Funny story - I was looking for kid-friendly ideas of things to do in DC and asked ChatGPT for…read moreideas. One of the responses was the Planet Word museum, which I never heard of. I looked it up and decided to try it! They recommend you get timed passes online ahead of time; it's free but they do recommend a donation. This museum is SO COOL! As someone who loves different languages and words I loved everything about this place! My kids loved all of the interactivity. There is a room with an interactive word wall and you can interact and answer and request more info on the history of certain words. For example, I learned that "ketchup" was named after a Chinese sauce even though they are not similar. There is also a magical library room where you can pick a book off the shelf and place it on a book holder and the book is read to you. There are also mirror shadow boxes that come to life if you read the inscription. Finally, the kids loved the karaoke room - you select a song and as you sing along you see the types of parts of speech at play in the song. Great experience, would for sure recommend and go back!

Planet Word is a fun pit stop geared mostly toward children, though adults will still find plenty…read moreto enjoy. The space feels very modern, with clean and well maintained exhibits throughout. I appreciated the free coat rack and lockers available to all visitors. One thing to note is that the stairs are unidirectional, so moving between floors requires walking across the entire level each time. We were advised to start on the third floor and work our way down. The third floor featured a massive globe surrounded by multilingual iPads. Each one offered different languages along with cultural and linguistic context. The video and audio quality stood out as especially clear. There was also an interactive show exploring the history and cultural influences behind everyday words. While museum shows can sometimes feel skippable, this one held attention for the full fifteen minutes with clever use of visuals, lighting, and a dynamic word driven backdrop. On the second floor, the free photobooth stood out as a highlight. Individuals or pairs pose based on randomly assigned words. The photo quality is not the best, but it still makes for a fun and memorable souvenir. There is also a sing along room where groups of children gather to perform songs. I had to laugh when Eminem came on, though I was genuinely impressed by how the lyrics were broken down and analyzed on screen. A small library space is also available, stocked mostly with children's books for casual reading. I also tried the Lexicon Lane experience, which cost forty dollars and is designed for groups of up to four. It is set up similarly to an escape room, but with a stronger focus on wordplay and language based puzzles. Since we were the first group of the day, we had full choice of the cases, while later groups had to pick from what remained. Each case offers a normal or expert level, though both were fairly challenging. Some puzzles rely heavily on familiarity with American idioms and cultural references, which could make them tougher for some players. That said, the staff were very accommodating and offered helpful nudges when groups got stuck. I would especially recommend this for puzzle lovers, as it is a unique add on and actually more affordable than a typical escape room. One of the standout aspects of Planet Word is the staff. They were consistently friendly, approachable, and clearly invested in making the experience enjoyable. Overall, it is a great museum to visit if you are looking to be entertained for an hour or so.

Since my last review, I ended up purchasing a family membership to the Children's Science Center…read moreand it is the BEST purchasing decision I have made all year. It's close proximity means that I have a go-to spot to bring the kids on school breaks, rainy days, cold days, or whenever we simply have nothing to do. While there are a few standing exhibits, the staff does a really good job at changing things up (and keeping things topical) so each visit feels special. And the best part... SLIME. We've made slime conductors, spider slime, fluffy slime, snowflake slime, glow-in-the-dark slime .. basically alll the slime. The experiment lab always has a slime option and it is a highlight of every visit. My eldest daughter went from barely reading and needing help at the beginning of our membership to fully reading and creating experiments on her own. It is so much fun to see. For the littles, there is a small playroom with building blocks, magnatiles, books, and those large blue fort/construction material building materials. My two-year old loved spending time in this room but now that she is three she likes making her own hovercrafts and setting them sail in the wind tunnel. The staff is SO kind, SO helpful, and so passionate about what they do. I love how they offer volunteer/internship opportunities to teens and will also set up special traveling science labs to Title I schools. If you are a member you also get discounted or free visits to children's science museums all across the United States which has made this membership 100% worth it for our family. If you are looking for an experience gift to give a little one this year, I highly recommend the Children's Science Center!

Had a great time with my toddler today. She's not quite two so her admission was free and there's a…read more$2 discount for purchasing tickets in advance. I was worried there wouldn't be enough activity for her age but she had a blast playing with exhibits and blocks in the interactive room. She also made "play dough" as an experiment. The staff were all friendly and helpful, we will definitely be back.

This is just an amazing place to shoot. People from all over come here to shoot with their models…read moreand there is plenty of space. There is about three floors of dark corners amazing Graffiti Art and light from the walls. The place is safe and a hidden gem. If you ever want to book your model in a place where you need a lot of space this is the place for you. Friendly staff and great pricing. You can also use the alley to shoot car and bike pictures. Make sure to see visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/graffitiwarehouse/

The alley is easy to find and there is a enough graffiti to get a lot of good pictures. The problem…read morethere is trash, needles, and other nasty things ALL OVER but to be fair it is an ally and I wen after it had been raining for days! Also the parking in front of it is not free. The gate is open but unless you wanna pay don't park there. The website mentions it but I didn't read till after so that's my fault. Overall it's great! Go there! You'll get some good pictures

It's only open every other Saturday seasonally, but it was a really unique and interesting Civil…read moreWar site - featuring graffiti. It delivers what it promises. This seemed pretty common for troops to occupy houses on their travels and doodle on the walls, but this was a lucky example to preserve it behind paint which was discovered in time for it to avoid demolishion. Some graffiti is better preserved/readable than others, but it is a recent site to be opened to the public, so it's a work in progress. It's interesting to think of the young men who strolled through here 150 years ago. There was a knowledgeable guide who walked us through a few rooms pointing to some of the writing, a small exhibit, and a small gift shop. It's free, but since it's all volunteers, we gave a donation. It won't take very long to go through, but it's a cool historical site to visit in the area.

