Where to Go with Kids Under 5 in the DC Area?

Haines Point has a great play ground with picknick tables. We spend many afternoons there playing, feeding ducks and looking at the boats float by. A good insect repellent is a must there....man I got eaten alive there once lol...but we loved it there. Parking is free.

I have an almost 5-yr-old and we do lots of stuff in DC.

One museum that would be good for the little ones is the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History - they'll love seeing the elephant in the center and the dinosaurs area. And there's also the Butterfly Exhibit and daily live animal feedings. The best thing for them is the Discovery Room - it's a hands-on room for families with children. This is a place in the museum where they can touch items & play with various artifacts, etc.

Then at the Museum of American History, there's SparkLab! Another place for families, the activities are targeted for those w/children from 6-12, however there is an Under 5 "zone" - and even the under 5 set can participate in activities w/a parent or adult present.

Afterwards, you can have lunch in one of the museums' cafes or bring your own & sit out on the Mall. Then the carousel is always a bit hit (and only $2 per ride/per child).

The Nat'l Zoo, as was mentioned earlier, is always a place where little people can be amazed & entertained. All the walking they'll do will be great for them & you! Make sure to end with a visit to the Animal Farm & Pizza play area towards the bottom. They'll be so tired, they'll nap on the way home!

During the colder months, check out a show or two at Discovery Theater - shows can be held at the Ripley Center and/or in other Smithsonian Museum locations & auditoriums.

You can also check WashingtonParent.com to check their monthly calendar for events. Search for Fall events in Washington, DC for children in your search engine and it'll being up a host of free & child-friendly events & festivals in/around the area. In September alone, there's the Int'l Children's Festival, the Nat'l Book Festival, Fiesta DC and Adams Morgan Day.

Hope this helps!

We just moved to Maryland from California so I'll be interested in reading what others suggest! So far we've just been checking out our local community stuff (same as we would in any area... library, pool, parks, bowling, etc.) and visiting friends, but I'm looking forward to doing more region specific stuff.

For live entertainment: Glen Echo Park in Md. (just around the Beltway and over the Potomac, not far from Northern Va.) has a great kids' puppet theatre. Also has Adventure Theatre for kids' live shows and plays. And an amazing historic carousel but its hours are limited so check before you go just for the carousel.

Imagination Stage in Bethesda (again, not really a big deal of a drive though farther if you're in Lorton) has fantastic, professional productions for kids. You can check their web site and they give an age range for each show, as in "best for ages 4 and up, best for ages six and up," etc.

The Smithsonian has an unfortunately rather hidden children's theatre. It's in the underground levels of its administrative building right on the Mall. It's called Discovery Theater and its web site is www.discoverytheater.org. Closed for August but most of the year it has very kid-friendly shows. And so few folks know it's there, other than school groups!

Also for the Smithsonian, go to www. si.edu/kids. This leads you right to kids' activities in all the museums. There is a lot for kids to do at the museums but you might not find it all if you just walk in the doors -- you have to sometimes reserve spots or know something's scheduled in advance.

If you're in Lorton -- is that Prince William County? Check your county Parks and Recreation department web site and look up kids' classes (you name it -- tumbling, dancing, swimming, art classes, clay classes, nature outings, etc.) as well as one-time activities for kids and family festivals, outdoor special events, etc., in your county parks and at county historic sites. I'm in Fairfax County and there are simply tons of classes and events and festivals and nature days sponsored or advertised through the county parks and rec department. Not to be missed. If you don't have as much in PW County, you can also attend anything in Fairfax County but it may cost a little more. Go to Fairfax County government web site, search under parks and recreation, and go to "ParkTakes" online -- the catalog of classes and events. Have fun!

Check out ourkids.com for all kinds of places and events for little ones in the DC area.

I live in Montgomery County Maryland, so some of this would be pretty far from Virginia, but I do a lot of traveling around the area with my 5 and 3 year olds, and there's some great stuff for little ones around here!

We love the National Zoo, and other than the parking fee it's free! Very close to the Metro too, if you don't want to deal with parking at all. There's a nice zoo in Reston, VA too, but there is a fee to get into that one.

The Udvar-Hazy Air and Space museum out by Dulles airport is great for little ones. Plenty of space to run around and lots to look at. My kids don't care about all the details, they just like all the different colors on the airplanes! Cool observatory too, where you can watch planes land.

Wheaton Regional Park in Maryland has a carousel and train ride. They're rebuilding the playground, but it looks like it'll be fantastic in the fall when it re-opens! Glen Echo park also has a carousel, and Cabin John Park has a train ride. I think there are a couple of parks in VA that have those too. Look into Burke Lake Park maybe. There's also a great playground in McLean called Clemyjontri (I think that's the spelling) that's wheelchair accessible but great for all kids, and there's a carousel there as well.

For summertime, there are several spraygrounds and water parks around. There's one called Atlantis in Bull Run Regional park, one in Germantown MD that's great for little kids, Turtle Park in DC (near American University).

Jammin' Java in Vienna has daily weekday morning concerts for little ones. On weekends they often have special kids' performers too.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head, but hopefully it'll give you a good start!

i also live in va and have 4 boys ages 6, 4, 2 and 5 months. places they like to go the air and space museum in dc there is also one called the udvar hazy which is by dulles airport. it is like a huge hangar full of airplanes (great for letting them walk around on their own). they also like the natural history museum lots of dinos, animals and such. the american history museum has lots of vehicles and a hands on area. the national aquarium in baltimore is fantastic and they have dragon paddle boats right ouside in the harbor which my oldest 2 really like. we also visit the zoo fairly often and most of these places are free:) i live just south of you so feel free to send me a message with any questions. welcome to va have fun exploring!

I also have a 5 year old and live in Fairfax, near Annandale. For sunny days consider the fountain at Fairfax Corners. Lots of good "meet a mom" time there too. Consider going for ice cream at Woody's "downtown" and then going to the pottery painting place that's also downtown.

The park someone else mentioned w/ the weird name (Clemenjen?) is a MUST! Really neat stuff there. Also consider the jumpy places during the week. But they're crazy busy on the weekends with birthday parties.