Can children play ball games on the mall? I was trying to find a hotel near a park when someone suggested that they could just run around and play soccer on the mall.

Which Mall, where?

Oops, lets try again. That should be playing on the Washington DC Mall.

Play ball....fly kites....walk dogs... and sadly I've seen the homeless sleep on grates in the winter.

Yes, there are open green areas on the Mall, and you can play soccer . A caveat to that is that there are often fairs and exhibitions going on which take up the open space, and on summer evenings there are often Congressional softball leagues playing there. Most of the green space on the Mall is between the bottom of Capitol Hill and the Washington Monument. Cross streets are 3rd Street NW/SE and 14th St NW/SE. There are not a lot of hotels in this area so not sure how far you may have to travel to get there. The nearest metro stops would be the Smithsonian, Archives/Navy Memorial or Federal Triangle stops.

You should also be able to play on the Ellipse in front of the White House (the side facing the Washington Monument). Nearest Metro is Federal Triangle.

Another area is to the north of the Jefferson Monument along the river, there are more green areas there, including a polo field which is also used for soccer and baseball (and sometimes polo). There is no nearby Metro stop.

There should be soccer fields in Rock Creek Park, if you are staying in the Connecticut Ave area near an entrance to it, that might be useful, take a look at http://www.nps.gov/rocr/index.htm.

If your trip is in the summer, a hotel with a pool (indoors or outdoors) may be more useful and appreciated.

A very fun thing to do for exercise would be to rent a canoe or kayak on the river in Georgetown and paddle up or down river from there, you can also take kayak tours. Take a look at

Thompson Boat Center
2900 Virgina Ave NW
(at Rock Creek Parkway)
(202) 333-9543
http://www.thompsonboatcenter.com/

For guided kayak tours, go to http://www.atlantickayak.com/ and http://www.atlantickayak.com/AKmain....esc&Type=Short

Also, you can rent bikes and ride along the canal towpath in Georgetown, or go up to Rock Creek Park which has bike paths. Go to http://www.nps.gov/choh/Recreation/HikingBiking.html. You can rent from the Thompson Boat Center or the following:

Bicycle Pro Shop
3403 M Street, NW
Phone: 202-337-0311
http://www.bicycleproshop.com/

Big Wheel Bikes
1034 33rd Street, NW
Phone: 202-337-0254
http://www.bigwheelbikes.com/

Revolution Cycles
3411 M Street, NW
Phone: 202-965-3601
http://revolutioncycles.com/page.cfm...=322&StoreID=1

Don't know how old your kids are or what sports they like, but our son thought it was cool to run along the Potomac where he could see all monuments, etc. He ran cross country in HS, but was far from a dedicated runner - this was just a novel experience for him.