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All people are created equal, but unfortunately the same cannot be said of every museum and monument in Washington, D.C.—at least not according to our little ones!
During a recent family visit to the U.S. Capitol, let’s just say my kids (ages 7 and 2) were not as awestruck as I was that we were walking in the footsteps of giants, in such a historically and politically important place.
When we walked by the Supreme Court building, I told my girls that the most important decisions about our country come out of this building, and their response was, “Cool, Mommy.” A bit of a lukewarm reception to the judicial branch, but understandable.
I had to remind myself that, as with all group travel, everyone will experience a destination in their own unique way, and our kids are no exception. And while it’s important that our kids learn that not every travel experience centers them and their needs (there’s us adults, too!), it’s always nice for the whole family when everyone is on board with the itinerary.
To help you and your family focus your precious time and energy while you’re in D.C., we’ve sifted out some of the more lukewarm sites and compiled a list of our family’s favorite kid-friendly monuments and museums in the nation’s capitol. We hope you enjoy them as much as we did!
Washington, D.C. sits on the stolen lands of the Nacotchtank (Anacostan) and Piscataway peoples.
About Our Trip
DESTINATION: Washington, D.C.
AGE OF OUR KIDS: 2, 5, 6, and 8 years
LENGTH OF STAY: 5 nights
TIME OF YEAR: Spring
On this most recent trip to D.C., we teamed up with my husband’s extended family to go on a multi-generational adventure for spring break. Our crew included my sister-in-law’s family of four (kids ages 8 and 5, the elder of whom is a walking encyclopedia of American history), our family of 4 (kids ages 7 and 2), and my husband’s parents (late 70s and early 80s).
While it was a very different experience from the one I had as a college senior interning at D.C. Superior Court, it made my heart so full to see our extended family fall in love with the city I fell in love with 20 years ago.
On our family’s most recent visit we aimed to:
- spend time together as a multi-generational family on a rare occasion where our school breaks aligned
- give our 8-year-old nephew a chance to share his knowledge of American history
- evoke a bit of nostalgia from my 20s 😉 and perhaps plant the seed for my kids to go there for college (a mom can dream!)
Be sure to check out our family-friendly guide to Washington, D.C. to get our tips on how to prepare for your trip, including reserving tickets to tours well in advance!
D.C. Museums to Visit with Young Children
The White House
Great for visiting the "President's House"
Free entry, advance reservations required
~2+ hours
What’s a visit to D.C. without one to the White House? Sadly, on this trip we only got as far as the gate, as I did not reserve early enough for the tour at the White House.
Apparently, we should have submitted a request to visit to our Congressional representatives up to 90 days in advance.
But if we had scored tickets I know the kids (as well as the adults) would have loved it!
Tour the U.S. Capitol Building
Great for seeing Congress in action
Free entry, advance reservations required
~2+ hours
The Capitol Visitor Center offers tours of the Crypt, the Rotunda, and National Statuary Hall. The tour guides often have very interesting stories, and the Capitol Police gave out Jr. officer sticker badges to our kids, which made them feel very special.
We were only able to get tickets of the Rotunda from our Congressional reps, but it’s definitely worth checking out. Being inside definitely brings the feeling of being in the “room where it happens.”
Library of Congress
Great for visiting a library and enjoying architecture
Free entry, advance reservations required
~2+ hours
Some of the exhibits were not open to visitors, but there were still plenty to see. I especially loved the quotes mounted atop the columns. Two of my favorites:
- “Words are also actions and actions are a kind of words.”
- “Knowledge comes by wisdom lingers.”
Museum of African American History & Culture
Great for learning about African American history
Free entry, advance reservations required
~2+ hours
I recommend visiting this museum twice: once with your family, and once by yourself.
I went for the first time by myself shortly after it opened in 2016. To say that it was the most powerful museum experience in my life would be an understatement.
Going with my family was an entirely different experience. For one, I did not discuss slavery with my first grader prior to the visit, and because she was not yet into reading, she did not care for the exhibits. In any case, she was too busy chatting with my 6-year-old niece to pay attention to my efforts to explain what we were seeing. And my husband and I were pretty preoccupied with keeping our 2-year-old from running into sharp corners and elderly museum-goers. Thus, I spent most of our time there following the children around and asking them to keep their voices down.
That said, I do look forward to going back in a few years, and will prepare my children differently this time around. Make sure to go inside the Contemplative Court, a reflection space with a glass oculus and a cascading waterfall.
Timed-entry passes are required and can be reserved up to 30 days in advance. There is so much to see and learn across the five levels, from Slavery and Freedom (1400 – 1877), Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom: The Era of Segregation (1)877 – 1968, A Changing American: 1968 and Beyond, to Culture Galleries that include sports, music, culture, and art.
The museum’s curation paints a picture of life for Black Americans throughout the history of the United States that textbooks and history classes failed to do.
While I felt despair and sadness, I also walked away with a lot of hope.
National Museum of Natural History
Great for the little ones
Free entry, advance reservations required
~2+ hours
This was my seven-year-old’s favorite Smithsonian museum in D.C., and it was the only museum that we visited twice. Corinne’s favorite section was the Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals, which also houses the Hope Diamond. I handed her my cell phone, and she took 40 photos of the gems.
While I’m not a fan of looking at stuffed, dead mammals and sea creatures, all the kids had a blast. Our kids also enjoyed the Your Body Through Time exhibit, which contained interactive games with short videos that explain how bodies work, such as, “When did I get opposable thumbs to grasp small objects?”
