Manassas and Washington D.C. with kiddies under 5 yrs old
 

My folks live in Manassas, VA and are recent transplants from Denver, CO so I don't know familiar they are with things to do with little ones under age 5...any suggestions?

Same for the D.C. area.

I was thinking of the National Zoo, the American History (my 4 year old daughter would love to see the Pop culture stuff and the First Ladies' gowns), possibly a White House tour, the Lincoln and Washington Memorials and I'd like to see the WWII Memorial...I've lived in D.C. and have seen most everything and was there for the dedication of the Women's Military Memorial at Arlington, but that was in my single days so I wasn't that in touch with what to do with the younger ones...including places for dining that are kid-friendly.

Would appreciate suggestions!

Thanks!

If you want to do a White House your, contact your congressional representative ASAP to request passes. All persons in your party must be US Citizens, too.

Kids LOVE the natural History Simthsonian because that is where the dinosaur skeletons are! I still remember my visits there when I was a kid! I alo loved seeing the gem collection, especially the Hope Diamond. If memory serves corretly, they also had an impressive insect collection (live), and that never ceases to amaze kids.

The gems, insects, and dinosaurs are at Natural History, the First Ladies' gowns are next door at American History.

Definitely don't miss the Natural History Museum. Their kid oriented Discovery Room just reopened after a 2 year renovation. It's a great spot for kids to do a little hands on investigation and for parents to take a little break.

The is a huge park in Manassas. I am not sure if it is a county park, state park, regional park or what. We camped there and took the Metro into DC. In addition to camping, which I understand you don't need, they have playgrounds, covered picnic areas with barbecue pits, a pool, frisbie golf, walking trails, stables, and tons of room for under 5s to run off some of that inexhaustible energy.

Air and Space was always popular with my nieces and nephews - the mock-ups of the space crafts (some of which they can go inside), touching the moon rock, and of course the freeze-dried astronaut ice cream!

Don't miss the huge merry-go-round on the mall in front of the Smithsonian castle. It's beautiful and only $2 or so.

You may want to consider something like the Tourmobile - a trolley that you can get on and off of all day long. A 5-year old may get tired of walking quickly. There are several different companies, but the Tourmobile is the only one that is allowed to drive around the mall, so it's the most convenient I think.

Manassas has a waterpark called "Splashdown" which might be fun. The air and space museum recently opened an annex near Dulles airport which is fabulous...there's a space shuttle, concorde, B-52, not to mention a tower with windows 360 degrees where you can see planes landing on both sides of you.
I echo the recommendation of Natural History...the dinosaurs and gems are always a big hit and the hands on discovery room is great. Oh and in Herndon is Frying Pan Park, a county run farm with pigs, bunnies, goats, turkeys, sheep, cows, horses and chicks. It's free and they even have a hay ride for a small fee (although I don't know if that's seasonal). I would take the kids at least twice a year until they were 6!
Lot's of kid friendly dining in Manassas too. Most of it is of the chain variety though. Any type of food in particular the kids like?

If you want to go into town, skip driving the whole way from Manassas. I suggest you take Rt 66 to the Vienna metro station. you get on the orange line and ride it about 35 minutes to the Smithsonian station. Kids love being on the metro and it is cheaper and ALOT less difficult to try to park downtown. Have a great time!

To follow up on the previous post, you can actually catch the VRE (Virginia Railway Express) out of Manassas instead of going to Vienna!