Visit DC: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

While in DC we visited the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. With over 8 million visitors a year, the museum offers a variety of exhibits focusing on aeronautical and spaceflight artifacts. From jets and rockets to hot air balloons and unmanned aerial vehicles, guests will be in awe of all there is to see.

It's not everyday that most people can get up close to a fighter jet, stand next to missiles, or touch moon rock!

The kids enjoyed seeing all the different types of aircraft, and there were all sorts of hands-on exhibits to keep the kids engaged and entertained.  Through these displays they learned about all sorts of air and space scientific terms.

There were also a variety of games, simulators, props, and so much more the kids could play with while learning at the same time!
 
From the earliest types of planes, to the incredible modes of transportation used in space, it was neat to see all the different types of air and spacecraft, and learn about how advances in air and space technology have resulted in the evolution of this industry.

National Air and Space Museum
600 Independence Ave SW

Washington, DC 20560
(202) 633-2214

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Visit DC: Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History

The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History is the most visited natural history museum in the world.

Located on the National Mall in Washington, DC, the museum houses over 145 million objects and specimens, many of which are showcased through a variety of exhibits focused on such subjects as human origins, insects, gems and minerals, mammals, and so much more.

The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History is huge - 1.32-million square feet, and sees over 6 million visitors a year.

During our visit, we crammed in as much as we could in the short time we had to spend at the museum.  We viewed animal exhibits large and small, recyclable art displays, a rainbow of butterfly chrysalises, dinosaur fossils, and an ancient sarcophagus.

There were many, many interactive exhibits and innovative displays throughout the museum that helps to keep kids engaged.  In the new, temporary exhibit (through 2021), Outbreak: Epidemics in a Connected World, visitors can play a game to help contain an outbreak before it spreads.

Guests could also watch paleontologists work on fossils in the FossiLab.

And one of my kids' fave was an exhibit that gave them an idea of what they would look like as an early human.

There were so many things to do and see, but one of the highlights was Q?rius, The Coralyn W. Whitney Science Education Center. In this interactive learning space, kids could examine thousands of objects up close - insects, bones, amphibians, and more.

They could even view certain objects under a microscope, and they were fascinated with what they saw!

I definitely wish we had more time to spend at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.

Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History
10th St. & Constitution Ave.

NW, Washington, DC 20560

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