Loving history and graffiti, visiting the Graffiti House was a special treat. Built in the middle…read moreof the 19th century, the house is one of the best examples of Civil War graffiti. Used as a hospital during the War and occupied by both the Union and Confederacy, many soldiers signed their names or added drawings of horses, women, men, and more. The first floor has a little shop, a meeting room, and a restroom. (The restroom has some Civil War graffiti.) It's in the second-floor rooms where the majority of the historic graffiti can be seen along with stories of a few of its artists. It's a small museum open to the public thanks to a foundation, but it's worth your time!

So adorable! Amazing service, everyone is so friendly. The used book store in the basement is…read morestocked!!

During the last sunny weekend, my family and I did a little Church street stroll and stumbled…read moreacross the Freeman Store & Museum which is located right next to the W&OD trail. Not only did it provide a nice, quiet respite from the heat we had tons of fun exploring the remnants of the old post office, ogling over the old-fashioned candy aisle, and browsing through the great used book store selection in the basement. Both of my girls found a current children's book to bring home, and at 25 cents a piece it was a steal! I loved browsing through all of the Vienna ornaments, stickers, and other home goods they sold from local artisans. The back opens up to the town green and I saw lots of people enjoying having picnics on the tables. The shopkeep was so nice! I truly felt like I was in an episode of Gilmore Girls or Hart of Dixie while walking around.

I purposely visited recently (winter season) because entrance to the gardens is free, otherwise…read moreit's $15. The gardens are interesting even in the cold months. The couple most closely associated with this Georgetown estate, Mildred and Robert Bliss, clearly loved and thought deeply about this parcel of land when they owned it (1920/30's). Their efforts to preserve and share the space with the public are to be commended. It must have been quite something in its heyday. There's a lot of research that's supported here, as well as other activities. The website explains all that. It's a low-key sightseeing spot; quiet, contemplative.

Dumbarton Oaks is such a serene escape from the hustle and bustle of Georgetown. We enjoyed taking…read morephotos in the lovely gardens. I was disappointed that you can't go in the house, and the museum that is attached had nothing to do with the garden or the house.

My daughter let me know: "Illusions are my favorite!!" So I grabbed some tix to MoI & she was SOOOO…read moreexcited to be going, while on our travel. Understand my dismay when we arrive JUST as a group of about 20-30 adults on a team building exercise, scheduled for the same time as our reserved tickets!!! But the staff (led by Tracy & supported by Cesar) ENSURED my daughter (and even I! lol) had an AMAZING time. Tracy ushered us away from the crowd and guided us through the illusions towards the end, then rotated us to the entrance after the group had cleared. We didn't even realize they were there...(figuratively of course, but real talk!) And that's KEY to these types of museums, especially with children - that they have space to explore without adults rushing them. Tracy and Cesar made sure my daughter had the space she needed to have THE BEST experience of our week in DC. The museum is great! But when coupled with the staff, it becomes a truly reality altering experience!

We were there today at the Museum of Illusions. We had fun, but we were surprised at how expensive…read morethe tickets were for so few exhibits. To be honest, it felt like there wasn't much breadth to the museum. You move through it quickly, and then you're done. If you're going to charge that kind of price, it doesn't quite match what's inside. Either lower the ticket price by at least $10--or if you want to keep the current price, add more installations. Give people more to actually experience. Think about it in comparison to places like the free Smithsonian museums or even other DC museums like the Spy Museum or Planet Word--you're just not getting the same depth of content for the cost. It's fun. It's clever. But it's thin.

The Princess Diana: Accredited Access Exhibition is worth checking out while it lasts until the end…read moreof August. It is easy to find once you are at Tysons Corner Center and isn't far from the entrance that leads to the Metro. They did a good job on disability access with both word and audio on the interactive guides. The exhibit is also very easy to navigate for those with wheelchairs and other mobility issues. The staff is also very friendly. It is a bit costly for the time it takes which is only about an hour, but is well worthwhile as it contains portraits and stories from her Official Royal Photographer, Anwar Hussain. We even took our favorite stuffed animal, Princess, who is a tribute to Diana which the staff loved.

This is a fascinating little railroad museum in a lovely tree covered setting at Fairfax Station…read more Originally the 1903 local train station, the building was moved to this site and restored in 1980. Today, the museum is opened on Sundays from 1:00 - 4:00, but offers special tours for groups and scouts. Admission is modest ($5) to tour the building. The railroad had historic importance for commerce across North Virginia in the 1850's. During the Civil War, the line was used to bring wounded troops to this location, where they were nursed by Clara Barton. The line also carried supplies. Outside is a 20th century caboose that visitors can look inside. There is also a train car for the 1950s. The parking lot holds about a dozen cars including several handicapped spaces. There are a few picnic tables under the trees to have a snack. The grounds are immaculate and beautiful. This is a great place to bring the kids or you favorite history buff for the afternoon.

Cool free museum from the outside…read more Inside pay a nominal donation for an indoor exhibit. Location: Hidden in Fairfax County VA off Ox Road. Built in 1852; was a depot built by Irish immigrants--Fairfax Station!! Typically, open on the weekends. Mainly Sundays. Check the schedule on the website. For kids -- toy trains to play with inside. Build a toy train track, plenty of toy trains. Parking -- free. With overflow parking across the street.