks and crannies that they could run into and out of. They didn’t give a rip about the displays, but the little rooms were fun to dash through.

 

The zoo would be really good.

 

I don’t know what’s in DC beyond that, but with 4 yo, I would stay away from history things and just try to find some parks with slides and swings and somewhere to eat pizza, honestly. The zoo one day. The park one day. The air and space museum by Dulles (it’s like a huge hangar with lots and lots of space to move freely in and when I was there there were few other people so it was easy to keep an eye on the kids). Pizza.

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If you will be on the Mall and using the subway, I would stash a small, soft frisbee in your bag (or you can buy one at Air & Space), a small ball, or small figurines, plus a snack in your bag. At that age, my dc did well for about an hour in the museums and then we would head outside to let them run and play on the Mall. Wipes might be good as my kids also liked to dig in the dirt out there. And, to miss rush hour on the trains, we would always hang out on the Mall and play for an hour at the end of the day. If you're not planning to ride the subway, do ride. Riding the subway (while standing up holding on to the pole) was seriously exciting when my kids were that age, lol.

I think Natural History (Dinosaur Hall) is most appealing to young kids.

Mt. Vernon was great and we especially loved the Gristmill and Distillery. Those are not a part of the main area but are 3 miles down the road. It's smaller and used to be less crowded. We would take a picnic or snack and eat by the creek there. Plus kids like to see the Gristmill demo -- big and loud, lol.

Take a boat ride on the Potomac over to MD side. There is a giant statue to see. Will look up specific info and post more for you later. Am on my phone now.

 

ETA: The Mt. Vernon Gristmill & Distillery might not be open for touring while you are there. Double-check. But, you could still run around on the grounds (I am guessing).

Edited by Stacia
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Ok, here you go.

 

A 4yo's guide to Washington D.C. (as I would imagine my ds would have told things from all the times we visited when he was young...)

 

Number one best thing to do: Ride the Metro.

 

 

 

Get your adults to take you at off-peak times so you can try out various seats & poles. Best attraction in D.C.!

 

 

 

They have really cool tall escalators in some of the stations too, so that's also a plus.

 

 

 

Number two best thing to do: Find Ice Cream Trucks.

(FYI, my mom says to tell you these often park on the non-Mall side of the Smithsonian buildings.)

 

ETA: Removed photos.

 

 

 

More exciting D.C. tips in the next post...

 

 

 

Edited by Stacia
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Next, the Mall is mostly ok, as long as you can get your adults to take you outside about once an hour to play. (Your adults might want access to a washing machine during the trip.)

 

There is a carousel...

 

 

 

 

 

And squirrels who will stalk you...

 

 

 

And there's an acceptable amount of dirt for playing.

 

ETA: Removed photos

Edited by Stacia
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The Smithsonian Postal Museum is not very well-known & is not on the Mall, but it has some cool hands-on things to do.

 

Like getting to practice driving a postal tractor-trailer truck:

 

 

 

Sitting in a stagecoach.

 

 

 

Sorting mail on a mail train.

 

 

 

And getting a postage meter stamp.

 

ETA: Removed photos

Edited by Stacia
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Next up, Mt. Vernon.

 

I DO NOT recommend the house tour. You have to wait in line forever. For what? To see some old house that belonged to some old guy. Boring. Not recommended.

 

If you do not take my advice or your adults do not listen to you, this is your fate...

 

 

 

But, other than the house tour, the rest of Mt. Vernon is pretty ok.

 

There are retaining walls to climb.

 

 

 

And sheep to visit.

 

ETA: Removed photos

Edited by Stacia
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Even better than the main Mt. Vernon location is going to the Mt. Vernon Gristmill & Distillery.

 

There is a cool gristmill to watch in action & other hands-on stuff:

 

   

 

Even better is the outdoor space there. Lots of grass to roll around in & a creek to hang out nearby.

 

 

 

   

 

It's one of the better places to hang out.

 

Gotta run now but I'll be back later with some more tips.

 

ETA: Removed photos

Edited by Stacia
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But, wait. There's more. Other cool things to do.

 

Go to Gravelly Point park. The airplanes take off/land right over you. It is so LOUD! (And, it's outdoors & you can run around & play while watching the planes.)

 

 

 

It's also pretty cool & fun to feed the birds/ducks at the reflecting pools like the one in front of the Capitol.

 

 

 

Get your adults to go on a boat ride from D.C. or maybe Alexandria over to National Harbor in Maryland.

