With three floors to explore, the
National Museum of Natural History may well be our favorite Smithsonian museum. That could be why it's the
winner of our 2008
Parents' Picks quest to find the
Best Place for Family Bonding and the
Best Museum for Little Kids in DC.
If you enter from Constitution Avenue, you'll come in through the ground floor, which houses the cafeteria and the Baird auditorium.
The Mall entrance, up one flight (the museum boasts three elevators, never fear!), is home to the beloved dinosaurs, the FossiLab, the Hall of Mammals, the Sant Ocean Hall, African Cultures, and the ticket booth for IMAX. The
Discovery Room is nestled in the back, behind African Cultures - be sure to pick up a map so you don't miss it! The room is generally open Tuesday through Thursday 12n-2:30pm, Friday 10:30am-2:30pm, and Saturday and Sunday 10:30am-3:30pm.
Upstairs, on the second floor, you'll find the famous
Hope Diamond (be sure to read, or have the kids read, about it's spooky history) in the Geology, Gems, and Minerals section; Bones, Reptiles, and the
Insect Zoo (where volunteers conduct tarantula feeding demonstrations, work with live insects that visitors may touch and hold, and answer questions about the many-legged creatures that live in the Insect Zoo) across the way; the
Partners in Evolution: Butterflies + Plants live butterfly exhibit; and the Samuel C. Johnson
IMAX theater (the box office for IMAX opens at 9:45am; tickets should be purchased at least 30 mintues before showtime).
Free weekday
highlights tours of the museum are available Monday through Thursday at 10:30am and 1:30pm, and Friday at 10:30am. Meet in the Rotunda.
The Museum's new
Atrium Café, on the ground floor, is open 10am to 5 pm daily. An average lunch costs about $8.
The Natural History Museum features "IMAX & Jazz Cafe" on most Friday nights from 5:30pm-10pm.
For information in Spanish, call 202.633.9126.
The Museum also runs
The Naturalist Center in Loudoun County, Virginia, which invites visitors ages 10 and older to use its hands-on collections of natural history objects, books, and scientific equipment to identify things, and for information and study. The center offers a full range of services, special events, and school programs. The facility is located 45 minutes from the
National Mall, just 2 miles from the Dulles Toll Road Extension (the Greenway) in the Leesburg Air Park, an easy drive from Washington, free of traffic and stop lights. There is plenty of parking for cars and buses. The address is 741 Miller Drive SE, Leesburg VA 20175. Call 703.779.9712 or 1.800.729.7725 for directions and scheduling information. The Center is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10:30am-4pm.
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