My inner 12 year old enjoyed visiting the museum. It is located in the Ronald Reagan Building…read more Metro is close by. The museum has a few play/learning areas outside of the building. It is one of the few museums that charges a fee (just like The Bible Museum, Spy Museum & Museum of Illusions). All are worth a visit for different reasons. There are interactive exhibits and fun displays.

Luckily the two times we have visited we haven't had to pay for tickets (free museum days). I'm…read morebaffled as to how this can be the children's museum of DC!! For starters this place is so unkept, it's so incredibly dirty and the bathrooms are gross. I truly wonder if they ever clean this place? We visited 2 years ago and again this weekend, and I can tell they haven't updated a single thing. Including the nasty pom poms that have clearly seen better days and cost 2 cents a piece. This is the weirdest children's museum I have ever been to. Not even sure what the target age group is. They have like half of an exhibition appropriate for each different age group. The exhibitions are not cool, barely entertaining, half of them are broke or barely work, they are all dirty as can be. And the museum overall is tiny! I feel bad for the people that pay to visit this place. This was definitely the last time we visited, even with free tickets. Every single Smithsonian museum is 100000x better than this, and they are all free. So save your time and money and visit any of them, I'm sure your kids will be more entertained there and at least they won't catch a nasty virus from playing in this dirty place.

We visited on a Tuesday afternoon. I actually ended up getting a Groupon deal which was really…read moregreat so I saved some money. We were there for a two hour play block. There was lots of rooms and things to do. They also had cars you could ride on. My 4 and 1 year old had a good time. There definitely was a lot of various ages of kids visiting. I do think it's good for younger ages but you do have to have a watchful eye on younger kids due to kids ridging those cars everywhere throughout the place and can get wild. They had tons of workers cleaning up while we were there as well.

Very cute spot. We signed up for their happy hour deal where you come in an hour before they close…read moreand it's only 15 dollars. My 18 month old definitely enjoyed himself in all the different little "lands". The only thing is, if you do the happy hour, you don't get a full hour as they close 10 minutes prior (which I don't blame them, they gotta clean up and get home as well). We will be back.

The activities seem good…read more Here's the beef: we tried to enter using an AARP coupon and were told by front desk that they are not honoring any entertainment coupons. They further informed us that "this happens all the time". I'm not sure if this is some coordinated bait and switch or if the front and back offices don't talk to eachother? but buyer beware. Also expensive for value, parking is also expensive

I cannot believe I've never written a review for this place. Every year I get an annual pass at a…read morenew place and 2023 we had passes here. I cannot say enough great things about this place. The locations is always clean and well maintained. There are 3 total floors with activities ranging from water play, to puzzles, to physical activities. My kids favorite attraction is of course the but slide. We do this no less than 5 times every time we visit. There are rotating attractions in addition to their standard ones (grocery store, gas station, a restaurant, water play, and more) and annual holiday themed activities. Our favorite by far was the Halloween parade and dance party. Each visit would include several interactive activities as well, giving you a variety of things to do, which is helpful if your kids get tired of routines. We easily spent 2 1/2hrs here on any given visit and I've never had a bad experience. A membership pays for itself in 2 visits and my kids always enjoy their time here. I decided to get passes to the science museum this year because I thought my kids may have aged out (7&8) but they still talk about how much they loved Port Discovery. Like any place that caters to children you have the expectation of unruly kids and germs. Be kind to the workers, bring your patience and some antibacterial wipes and you'll be fine. If you have children aged 5-8 I would say this place is ideal for them.

It was just ok for my littles…read more There was a groupon offer for $12.75 (regular $15 admission pp) so I took advantage. There's not a lot of guidance here so if your kids aren't self starters they may find themselves bored. Even when entering each room no one is guiding you on what the activity is and how to participate. Instead you're kid just does there on thing. Neither bad nor good just an observation. Outside of that there are 4 areas that are pretty intuitive. Making a beat - where kids can add layers to music to create new sounds. Circuit activity - create a pathway by connecting wrenches which turn on a light. - my son (8) thoroughly enjoyed this. Tipsy table - using 3 different pulleys you could guide balls into different outputs. This requires at least 2-3 people. Light play - using lasers to make imprints on moving disks. I could see myself coming back for more purposeful play but free play I wouldn't bother.

Fun place for kids and adults. Very clean and well maintained. My young companions (8 and 10)…read morecouldn't eat the pizza. And my sandwich was disappointing

I came back to host a birthday party. For any parent, looking for a party venue for their child I…read morehighly recommend this place. I booked the option two party about three months in advance. What's great is that you just select a theme from the pictures they have they send you a digital invite to send out and as you get close to the party date, they'll confirm the theme and give you an idea of what the schedule is. That's it that's literally all you have to do. Honestly, if you were to just walk in the door without anything in hand other than a child, your 90 minute birthday party would go off without a hitch. They had the cupcakes, the utensils, the balloons, the beautiful room set up and they had the goodie bags. Honestly, a lot of the parents gave us a compliment on organizing the party and how much fun they had and I felt weird taking any credit for it. We had an assigned party planner that was very invested in making sure everything was running on time and that the room was set up perfectly to our needs. And at the end of the party, they packed everything up for you. What's wild is they actually packed everything back in the original containers organized and ready to go. And then these poor people had to re-organize all the toys that our party had demolished and dragged a different corners of the room all within 30 minutes. I hate planning, and hosting events gives me a lot of anxiety, so to have a party go off successfully with my minimal involvement is amazing.

