100 Things to do with kids in Washington DC

This list by Jessica McFadden - blogging at A Parent in Silver Spring - is a true labor of love. 

100 Things to Do With Kids in Washington DC

What's crazy is that this list is only the tip of the iceberg! There are oodles of incredible, fun activities for families in Washington, DC and the surrounding areas of Maryland and Virginia. I hope you enjoy this list of field and day trips, and that it inspires you and your kids to explore something new.

1. Call your Member of Congress and obtain White House tour tickets
2. Visit Mount Vernon
3. Hop on a trolley tour of the Washington, DC monuments
4. Touch a real piece of the moon at the National Air and Space Museum
5. Dig in to Ethiopian food with your hands in Adams Morgan
6. Squeal over the pandas at the National Zoo
7. Delve into the basement of the Department of Commerce and visit DC's National Aquarium
8. Cheer at a Nationals Game on T-Shirt Tuesday
9. Pretend you're Orville or Wilbur at the College Park Aviation Museum
10.View the fireworks on the National Mall or wave a flag at a fun local4 th of July Parade
11. Pick your ownseasonal produce at a nearby farm
12. Ride the carousel at Glen Echo Park
13. Smell the roses at a Family Day event at the U.S. Botanical Gardens
14. Tour the Bureau of Engraving & Printing and see money printed
15. Take the gargoyle tour at Washington National Cathedral
16. Ride Metro to Union Station and burst through the main doors like Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
17. Witness the changing of the guard at the Tombs of the Unknown at Arlington National Cemetery
18. Eat fish and chips at The Dubliner or Kelly's Irish Times
19. Hike around Roosevelt Island
20. Sit in Albert Einstein's lap
21. Paddle around the Tidal Basin
22. Rent canoes or kayaks in Georgetown and paddle down the Potomac
23. Play tourist and see the monuments by boat or Duck tour
24. Check out the view from the top of the Washington Monument
25. Play tag in the Hirshhorn Museum Sculpture Garden
26. Play secret agent at the International Spy Museum (and FYI, FBI tours are currently closed)
27. Make peace with the creepy crawlers at the Orkin Insect Zoo at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History
28. Drive through the Shenandoah's Skyline Drive and take a family hike along the Appalachian trail
29. Play in the rocket garden of the NASA Goddard Visitors Center
30. Get lost in the hangars of the Steven F. Udvar -Hazy Center of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Chantilly
31. Ride the miniature trains at Wheaton or Cabin John Regional Parks
32. Take the Old Town Alexandria ghost tour
33. Listen to free concerts at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage
34. Explore Luray Caverns
35. Fly a kite on the National Mall
36. Ride the rails at the National Capitol Trolley Museum
37. Feed the animals at the Leesburg Animal Park
38. Enjoy a voyage down the Potomac in a real riverboat
39. Hum along with history at the The Star Spangled Banner Flag House in Baltimore
40. Admire the majestic beauty of Great Falls
41. Go train-crazy at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore
42. Shiver your timbers on a Pirate Adventure Cruise in Annapolis
43. Go eye to eye with a shark or a dolphin at the National Aquarium in Baltimore
44. Have a free, old-fashioned playdate at one of the wondrous local playgrounds
45. Catch a kid-centric show at the Adventure Theatre in Glen Echo Park
46. Take family or butterfly photos amongst the beauty of Brookside Gardens
47. See a children's show at Wolf Trap's Theatre-in-the-Woods
48. Nosh on crab cakes on Kent Island
49. Go fishing in Little Seneca Lake
50. Frolic on the farm at the Agricultural History Farm Park
51. Make figure 8s at local ice rinks
52. Tour the inspiration for Uncle Tom's Cabin
53. See why they called him Stonewall Jackson at Manassas National Battlefield
54. Hike a portion of the Underground Railroad
55. Learn about the life of an American slave
56. Cool off at the South Germantown Splash Playground
57. Get a hole-in-one at a local miniature golf course
58. Go camping at a local campground
59. Salute our nation's veterans at Arlington National Cemetery
60. Remember IwoJima at the National Marine Corps Memorial
61. Walk through the Depression and the New Deal at the FDR Memorial
62. Hum the Star Spangled Banner from Fort McHenry
63. Play mad scientist at Maryland Science Center in Baltimore's Inner Harbor
64. Rent a cabin in the Virginia countryside
65. Schedule a dinosaur dig
66. Step back in time at a historic manor home
67. Take a free morning bird walk with the Audubon Naturalist Society in MD or VA
68. Cheer the Washington Mystics as a member of the Kids Club
69. Practice your acting skills at a Round House Theatre Free for All Friday
70. Take a horseback ride through Rock Creek Park
71. Eat cotton candy at a nearby county fair
72. Ride the kiddie rides at Six Flags America
73. Walk around historic Annapolis
74. Walk around historic Fells Point, MD
75. Walk through the Friendship Archway in DC's Chinatown
76. Build and play at the Building Zone at the National Building Museum
77. Tour the US Capitol via the public tour or by private tour conducted by your Member of Congress
78. Experience the beginning of American history at the National Museum of the American Indian
79. Hear a story or see a performance at the Discovery Theatre
80. Kick up your heels at a Folklore Society of Greater Washington Family Dance at Glen Echo
81. Talk to the animals at the Reston Zoo
82. Solve a mystery as a Plantation Sleuth at Gunston Hall
83. Play, eat and enjoy wallet-friendly design at a nearby IKEA
84. Chow down on dim sum
85. Time travel to 1771 at Claude Moore Colonial Farm at Turkey Run
86. Get soaked (in a good way) at Splashdown Waterpark
87. Drive out to Virginia's Dinosaurland
88. Go on safari at Virginia Safari Park
89. Get interactive at the Port Discovery Children's Museum in Baltimore
90. Report live from the Newseum
91. View sites of the city from a bicycle
92. Satisfy your very hungry bookworm at the Library of Congress
93. View the documents of democracy at the National Archives
94. Visit the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michael's
95. Build a sand castle at Sandy Point State Park
96. Grab weekend brunch on the Georgetown Waterfront
97. Tour the historic 1876 synagogue with the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington
98. Tour the gardens and re-creation of Christian holy sites at the Franciscan Monastery
99. Tour the Route 11 potato chip factory.
100. Eat and shop your way through Eastern Market