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smithsonian

Visiting the Smithsonian with Young Kids – Washington, DC

April 15, 2013 by danawyyc 15 Comments

The Smithsonian has always been kind of mythic for me. Something that I had always wanted to see, but never really thought that I would. Even thought I’ve been getting The Smithsonian Magazine (which I totally recommend) for a few years now, I hadn’t really realized that it wasn’t a museum. The Smithsonian Institution consists of 19 museums/galleries, 9 research centres AND a zoo in Washington, DC, as well as some additional facilities elsewhere, and has 168 Smithsonian affiliate museums.

It was established in 1846, with funds from British Scientist James Smithson, who had never actually been to the United States. He had left his estate to the United Sates to found, “at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge.” The Smithsonian Institution is now the largest museum and research complex in the world.

Smithsonian Castle

The institution was originally housed in what is now the Smithsonian Castle located along the National Mall. The Castle now contains the Smithsonian Visitor Centre with information about all of the different Smithsonian Museums. It would be a great place to start when you get to Washington and is one of the things that I left wishing we had managed to make time for. We only visited a fraction of the Smithsonian Museums on our trip – 5 to be exact. I’ve already reviewed 3 of them, so I’ll just mention them briefly before moving on to the 2 I haven’t mentioned before.

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

This was the museum that I had always wanted to go to. It’s perfect for kids – with exhibits featuring dinosaurs, insects, butterflies, mamamals, giant squid, rocks and minerals and much much more, you’d be hard pressed to find a kid who didn’t love something at this museum. You may also be interested in seeing my full review of  the  Smithsonian Museum of Natural History)

Museum of Natural History

 Smithsonian National Air and Space Museums

The Air and Space Museums were two of the most impressive places we visited while we were in Washington. The Air and Space Museum along the National Mall is full aviation history that you aren’t going to find any where else. They have the original Wright Flyer, the Mercury spacecraft in which astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth, a real lunar module (that didn’t go to the moon), the Apollo 11 capsule that brought the first astronaughts back from the moon and so much more! The exhibits are well displayed with lots of interactive features and things you can touch. And you can even touch a piece of the moon!

National Air and Space Museum

The Steven. F. Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum is located near the Dulles Airport (one of the three airports that serve Washington, DC – 45 minutes from downtown Washington). It’s definitely worth the trip if you have a big aviation fan in your family or if you are flying in or out of Dulles.  The museum is less polished, than it’s downtown counterpart, but it’s inventory is stunning. The main attractions are  SR-71 Blackbird and the Space Shuttle Discovery. You may also be interested in seeing my full review of  the  Smithsonian Air and Space Museums).

DSC_0732

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

 

Location      http://www.hirshhorn.si.edu/
Address: National Mall – Washington, DC

Gordie’s Review (3.5 years): “The art is made of funny things” 

Day Pass Cost: Free!
Food Services: None.
Age Range: 5+.
Stay Length: Probably only an hour or two if you’re going with kids.
Worth the Trip?: This would be a great pick if you were looking to introduce your kids to art.

Overall: The Hirshhorn is features contemporary art – you may not like the art that is displayed, but it’s hard to accuse it of being boring. We had a little extra time one afternoon so we stopped by. The museum itself is a work of art, it’s shaped like a doughnut and raised off the ground. Outside the Museum is a sunken Sculpture Garden.

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

We didn’t see much of the garden, but I really liked this sculpture. There is something perfect about a rubber stamp sculpture in Washington, DC.

The  feature exhibit while we were there was ‘Ai Weiwei: According to What?’.  Ai Weiwei is a contemporary Chinese artist whose work at this exhibit included sculpture, photography, installation, video and audio work. Not all of it made a lot of sense to me (and I didn’t have a lot of time to figure it out going through with two little kids) but some of it was really beautiful and other works were really interesting.   

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

This installation work featuring the animals of the zodiac was outside the museum in the centre court yard.

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

The exhibit was fun to take Gordie to because the art was made up of so many different kind of materials. He enjoyed figuring out what the art was made of. He was a little younger than I would probably recommend the museum for, especially if your kid may be a little impulsive – there were a lot of things that kids may want to touch that they are not allowed to.