I'm at a stage in my life where I'm going to kids birthday parties every other weekend. Out of all…read morethe places I've been to, I think Play Street is probably ranked first. First of all, the concept of a pretend Main Street USA with shops with all kinds of props and working cash registers with play money inside is brilliant. I remember playing pretend shop keeper with my brother and cousins as kids and we would have loved this place. Secondly, the place is very well maintained and has plenty of space for the more active kids to just run around from shop to shop. My wife loved it so much she booked one of their other locations for our son's birthday which is many months away.

Thank you so much, Dinos Alive and Sydney, for offering this Badge Month Giveaway! I was so…read moreexcited to be picked as one of the winners from their IG contest, as I never win anything! This exhibit is described as a dinosaur exhibition featuring life-sized animated replicas during the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods. They offer various tiers of tickets (general, VIP, family, and group bundles), with a variety of time slots that can easily fit into one's schedule. Obtaining tickets through their platform was super easy, and the staff who had reached out provided clear and helpful instructions!

Super expensive for a not so high quality adventure. Then you pay for little boring rides at the…read moreend. Pretty underwhelming. My 3 year old thought it was interesting at first but got bored fast. Maybe it's better for 5 year olds?

Play Street Museum is a franchise that specializes in kids' play areas that encourages imaginative…read moreplay and fun settings. The one in Severna Park is one of my favorites to take the kiddos because it has a great mix of interactive toys and buildings. Just to name a few: - an area for crafts - one of those motorized air funnels that you can put a scarf in - ice cream store - grocery store - doctor's office - vets office - a recycling truck with slots to sort different recyclables - a play house with kitchen stuff - pretend firetruck and firehouse with hose and slide You can also opt into extra add ons that allow you to participate in crafts you can take home (think DIY activities like slime). I like that there's only a finite number of spaces for time slots so it never gets too crowded. You should check their website before going just in case they're sold out (I believe they do allow walk ins though). They also have punch cards for a slightly discounted rate. It's usually around $18 for a single visit, but comes out to like $15 a visit with a punch card at the time of this post. I would totally recommend for little ones, but they may start to get bored for any ages 5 or older.

We had an amazing time at Play Street Museum for our triple play date! We reserved our spot online…read morethe night before for a 10:30 AM to 12 PM session. When we arrived, we were greeted with an easy check-in process. If you haven't signed the waiver online, you can quickly scan and sign it on-site. The staff was friendly and explained how everything worked. The space itself is fantastic! It's an open playground where kids can freely explore and play to their hearts' content. There are fun zones for every interest--a craft area near the cubbies, a science section by the check-in counter, and a little shop filled with books and small activities at the entrance. There's even a food token system: you drop the token off when you leave, and each kid gets a free snack, which is such a thoughtful touch. The restrooms are conveniently located at the back near the slide area, so everything you need is nearby. Overall, this is a well-organized, kid-friendly spot that offers so much for little ones to enjoy. We'll definitely be back!

Pros: play street, I think one of the only ones in the area. (Although there is a cute one in WV…read morethat has a cafe with food too). It's clean, bright. I love that there are also crafting options, some tables with puzzles as well. In a shopping area so plenty of easy parking. Your child gets to pick a snack at the end which helps with the "I don't want to leave" tantrums Cons: The price is hefty $16 for 1.5 hours. It's hard to get behind this when I can go to a place like me land in chantilly for $10 and unlimited play time with a much bigger space and a lot more to do. The snack helps with that but still, at this price I'll come maybe every other month. At $10, I go every week sometimes multiple times a week. The space is small and they are cleaning while you're playing, in such a small space this feels rude/ puts unneeded pressure on the customer. Especially since they have a gap to clean before the next time slot. Overall: I would come again but not often due to the price. If you have a really crafty kid and only one younger kid I feel the price might become worth it. If you have kids in a spread out age range, or who don't like crafts, or you don't want to deal with the stress of having to be there at a certain time, and leave after just 1.5 hour. There are certainly better options both from an affordability standpoint as well as quality.

I brought my youngest here for their Easter event and she had a blast! The session was 90 minutes…read moreof play with opportunity to take pics with the bunny. This is hands down the cleanest indoor space we've been too and we've been to lots. The staff here were super friendly and regularly cleaning and putting things away. The play space has a town motif with a crafting and art area and then a vehicles, blocks, and dinosaur area. My daughter's favorite was the vet space, followed by the recycling truck. She spent a fair amount of time with the dinosaurs and at the grocery too. We never made it to the play areas on the left side. 90 minutes just really isn't enough time to cover it all if your little spends a long time in one area. I looked online to book play for another weekend and was shocked to see they only offer play 9-1030 on the weekends. I'm a working single mom, child in preschool, and we live in Springfield-essentially the weekend schedule means we won't be able to return without setting out super early. I love the imaginative play concept so I really hope they open a space closer to Fairfax or open up additional weekend play hours.

It's truly magical for kids to use their imagination. Giants Big bed to jump on, space station,…read more and so much more. Go with an open mind to explore this imaginative space

Summary: while Doodlehatch is definitely not short of character, there are some key points that…read moremake it hard to love. A question I had prior to visiting Doodlehatch was "what is it?" The best answer I can think of is that it's an interactive art museum. There are tons of random sections throughout: a space area, a unicorn area, a tea party area, a giant bed, etc. Most are designed to be "interactive," but I don't know how much care + maintenance is going on. Parts of the exhibit don't feel sturdy and a lot of it doesn't feel clean. There are a lot of areas that have fabric that retain moisture/dirt like the giant bed (plush), bean bag chairs, and hammocks. Coming off a fresh pandemic, it didn't give the best feeling to "interact" with something like that. Conclusion: I think the concept is cute and the art is unique. The exhibit itself makes for a cute little outing. I'm just a bit more wishful as far as care/maintenance goes. I wouldn't describe myself as a germaphobe, but even so I didn't feel great about it.

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.