 

Waiting on boats is ok.

 

 

 

When you're at National Harbor, there's a park that has a cool giant statue (The Awakening at National Harbor). The adults will think the boat ride is a good tourist thing to do but you will know the real reason is to get to the playground on the other side!

 

Psst. If you can talk your adults into it, there is a Peeps store nearby. You could buy them some candy so they can keep up with you (plus, maybe they will share), then all of you can run around on the playground with the statue.

 

(These photos are of the statue from years ago when it was still located near the Jefferson Memorial, but now you can play/climb on it at National Harbor.)

 

 

 

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Edited by Stacia
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And, last but not least, the National Cathedral in Georgetown is also ok. (Your adults may need to know that to get there, you will need to ride the bus or have a car.)

 

First, lots of nice outdoor space there.

 

Second, many cool gargoyles, including Darth Vader. Yes! Darth Vader is a gargoyle on the National Cathedral! Plus there are other neat gargoyles designed by kids! (Remind your adults to bring binoculars. You really, really need binoculars. Also, your adults might want to run into the gift shop at the cathedral & buy the book that shows the various gargoyles & grotesques up close.)

 

And, while I didn't want to hang around inside for too long, there were some nice parts, especially in the chidren's section.

 

 

 

The key to having a fantastic time is to make sure your adults get plenty of outdoor running & play time. And ice cream. Lots & lots of ice cream.

 

Have a great trip!

 

P.S. Since I'm pretty sure your mom's a foodie & we all know that nothing beats eating food from a truck, be sure to have your mom download the DC Food Trucks app.

 

ETA: Removed photos

Edited by Stacia
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Stacia’s post reminded me of another favorite of my kids...at the National Gallery of Art there is a “light installation†in the walkway between the East and West galleries. It’s a moving sidewalk inside a tunnel with lights that change. We used to ride back and forth like 20 times. 

 

I’m really bad at posting photos but here is a link to an old blog post that has a photo of it...along with some other DC field trip ideas. Scoll down to see the light tunnel photo. https://supratentorial.wordpress.com/2014/10/06/scenes-from-the-smithsonian/

 

I second (or third or fourth) going to Dulles Air and Space over the one on the mall...if you have a car. You can’t Metro there yet. One tip, I think parking is free there after 4 pm. It’s not that expensive before (I think $15 a car). It closes at 5:30 so it doesn’t give you a lot of time there, but if you time it right you can get in about 90 minutes free. And sometimes for kids that age, that’s all the attention they have anyway. 

 

 

Edited by Alice
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Stacia’s post reminded me of another favorite of my kids...at the National Gallery of Art there is a “light installation†in the walkway between the East and West galleries. It’s a moving sidewalk inside a tunnel with lights that change. We used to ride back and forth like 20 times. 

 

I’m really bad at posting photos but here is a link to an old blog post that has a photo of it...along with some other DC field trip ideas. Scoll down to see the light tunnel photo. https://supratentorial.wordpress.com/2014/10/06/scenes-from-the-smithsonian/

 

My dc always loved that too, Alice! It's one of my favorites too. (And, yes, I can ride the moving sidewalk many times by it & be totally happy. I can see why kids love it!) Plus, the cafeteria there by the installation is a good one. Good food, typically not too crowded. And a nice view of the waterfall.

 

Btw, I just showed my ds (who is 16yo now) the posts & he still stands by his recommendations, even now. Lol. (He's still not one for hanging out in museums.  ;) ) His fondest memories are of the many times we visited the Gristmill & played outside there. We were there long enough ago that the distillery was actually being excavated at that point. My dc loved watching the archaeologists working. I think that's partly why my dd is now a history major in college -- it looked like a great job to be digging in the dirt all day...

 

ETA: Removed photos

Edited by Stacia
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Message from John to Stacia (as dictated to mommy while looking at pictures) -

 

I like ice cream. I like boats. I want to climb on that big foot. I'll play with those kids on the trip - are they my cousins?

 

LOL.I think he's going to be on the lookout for your kids on the trip. I'll have to distract him with ice cream. Thank you for all the great info. I'll post some pictures when we get back.

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I hope John gets lots of ice cream & boats & foot-climbing on the trip! Lol.

 

He probably wouldn't recognize the kids at this point as they are so grown-up now!

 

You will have a great time. Four-year-olds are wonderful & D.C. is too. They're a fun combination.

 

Looking forward to your photos.

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