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

The hole in the log, made of wood reclaimed from destroyed temples, is in the shape of China.

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

This artwork was composed of a number of rectangular boxes. It wasn’t really much to look at, from a distance, but if you look through the holes you can see all the phases of the moon. Really cool.

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

The art in the front is a pile of crabs, the one in the back is a pile of rebar.

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

This was one of Gordie’s favorite sculptures.

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Smithsonian National American History Museum

Location      http://americanhistory.si.edu/
Address: National Mall – Washington, DC

Gordie’s Review (3.5 years): “I liked the train”

Day Pass Cost: Free!
Food Services: There is a Cafe and a Cafeteria serving sandwiches, American barbeques, soups, salad bar, burgers, pizza and desserts.
Age Range: 5+.
Stay Length: A couple hours to half a day depending on how many exhibits you want to see.
Worth the Trip?: Maybe. It has some cool pieces and some exhibits you’re not going to see any where else. It’s also undergoing significant construction at the moment.

Overall: The American History Museum wasn’t on our must see list either, but after our failed walk to the Lincoln Memorial (it was so windy and cold!) we decided to pick a few exhibits to see there instead. As compared to the other Smithsonian museums that we visited, this one felt more set up for school groups than the general public. The museum was undergoing renovations and we only had a couple of hours so we only saw a handful of the museum’s exhibits. Many of the exhibits pose questions to try to get you to think about a topic and consider the societal and cultural impacts of what’s being displayed.

The most impressive was seeing the Star-Spangled Banner Flag. This is the flag that flew over Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812 inspiring Francis Scott Key to write what later became the US national anthem. It’s very fragile and no photos are permitted.

National Museum of American History

The next exhibit we went to see was FOOD: Transforming the American Table 1950-2000, I thought it was a really interesting topic but it was primarily presented with text and graphics so it didn’t hold my son’s attention for very long.

Julia Child's Kitchen - National Museum of American History

I thought it was really cool to see Julia Child’s kitchen though.

Julia Child' Kitchen - National Museum of American History

If you are going to the museum with younger kids, the America on the Move exhibit is probably a good pick because there’s lots to look at that would be of interest to them. Gordie and my husband really liked the section on ships.

National Museum of American History

National Museum of American History

Doll house - National Museum of American History

The Dolls’ House is also usually a hit with kids.

Kermit- National Museum of American History

The last exhibit we saw was American Stories exhibit uses different artifacts to examine the interplay between objects and stories, culture, politics, and economics, science and technology have shaped the United States. This exhibit poses many questions and asks you to reflect more than presenting information like in a more typical history exhibit. They have some really interesting pieces in this exhibit like Kermit the Frog and the ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz.

Ruby Slippers - National Museum of American History

 

Do you have a favorite Smithsonian Museum? Which one would you like to take your kids to?

Filed Under: travel, Washington DC Tagged With: museum, smithsonian

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History – Washington, DC

April 5, 2013 by danawyyc 10 Comments

Museum of Natural History

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Location      http://www.mnh.si.edu/

Address: National Mall – Washington, DC

Gordie’s Review (3.5 years): “I liked the dinosaurs”
Nicky’s Review (11 months): (signing) “Fish!”

Day Pass Cost: Free!

Food Services: Cafeteria/Cafes that focus on focus on local, all-natural, organic, sustainable, made from scratch food.
Age Range: All ages.
Stay Length: Expect to spend at least 2 hours, depending on your level of interest you could easily spend all day.
Worth the Trip?: No question.

Overall: There are going to be few kids who aren’t going to find something they’d love to learn about at this museum. This was the museum I was really looking forward to seeing. This was the museum that to me was the Smithsonian. So my expectations were unrealistically high. This is a great museum, but it is not all the best museums ever of all time rolled into one. Ifi you are looking for a great museum to learn about dinosaurs, bones, early humans, animals and much much more, this is a great place to go.

Museum of Natural History

Gordie was most excited to see the dinosaur bones. If you’ve been to the Tyrrell Museum or the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana, you may find it a little underwhelming. There is absolutely no shortage of bones at the Natural History Museum but only one room features dinosaur bones.

