museums, here we come!

Just last week (Friday, April 8, 2009), the Post had an awesome insert in the Weekend section–A Kids Museum Guide.

We LOVED the picture on the front who wouldn’t?!), and the minute Maddy saw it, she was destined to hit the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History to see the charging lioness that “almost got the little boy” (see left). Below is my feeble attempt at re-creating the picture for our kiddos. Como se dice, ‘new camera, please’?

• Museum of Natural History: We love this museum because it not only holds a gazillion awesome exhibits, but the Discovery Room for children is a must-see. There, children of all ages can examine objects under microscopes, open dozens of drawers that are eye-level and hold tons of cool artifacts, they can pick up different shells and compare textures, and they can try on costumes from around the world. Our kiddos loved it.

I can’t even begin to do justice to what the museum holds, so I’ll share what our small, curious, and busy group wanted to see. (Keep in mind, we were visiting with two 5-year-olds, a 3-year-old, and two 2-year-olds, so our visit was quick and directed.) We needed to see the pouncing lioness, the whale and underwater exhibit, and dinosaur bones. The museum brought so much to life for them all–they loved it.

So, yes, we missed the awesome Hope Diamond, the butterfly exhibit, the Imax theater, and pretty much every other thing that you’d want to see when you’re visiting this museum. But hey–we’re taking baby steps, and we did get to take the Metro (which is a dream in itself for our kids), eat hotdogs outside, and ride the carousel afterward. Plus we got to meet up with a couple of good friends along the way. It doesn’t get much better than this!

FYI: For all of our friends and readers who are outside of the DC Metro area, please don’t feel left out! The website for the museum totally rocks; there are awesome online resources that parents can–and should–explore, even with little ones. Go to the home site, then ‘education’, then ‘classroom resources’, and from there you can go to some really incredible places–right in your own home.

We’re huge fans of incorporating our newspaper reading into our everyday learning; it’s a great way of showing our little ones how we read to learn a little every single day.