Hi!

So we are doing an October Washington D.C. trip with our daughter (who will turn 5 in November).

She is SUPER into the Presidents (history of Presidents, fun trivia, stuff like that), so we're hoping to get tickets to the White House (We did apply through our congressperson, so we'll see what happens -- I know it may be a long shot).

What else should we do w/ her?

It's a 3 day trip. Was thinking --

1. Lincoln Memorial
2. Smithsonian American History Museum
3. Smithsonian Air + Space Museum
4. Ford's Theater? [Is she too young for this? She knows about Lincoln being assassinated, but I don't know if it's too mature for her (doing the tour + seeing the house across street where Lincoln died].
5. Bureau of Engraving and Printing?

She really is an "old soul" but I don't want to take her to anything that is too mature. But given her love for Americana/Presidential stuff -- want to try and do stuff related to that, too.

Also, thoughts on kid-friendly hotels that are centrally located and any fun restaurants would be much appreciated.

THANK YOU!!!

The entire purpose of Ford's Theater and the Petersen House, and the tours of such, is to go over the assassination in detail. I'm not sure that's the most important thing to understand about Lincoln or Presidents, but that's up to you. I haven't taken a 5 year old there, though, but wouldn't. I don't think it's scary exactly, just not something for that age.

I would think going to Mount Vernon would be on your list and better. Or visiting Lincoln's Cottage, although that's not as easy by metro http://lincolncottage.org/visit/education/

My nephew was very interested in Presidents when about age 8, also, he could recognize them all by flashcard, pretty much. I got him a Tshirt with pictures of all the Presidents on it at some souvenir shop in the Union Station, which he really liked.

It certainly depends on your five year old. We brought our then 10 year old to D.C., and she got a little museum-ed out after a while.

We were selective about what we saw in each museum because there's just so much to see. She especially enjoyed the Amelia Earhart exhibit at the Air and Space Museum, the gems and mummies at the Natural History Museum, and the inaugural ball gowns at the American History Museum.

Mount Vernon was great.

Surprise hit was the Arboretum.

I would include the National Zoo. We happened to be there the Saturday of Easter weekend, and it was much too crowded to be enjoyable, but it is a wonderful zoo.

We had great dinner at Ethiopic. We also liked Eat the Rich (oyster bar). The cafeteria at the Museum of the American Indian is also a good stop for lunch while visiting the Smithsonian.

Thank you so much! I thought Ford's Theater may have been a bit too mature for her. Glad that's confirmed.

Lincoln's Cottage and Mount Vernon look fantastic - she'll love either of those.

Just have to figure out logistics, but def will add to list. Thanks again!

thank you kureiff! yes, i think that's a GREAT strategy - to focus on specific things in each museum rather than trying to see a bit of everything. that will be way too overwhelming for her.

and those are such cool ideas - i think she would absolutely die over the inaugural ball gowns!!!

thanks for food recs. will also check out arboretum!

Ethiopic was fun because of the no utensil thing. And the food was very good.

There was an orchid exhibit at the Arboretum when we were there, and we loved it. We weren't even planning on going to the Arboretum but stopped in while walking to the Air and Space Museum. I'm not sure it would be a great hit with everyone, but it was a fun stop for us.

I really liked walking around Georgetown, but our daughter did not.

She did get tired of the museums, "This is like being in social studies." But every kid is different, and I know she has a low tolerance for museums.

Take a look at the Portrait Gallery where there is portraits of every president. That would be worth seeing.

With her interest in the presidents you should do the memorial of each - not just Lincoln - although IMHO that's the most moving.

You might want to consider Natural History versus Air & Space - depending on her interests - both are excellent. If you have a nice outdoors day you might want to consider the zoo as well.

And definitely tour the Capital.

Hi only recently returned from fantastic visit to DC and NYC with our 2 daughters. My youngest, although 13, is severely dyspraxic so easily gets tired. Agree that you should cherry pick things from the Museums, but they are all very close to each other and easy to get to. My kids loved American History museum, Native American museum and Air & Space in particular. Have you thought about a walk around Georgetown and visiting their excellent Cupcake shops? Groupon does a "tour" if they still have it you might be interested - we didn't do it but it looked interesting. Hope you have a brilliant time! All the best

Mount Vernon would be fabulous. Our favorite by far. Our daughter was totally bored with the Air and Space much preferred Natural History( giant squid and the gems section) American History( First Ladies dresses), changing of the guard at Arlington. She also loved the Archives, but 5 may be a little young for this.

thank you all so much for your wonderful replies! sorry for the delay but i really appreciate it-- we are getting so excited for the trip! will be checking all of these ideas out and i'll report back w/ our trip report!

October is a great time to go to DC. The weather is still nice so you can take breaks outside. You have some really nice suggestions. I agree with skipping Ford's Theatre, etc. I found the tour to be more about Booth.