Museum of Natural History

There is a nice variety and Gordie was suitably impressed. We went through the entire museum and this was hands down Gordie’s favorite thing.

Museum of Natural History

 

Gordie (below) signing dinosaur.Museum of Natural History

There is a number of other rooms featuring prehistoric animals though and even one featuring prehistoric plants.

Museum of Natural History

Museum of Natural History

Museum of Natural History

My favorite exhibit was the Ocean Hall. It was really well done with lots to look at, tons of information if you had time to stop and read, but even if you are going through with small kids, you feel like you’re getting something out of seeing the displays. It was also beautiful to look at and had some interactive features that Gordie really liked.Museum of Natural History

Museum of Natural History

This exhibit also had the wow factor for me – they have a giant squid on display! There is not many places that you are going to see one of those.

Museum of Natural History

 

More giant squid!

Museum of Natural History

Museum of Natural History

I love the lighthearted approach to some of their information signs too – “Why Do So Many Larvae Look So Weird?”

Museum of Natural History

Seeing the deep sea explorer robot was pretty cool too.

Museum of Natural History

They have an aquarium that looks like it is right out of Finding Nemo with clown fish and… dory fish and sea anemones. The kids were both so captivated that we ended up taking them to the Baltimore Aquarium just before we went home.

Museum of Natural History

Look it’s Dory!Museum of Natural History

The Human Origins section was well done too. Gordie realized that the displays had things on them that we could learn, and he loved that he could lift, roll or slide something at each display and then make me read what it said. It did make him worry about death and dying which I wasn’t really prepared for though. 

Museum of Natural History

Gordie wearing his new explorer hat and learning.

Museum of Natural History

Museum of Natural History

Museum of Natural History

The Hall of Mammals is pretty but I could have skipped it. There animals are grouped by region and well displayed if you are interested in looking at that though. It kind of felt like going to a zoo where the animals don’t move.

Museum of Natural History

Museum of Natural History

Upstairs they have a whole hall of bones which we basically ran through. The displays are pretty minimal -it might have been interesting to look at if we didn’t have kids with us.

Museum of Natural History

The Insect Zoo was really cool. They had lots of different insects that you could see and even a few that you could touch managed by volunteers. Nicole was enthralled by seeing the grasshopper on the man’s hand (shown in the picture above). Gordie was nervous about going into the exhibit but in the end he let a caterpillar crawl across his hand.

Museum of Natural History

Although most of the museum is free, a tour through the Butterfly Pavilion is not. Timed tickets are $6 for adults and $5 for children. On Tuesdays (when we happened to be there), it’s free of charge but you still require a timed ticket.  Nicole LOVED the butterflies. Gordie was a little nervous so I was carrying him, and a butterfly kept flying around and landing on my shirt. He thought that was pretty funny but a little scary too.

Museum of Natural History

We didn’t see much of the Gems and Minerals halls but we did see the Hope Diamond.

Museum of Natural History
The Discovery Room had a lot of hands on things for kids that is open for them to explore. There are boxes with shells and bones you can touch, costumes, books and more. This is one area I wish we had been able to spend more time in. If you have kids with you I definitely wouldn’t miss it.

Museum of Natural History

Museum of Natural History

Filed Under: travel, Washington DC Tagged With: Museums, smithsonian

Smithsonian Air and Space Museums – Washington, DC

February 28, 2013 by danawyyc 2 Comments

The most impressive museums we went to while we were in DC last week were the two Air and Space Museums. It wasn’t a surprise that my husband felt this way – he’s been a subscriber to the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Magazine for years, but I was surprised to feel the same way.

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

National Air and Space Museum Location      http://airandspace.si.edu/

Address: Washington, DC

Gordie’s Review (3.5 years): “I liked going in the airplanes! Why did the monkey go into space?”
Nicky’s Review (11 months): (signing) “Airplanes!”

Day Pass Cost: Free!
Food Services: McDonalds.
Age Range: All ages.
Stay Length: Expect to spend at least 2 hours, depending on your level of interest you could easily spend all day.
Worth the Trip?: Absolutely

 

Overall: Even for someone without a major interest in airplanes, there is a lot to wow you right from when you walk in the front doors. Inside the main hall is their Milestones of Flight Exhibit.

