- The National Zoo is a popular place for kids and is open 364 days a year. The 163-acre zoo has over 400 species of animals, including adorable baby animals, and has free admission. The zoo also offers children's programs and camps, allowing kids to learn about and interact with some of the animals. If you want your kids to get exercise, while learning and gaining social skills, Jonah's Treehouse and The Family Room are indoor playgrounds especially for toddlers. Teachers guide your kids through cylinders and across bridges, helping the toddlers build motor skills.
D.C. also has professional sports teams in football, basketball, baseball and soccer. D.C. United is the city's very popular Major League Soccer soccer team who not only play teams in their league, but play famous international squads as well. - D.C. natives may become bored of their view of the White House or the Lincoln Memorial, but there is always something new at The Smithsonian Museums. The Smithsonian Museums are a staple of Washington D.C. and have a variety of exhibits from Julia Child's kitchen at the American History Museum to the Apollo 11 space shuttle at the Air and Space Museum. The Smithsonian Museums are comprised of 19 different museums and galleries, but since the admission is free, you can take your time and check them all out. What's great about the Smithsonian is that it is a hands-on museum. Kids can touch and interact with the exhibits. Several times a year the museums have "Family Day."
- There are about as many festivals in D.C. as there are Smithsonian museums. One of the most famous and most popular festivals is the Cherry Blossom Festival, which is a two-week event that commemorates Japan's gift of 3,000 cherry blossom trees to Washington, D.C. in 1912. The kids get a cultural awakening with the loud and rhythmic drumming of the Japanese taiko drummers. The 16-day festival also features a family day where kids can get their faces painted, participate in hands-on activities and enjoy the performances of D.C. area high school marching bands and performance groups.
Other popular festivals are the Capital Jazz Festival, the National Book Festival and the National Capital Barbecue Battle. The Capital Jazz Festival features around-the-clock concerts and is a great place to picnic with the family. Kids will definitely enjoy licking sticky barbecue sauce off their fingers and watching exceptional cooks show off their skills at the National Capital Barbecue festival. And if your vocal chords are tired from reading to your children, there are people happy to fill in at the National Book Festival, which features storytelling, live readings and your kids' favorite fictional characters dressed up and ready for a photo op. - Washington D.C. is land-locked by Maryland and Virginia and both states are less than 10 miles from the city's center, so you won't have to venture far to find more fun for your kids. Virginia has Colonial Williamsburg and the Jamestown Settlement, where your kids can chop wood, make candles and learn about a simpler time in American history. There are also Civil War battlegrounds like Manassas and Fredricksburg. Annapolis, Maryland sits beautifully on the Chesapeake Bay and in the summer, the family can go to the beach. Both states have a number of camping grounds as well which are frequented by families.
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