Ideas for Activities for kids in NOVA/DC area

Artslvr

My mom and dad will be watching our four year old quite a bit this summer during the weeks between school and summer camp.  My dad is always worried about DD not having enough to do when she stays with them.  So I created a guide for my parents. 

I stole lots of ideas from our-kids.com which I think is a great site, but not a site my dad is going to peruse on his own.  So I've been going to various websites myself to get info on hours of operation and admission fees and the stuff that only relates to what a four year old would be interested in - I'm going to print out a hard copy for them this summer and if they want to look something up on the web for more info, they can do that.  At the end of the document are just explanations of "regular" activities they can do with her - bike riding, cooking/baking, etc.  I put things like "make sure she wears her helmet" and other details specific to her.

Can you guys check out my table of contents and tell me what's missing?  The formatting is weird I know.  Each item in the list below has a corresponding page in the document that I've pasted a bunch of into into. 

ETA: for some reason when I copied and pasted this text in, the Bump thinks these are links to something.  They're not.  This is just the text from my TOC.

Table of Contents

Swimming. 4

Outdoor Pools. 4

Indoor Pools. 4

Public library. 5

Hidden Oaks Nature Center. 6

Hidden Pond Nature Center. 7

Wolf Trap Theatre In The Woods. 8

Burke Lake Park. 9

Frying Pan Farm Park. 10

Clemyjontri Park. 11

Cub Run RECenter. 12

Outdoor Playgrounds. 13

Lake Accotink. 13

Mason District Park. 13

Great Falls Grange Park. 13

Water Parks:  Pohick Bay Regional Park/Cameron Run. 13

Indoor Play Areas. 14

Fair Oaks Mall 14

Alexandria Soft Play Room at Chinquapin Rec Center. 14

Landmark Mall 14

Tysons Corner Center. 14

Kids N Motion. 15

Local Chain Play Locations. 15

National Building Museum Building Zone. 16

Natural History Museum.. 17

National Zoo. 18

Discovery Theater at the Smithsonian. 19

Glen Echo National Park. 20

Udvar Hazy Air and Space Museum.. 21

In Baltimore:  Port Discovery. 22

In Baltimore:  National Aquarium.. 23

Other Random Ideas. 24

Photography. 24

Metro to Reagan National Airport. 24

Ride Bikes. 24

Baking/Cooking. 24

Dollar Store. 24

Reading. 24

Scavenger Hunt. 24

Board Games. 24

Movies/DVDs. 24

Story Time at Barnes & Noble. 25

Restaurants Where Kids Eat Free. 25

Website that offers GREAT Ideas of What to do with Kids in the DC Area. 25

www.our-kids.com... 25

 

 

 

 

Artslvr

PS, they live in the Ffx. Cty. part of Alexandria, so near Annandale, Springfield, etc.  That's why this is skewed geographically towards our part of NoVA.

amh_navyblue

I don't have anything to add at the moment, but would you mind sharing the whole document?  It's a fantastic compilation!!!

Artslvr

I will share when it's done. Well, it'll be a constant work in progress probably that I'll keep adding to, but yes, I'll post it when I think I'm nearly done with it. 

hokies94

Not sure if it would work for a 4 year old but ice skating at Kettler Capitals Iceplex. They have a public skate almost every day.  You can also watch the Capitals practice.

Paint your own pottery at Clay Cafe in Falls Church.  Again, might be a bit much for a 4 year old but maybe worth a try on a rainy day.  

10:30 kids shows at Jammin Java in Vienna.   

Artslvr

Right, Jammin' Java.  Everyone talks about that place, I've never been, but it seems to be legendary!

cmh06

Have you seen this website?  https://www.dullesmoms.com/index.h

Artslvr

cmh06:

Have you seen this website?  https://www.dullesmoms.com/index.h

No I haven't - great sections on spraygrounds and farms.  Going to get ideas from there too - thanks!

fatjavacat

How about the Heritage Farm Museum in Sterling?

https://www.heritagefarmmuseum.org/ 

Its a good rainy day activity or nice day with a picnic. 

whimsysoda

I created this spreadsheet last year with info pulled mostly from our-kids.com and dullesmoms.com.  There's a fair amount of duplication from your list, but there are a few other indoor/outdoor places that haven't been mentioned yet.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0ArPxcylYiNcrdFB1cFFJdzk0Y3ZvdGh4NDRsWmU1R2c&hl=en&authkey=CL7BiZgN

 

victoria1212

the sprayground that is right off Glebe/395 was great last summer (and not that crowded).

LindseyJW

victoria1212:

the sprayground that is right off Glebe/395 was great last summer (and not that crowded).

ooh! where is this one? i'm only familiar with the spray park in arlington at lyon village.

victoria1212

if you are still in Del Ray- it is really close to you!

3500 24th St S, Arlington, VA 22206

(Glebe towards 395, go under 395, first stop light take left)

kbalb

It would be a jaunt out, but I really liked the Playseum (playseum.com) in Bethesda.

And there's the Lee District Center Soft Playroom too (don't know if there is an age limit).