On our next visit, I would like to spend more time at the Butterfly Pavilion and the outdoor gardens.
National Portrait Gallery
Great for seeing famous portraits and enjoying a chill afternoon at Kogod Courtyard
Free entry, advance reservations required
~2+ hours
The National Portrait Gallery is, hands down, my favorite place in D.C. My husband loved this one too, particularly seeing history depicted through portraits. The Obama portraits are also housed here, and there’s even a room, the “Explore! Space,” which is dedicated to children. This room enables children to explore portraiture and identity through art and photography. There are also a number of books in multiple languages. Visit here for virtual workshops and other activities.
The Kogod Courtyard in the middle of the gallery is a beacon of light and tranquility for parents who just want to sit with a cup of coffee or wine and watch their children play in the water feature and just be themselves.
National Museum of American History
Great for the climbing gym and learning about American history
Free entry, advance reservations required
~2+ hours
This museum is great for multi-generational families because it has something for everyone. For younger children, the Wegmans Wonderplace is open on Wednesdays–Sundays from 10am – 4pm. Kids can climb, play, and just be themselves without the worries of breaking something.
Their wide ranging exhibits cover topics from inventors, American democracy, race cars, Latino history, and the first ladies.
Air & Space Museum
Great for air & space enthusiasts
Free entry, advance reservations required
~2+ hours
Fulfilling his not-so-inner nerd, this was my husband’s favorite museum in D.C. Free time-entry passes are required for the location in Washington, D.C. (there is another in Virginia).
While we were there, they had an exhibition called “Nation of Speed” that recounts “how the pursuit of speed has shaped American culture and our national identity,” and “our desire to become the fastest on land, sea, air, and space in the pursuit of commerce, power, and prestige.
National Children's Museum
Great for sensory play
$18.95/person age 1+; free for children under 1
~2+ hours
This was the only museum we paid for while in D.C., and we all had so much fun. The kids walked up a flight of rainbow stairs, climbed through a tube made with thick ropes, went down a few slides, played with giant bubbles, and created motion-sensored snow storms and lightning (video linked).
D.C. Monuments to Visit with Young Children
I recommend visiting monuments both during the daytime as well as at night. Seeing them lit up evoked different emotions in me, and also gave me more space to appreciate them because there were fewer crowds.
WWII Memorial
Great for sitting at a huge fountain
Free entry, advance reservations required
~1+ hours
According to the National Park Service website, the WWII Memorial “honor(s) the 16 million who served in the armed forces of the U.S. during World II, the more than 400,000 who died, and the millions who supported the war effort from home.”
Shaped as an oval, there are 56 columns that surround the center, representing the 48 states of the union during the war and the eight territories, including Alaska, Hawaii, and the Philippines.
The fountain in the center provides a welcoming space for people to wade through, though they are turned off in the winter from approximately December through March.
Lincoln Memorial
Great for watching the sunset
Free entry
~1+ hours
I could sit on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial all day.
There are 58 steps from the chamber to the plaza level, and 87 steps from the chamber to the reflecting pool. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech on these steps. Dedicated in 1922, the Lincoln Memorial celebrated its centennial in 2022.
Washington Monument
Great for a bird's-eye view of the mall
$1 service fee for advance reservations
~1+ hours
Encircled by 50 American flags that represent the 50 states, this 555-foot marble obelisk can be easily seen across Washington, D.C.
While I’ve never gone inside, you can reserve free tickets online 30 days in advance ($1 service fee), and free, same-day tickets are also available on a first-come, first-served basis. Definitely catch it at dusk—it’s magical!
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Great launching-off point for discussing the Vietnam War
Free entry
~1+ hours
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is particularly poignant for our family, as my husband’s family is in the U.S. because of the war in Vietnam. While most Americans know the conflict as the Vietnam War, to those from Vietnam, it is sometimes called the “American War.”
Dedicated in 1982, this memorial is a black granite wall that chronologically lists the names of 58,318 Americans who died in Vietnam during the war between 1959 and 1975. Flowers, military dog tags, toys, photographs, and letters line the bottom edge of the memorial by visitors who wish to remember loved ones and others who served. This memorial was designed by Maya Lin, a 21-year-old architecture student from Yale, when she won the national design competition for this memorial.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial
Great launching off point for discussing the life of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Free entry
~1+ hours
While we did not visit this memorial on this trip, I went by myself a few years ago on a work trip.
Dedicated in 2011, the 48th anniversary of the March on Washington, this was the first memorial to honor an African American individual.
According to the National Park Service website, this memorial was “positioned along the line connecting the Thomas Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials to reinforce the connection between these three leaders at three important moments of civil rights in our nation’s history”–from the promise that “all men are created equal,” to the freeing of enslaved people, and to the final push for full and equal rights.
This memorial faced controversy from the selection of its sculptor, Lei Yixin from China, to include a paraphrased quote of Dr. King, which was later removed, with Poet and author Maya Angelou among one of the key protestors. You can read more about both controversies here.
In case you need reminding, you do not need to hit up every single site in order to have an enjoyable and memorable trip in the nation’s capitol.
Any sites that we missed on this list? Tell us your thoughts in the comments!
Hana M.
Hana (she/her) grew up in Taiwan and San Jose, and now lives in Redwood City (unceded Ramaytush, Muwekma, and Ohlone land) with her husband and two highly energetic and curious young children. Things she always looks for while traveling: delicious noodles, local bookstores, tasty sweet treats, and outdoor water features.
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