The Postal Museum near Union Station would also be fun and it does not take a lot of time to go through.

1. From the way you describe your daughter, she sounds a lot like my son when he was that age. I don't think Ford's Theatre would be too much for her if she already knows about his assassination and has an interest in it. The museum, most of which is beyond her comprehension, still has a few artifacts toward the back of the museum which might interest her (e.g Booth's derringer and other artifacts). There are different combos of tours for various times of the day, so I'd choose one that includes a museum visit, a theatre walk-through and a visit to the Petersen House. Don't choose one which includes the Ranger Talk as that is too long and too boring for a 5-year-old.

2. As far as Lincoln's Cottage, I don't know if it would be that interesting for a 5-year-old. The emphasis of the tour is the fact that Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation there. The house is not fully furnished, so you don't get a real idea of how it looked when he lived there. But, it's a good tour for an adult (and sometimes we should do things WE want to do) and the views of D.C. from the cottage are great!

I wanted to thank you all so much for your thoughtful and helpful replies.

We just came back from DC yesterday and we had the most wonderful time.

Day 1 - we drove directly to Mount Vernon and were there for several hours; did the tour, and my daughter LOVED the "Hands on History" room in the exhibition hall. We actually went back there 2x during our visit, at her insistence We then drove into DC and checked into the hotel, settled in, and went to dinner at the Dubliner just around the corner (we stayed at Hotel George).

Day 2 - Woke up early, went to breakfast at the Mandarin Oriental (what an awesome breakfast and what service - my daughter was cold, and they brought over a woven box with 3 shawls to choose from to borrow!).

Took the footbridge from Mandarin and walked to Jefferson Memorial, which was amazing as no one was really there around 8 AM. Talked to the custodian who maintains the floors there (Jason - really nice guy) and enjoyed the peace and quiet.

Then we walked to the Washington Monument, and ended up at the Smithsonian American History museum. My daughter LOVED LOVED LOVED the Presidential exhibit + the First Ladies exhibit.

After that, we got a cab to the White House, and did our tour. Very cool, and while it was 45 minutes for my daughter to wait (and 2 security lines), she did pretty well. We then went to the White House Visitor's Center, where she ended up getting her badge as a real national forest ranger -- apparently, they do this whole pledge/recital thing if the kids who visit the white house (or other national parks places) do a few activities in an activity booklet they give you before your tour. She was so psyched to get this badge and was SO SHY reciting the oath -- adorable touch!! After that, we went to Old Ebbitt's grill for a late lunch. Great, classic DC type of place. We then headed back to hotel and did a pizza party in our hotel room - we were so tired from the day!

Day 3 - we started at Bistro Bis at our hotel for breakfast, then did the Lincoln Memorial first thing in the morning. After that, we headed to the Smithsonian Zoo - we were there by 830, so got to see the pandas up close and it was pretty empty until early afternoon. Then we went back to the hotel, stopped briefly at Union Station, and had a nice dinner in Georgetown, and did the FDR memorial at night (probably not the best one for the night time, but it was still fun).

We then had breakfast at the hotel Sunday morning, and drove back to NY.

I wish we could have done more, but it was the PERFECT trip for a near 5 year old. If we did too much more, it would have been too overwhelming. We wanted to keep it fun but educational since she loves this stuff, and I think we accomplished that.

Thanks again for all of your wonderful recommendations. We definitely want to get back to DC soon -- so much more to see and do!!!

We stayed at the same hotel last year. We loved it! Glad you had a great trip!

How funny kureiff! Great hotel. Very modern, new-- my daughter loved all of the pictures of George and Martha lol. Thanks again for all of the fantastic advice!

Glad you had a nice trip.

Sorry to have missed your lovely visit. It is wonderful that you were able to get a White House tour.

Next time, check out the Botanic Gardens: http://www.usbg.gov/

Free tours about different types of flowers (including meat-eating one!). One of the Smithsonians has (had?) a butterfly room.

I was very anxious to visit Washington DC and had a great desire to visit Tyson Shopping Mall,Lincoln Memorial Area and Supreme Court.My whole trip was of 2 days only. I reached at Washington DC on 2nd Aug 2015. At Washington DC Metro runs in six different colored line i.e., Red, Blue,Yellow, Green, Orange and Silver. Metro Visitor’s kit is the guiding kit to help you to use Metro to get around the Greater Washington DC area. It also contains Metro Pocket Guide which provides you with Metro rail system map. Ride the Metro Tyson station for convenient access to Tyson shopping mall via cornered walk. If you want to go to Lincoln Memorial area you have to take metro up to its nearest metro (subway stop) Foggy bottom. For visiting White House, you have to take metro up to Smithsonian Station or Mehr Station. For Reaching Supreme Court, you have to take metro up to capital South Union Station.