DK Travel : Washington, D.C. : Places of interest

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National Building Museum

This interesting museum runs regular programs for families, where children and parents can learn about various methods of construction, architecture, and design. Together, families can build edible houses, learn about different construction materials, or solve a city’s transport problem. The permanent and visiting exhibitions will also appeal.
National Building Museum

This grand structure would be a fabulous place to visit even if it was empty. Its eight massive interior columns are among the largest in the world, and its immense interior space has beautiful natural light. The museum itself is dedicated to documenting and displaying important themes in the art and craft of building structures. It has permanent exhibitions on the city of Washington and on art created from tools, and mounts a stream of temporary exhibitions on topics such as the growth of urban transit and the development of architectural and construction methods. Other exhibits highlight the work of individual prominent architects.
National Geographic Society Explorers’ Hall

These first-class exhibits explore the major domains of society, including foreign cultures, nature, archaeology, and superb photography. The hall is at the forefront of designing and constructing interactive and immersive displays to involve visitors in their fascinating subject matter. Kids need little direction here – they take to the explorations and activities enthusiastically, sometimes with a more immediate grasp than adults. The well-stocked shop complements the exhibitions.
National Museum of Natural History

There is plenty here for young visitors, in particular the Insect Zoo featuring live specimens of giant hissing cockroaches and large leaf-cutter ants, and the Dinosaur Hall which contains a cast of a nest of dinosaur eggs and reconstructions of dinosaur skeletons. The new, interactive Hall of Mammals features 274 taxidermied exhibits from a variety of environments. For another hands-on experience, the Discovery Room allows children (and adults!) to hold objects like crocodile heads and elephant tusks.
National Museum of Women in the Arts

The collection of works by female artists here is among the world’s best, ranging from Lavinia Fontana’s Portrait of a Noblewoman (c. 1580) to Brazilian artist Frida Baranek’s bristling 1991 Untitled
National Postal Museum

The US Postal Service delivers over 600 million items of mail every day, and this ingenious museum manages to communicate the human scale of the system. The vast airmail system, with its thousands of employees, is shown to be based on individual pilots and airplanes. An interactive display enables visitors to dive into direct marketing and mail order, even designing their own advertising piece.
National Zoological Park

The animals in Washington, D.C.’s zoo are housed in large, recreated natural habitats and are close enough to be clearly observed. Sea lion demonstrations never fail to delight. The Kids’ Farm is an educational, interactive, outdoor exhibit, where children can touch and learn about farmyard animals.
O. Orkin Insect Zoo

Live arthropods scamper and creep in this section of the Museum of Natural History – some can also be held (see National Museum of Natural History).
Oak Hill Cemetery

The cemetery has a great diversity of graves and mausoleums in a Victorian garden setting. Its Gothic Revival chapel and the Van Ness Mausoleum are on the National Register of Historic Places.
Old Stone House

This remarkable residence dating from 1766 looks a little incongruous standing directly in the heart of the shopping area, but it provides a captivating window into 18th-century life. The National Park Service provides tours and fascinating demonstrations of the crafts and tasks of colonial families.