Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in Washington, DC

Today's guest post is by the National Children's Museum. When it opens in 2012, The National Children's Museum (NCM) will be a world-class cultural and educational center dedicated to engaging children and empowering them to make a difference. The mission of NCM is to inspire children to care about and improve the world. Interactive exhibits and programs will be at the core of the museum experience, but NCM is transforming the concept of a traditional museum by becoming a catalyst and forum for a national movement to inspire and empower kids to speak up, take action, and get engaged.


With the summer tourists gone for the year, many DC-area families will take time to visit some of the amazing museums located here in our own back yard. After all, our nation's capital is home to some of the best collections in the country, so what better a time to give your child a fun, enriching, and educational experience?

As we at the National Children's Museum prepare to open our doors as a new child-centered museum in 2012 at National Harbor, we've compiled a few tips for parents to consider when visiting museums with young children:

1. Limit your Choices
Almost every museum has something valuable to offer children lessons in art, history, science, technology, nature, and more. While we are fortunate to have so many cultural venues in our area, kids do best when they visit just one attraction at a time, whenever possible. Limit your experience to about 2 hours to allow children to really absorb the content of that particular environment, so they can learn more and better remember their experience.

2. Let your Kids do the Planning
If your child is old enough, allow her to tell you what SHE wants to see and do for a change. Kids are likely to be more interested, engaged, and excited if they get to help call the shots and create their own experience.

3. Focus on a Specific Area of Interest
Before trekking down to the National Mall, or wherever your destination may be, choose a specific subject on which to focus during that visit. For example, if you are headed to the Museum of Natural History, you may choose to focus on learning about dinosaurs. Take some time to read up on the subject with your child in the days leading up to your visit, and discuss it on your way to the museum. Then head straight to Dinosaur Hall. Focusing on one area gets children excited about what they will see, and enhances what they already know.

4. Use Past Experiences to Connect your Child to the Museum
Building on past experience is critical to a child's learning. To understand a new concept your child might encounter at a museum, try to connect it to a concept that he is already familiar with. For example, if you know you will look at a sculpture that depicts a person throwing a ball, bring your child's own ball with you and encourage him to use it in a similar way.

5. Create your own Special Activity
Allow your child to be actively involved in the learning process during your visit. Bring a notebook or sketchbook and crayons, and encourage your child to count objects, record what he liked most about his favorite exhibits, or sketch his own version of what he sees during your visit. Or before you head to the museum, take an online tour, and create your own Treasure Hunt or other hands-on activity where kids have an opportunity to see, touch, taste, and listen, or act out their impressions of what they experience.

6. Be an Engaged and Interested Parent
Make it clear that your museum visit is a treat a special time for you and your child to share together. Your level of enthusiasm, interest, and excitement is contagious. Be a learner along with your child and share the experience that learning is fun!

The National Children's Museum is currently operating as a Museum Without Wallsparticipating in a variety of community events and working with other arts and cultural organizations to develop creative partnerships to serve kids and families. For more information about the National Children's Museum, visit their website.