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Animations, environmental and nature films, and child’s-eye views of life are compiled into lively shows the right length for children’s attention spans (see National Gallery of Art).

Many kids make their first contact with the study of the natural world through their fascination with dinosaurs. The displays at the National Museum of Natural History should wow them – and there is a stunning new mammal exhibit (see National Museum of Natural History).

Historical artifacts in this room in the National Museum of American History, such as a cotton gin, are recreated and made available for children to use (see National Museum of American History).

The fountain in the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden (see The East Building and Sculpture Garden) is frozen for ice skating in the winter, and visitors can rent skates on site.

The movie screen at the Museum of Natural History is 66 ft high and 90 ft wide (20 m x 28 m), and some of the films shown are 3-D using polarized glasses. Most film subjects are hits with children (see National Museum of Natural History).

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).

Kids love Skylab in the National Air and Space Museum because visitors can walk inside and see the tools, instruments, and living facilities of the actual 1973 spacecraft, although this is the backup module that never flew in space (see National Air and Space Museum).

This lovely carousel with its fancifully carved steeds is a treat even for quite young visitors. The sounds of the band organ are very cheering.

The view from the 555 ft high (170 m) monument (see Jefferson Memorial) is spectacular. The ride in the elevator is interesting because high-tech windows become transparent or opaque in a wink.

Highly interactive exhibits and scheduled demonstrations at the National Air and Space Museum explain the principles that make flight possible. Kids can understand natural animal flight and human flight in contraptions from balloons to the space shuttle (see National Air and Space Museum).