Went in April as a chaperone for the 6th grade class. Kids loved it.
Malls are best at night. Especially the Washington and Lincoln.
For the war memorials, tie in family history. At WW2 and Korea, I talked to my son about his great-grandfathers who served. At Vietnam, my mom had a POW bracelet so we found the pilot's name and read a letter from his mom that was written to my mom. Don't forget there is a WW1 memorial now! It is off the mall though. There, we talked about his great-great grandfather who fought.
FDR. What an odd memorial. Why is it so big? Used it as an opportunity to talk about my grandma's upbringing during that time and to dog on the New Deal.
MLK. Made some of the kids listen to "I have a dream." Told them we think of things like segregation as a long time ago, but their grandparents remember it.
Arlington is a must. It was raining, but we sent went and stood for the changing of the guard. I then left the group to visit the grave of a friend.
Capitol tours. The public tour is awful, if you have done one with a staffer. Reach out to your congressman and request a tour. They are free. The public tour just goes to the rotunda and the statue room. Mississippi oddly still has Jeff Davis as one of their statues. Almost across the hall from him is Rosa Parks. Makes a good talking point with kids. When Senator Cruz's staff took us, we got to ride the train system underground and go inside the chambers (if Congress is in recess).
White House tours. Harder to get. We just observed from outside the gate. I went back in 2008 and the tour was OK, but no cameras allowed. I heard Michelle Obama changed that. I hope so.
Library of Congress is probably the most beautiful building on the inside. Kids didn't care too much, but it is the closest we have to some of the amazing sights in Europe.
The Archives. A must.
Toured Ford's Theater. A show was going on so we couldn't go in the theater, but the museum was cool and you can go across the street to the house where Lincoln died. A lady playing Mary Todd was there. Didn't get to ask her "other than that though, how was the play?"
Smithsonians. Air & Space, American History, and Natural History are great. Air & Space has two, one on the mall, the other out by Dulles. Dulles has the space shuttle and SR-71. American history, the nostalgia is amazing. And they have an outfit worn by Selena. Natural History, the elephant is iconic. The Hall of Mammals, it was like walking onto the Serengeti.
Kids also loved the Bible Museum.
Near Washington, but isn't in Washington.
Gettysburg. The kids loved it. Take the guided tour. Kids had to recite the Gettysburg address while wearing a top hat.
Mt Vernon. Our tour guide messed up and we got here way too late. Probably cool as they have a living farm there. We ran to the house, ran to the grave, then back to the bus.
Monticello. Another place the kids loved. I thought they did a good job balancing him as a founding father and as a slave owner. Hot topic was some people, I know. But remember, this guy writes "all men are created equal," while holding people less equal. A complicated person. One of his slaves is his own kid, who he had with one of his slaves. Reports from the time were people were shocked when they saw the slave because he looked so much like Jefferson. I think he is just scared that this had been the way of life for so long that if they gave slaves their freedom, they would kill all the masters. But the house is fascinating.
You will walk! Make sure they have comfortable shoes. We walked and walked and walked!