National Air and Space Museum They have the Spirt of St. Louis in which Charles Lindbergh made his solo trip across the Atlantic, the Mercury spacecraft in which astronaut John H. Glenn Jr. became the first American to orbit the Earth,  the Bell X-1, the first airplane to fly faster than the speed of sound and much, much more. National Air and Space Museum They also has a small piece of moon rock that you can actually touch. You can touch the moon!

Moon Rock - National Air and Space Museum

Seriously, how mind blowing is that?

Lunar Module - Air and Space MuseumThey also have a real lunar module – it didn’t actually go to the moon, but it could have, it was the back up for the one that did. Real Wright Flyer - National Air and Space MuseumAnd the actual Wright Flyer (not a reproduction), world’s first successful flight of a powered, heavier-than-air flying machine. National Air and Space MuseumThe exhibits (and there are many!) are well presented too. If you have the time and inclination there is a lot there for you to read and learn, but if you are instead going through it like I was with two small kids, you can still get a lot out of it by just walking through. National Air and Space Museum They also have a number of features throughout the museum that really makes it great for kids. National Air and Space Museum More than anything Gordie (3.5 years) wanted to go inside the airplanes. There were a number of opportunities to do walkthroughs including the backup Skylab above and airplanes like the one below. National Air and Space Museum The exhibits also feature interactive elements that really help keep kids engaged. National Air and Space Museum One of the exhibits is even specifically aimed at kids. National Air and Space Museum It is filled with hands on elements that help explain How Things Fly. National Air and Space Museum We spent hours at National Air and Space Museum. I would highly recommend that anyone in the Washington, DC area at least take a quick look through the Milestones of Flight area.

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center – Air and Space Museum

Udvar-Hazy Centre Location      http://airandspace.si.edu/

Address: Chantilly, Virginia (roughly 45 minutes outside of Washington, DC)
Day Pass Cost: Free!
Parking Cost: $15 per car
Food Services: McDonalds.
Age Range: 7+
Stay Length: Expect to spend at least 2 hours, depending on your level of interest you could easily spend all day.
Worth the Trip: If you have the time and any interest in airplanes, you’ll be happy you went.

Overall: If you are a big aviation fan, you are also going to want to check out the newer Udvar-Hazy facility. This museum houses the larger items in their collection (as well as many smaller ones).

Udvar-Hazy Centre     The two headliners are the SR-71 Blackbird and the Space Shuttle Discovery. DSC_0745
They are both really cool to see. DSC_0732

There are tons of other aircraft including a Condorde and an F-14. DSC_0753

The displays are a lot more similar than at the National Air and Space Museum. It is very much like a whole bunch of cool airplanes have been put in a giant hanger.   DSC_0762

There is a lot less specifically geared towards kids and very little hands on. DSC_0768

DSC_0775

There was one plane (a Cessna) that you could take a turn at using the controls. It doesn’t run all the time as a volunteer has to be there to man the plane. Gordie really enjoyed that.  DSC_0872

We spent a couple of hours at this museum, which was about the limit with our two small kids. My husband easily could have spent all day there, but there just wasn’t enough to keep Gordie engaged for a longer period of time.

If someone in your family is a real airplane fan though, you won’t want to miss the Udvar-Hazy Centre. It’s right near the Dulles airport so it would be a good stop if you have an morning flight into DC or a evening flight leaving DC. If you can only go to one, I’d recommend going to the National Air and Space Museum. It’s easier to access for most people being right along the National Mall and has more to offer for kids.

If you went to both of these museums in two days you could see You could say that in 2 days you can see the first heavier than air, powered plane, a space shuttle and touch the moon

Filed Under: travel, Washington DC Tagged With: airplanes, Museums, smithsonian

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I'm an experiential playground expert and mom to three young kids. I live with my husband in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. When I'm not looking after people, I'm reading all the YA fiction I can get my hands on and am attempting to learn photography. My laundry-folding suffers due to more interesting pursuits.

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