In all, the Smithsonian has 19 museums, galleries and gardens, as well as a zoo. All of its museums and the zoo in Washington DC offer free admission. With 11 of its DC museums located on the National Mall, they are super convenient… and the price can’t be beat!
On our first trip to DC, we spent a lot of time in the Air and Space Museum and then popped into the Natural History Museum for a bit. On this trip, we did the reverse – we spent hours in the Natural History Museum (much longer than we expected) and then made a quick run-through of Air and Space. With so many different types of Smithsonian museums, it is hard to choose, but these two still remained the top interests for our boys.
I will never forget the first time my younger, animal-loving son visited a natural history museum. We went to the one in NY and he was horrified to see so many dead animals posed and on display. For a kid who loved nothing better than watching animals run around at the zoo, seeing them stuffed and displayed was nothing short of horrifying. (And I must admit that I find taxidermy a little creepy too.) Our visit to the natural history museum in DC a year after that first trip to the NY one was short, largely for the same reason. He still couldn’t wrap his mind around why a museum would display dead animals.
Fast forward 4 years and he seems to have come to terms with the practice of taxidermy. He didn’t bat an eye at Henry the elephant, the museum’s mascot of sorts, on display in the rotunda. We did, however, skip the Hall of Mammals. Seeing an enormous elephant in the lobby was one thing; walking through an entire room of them was another. The dead cheetah posed with the dead-er elk hanging over its tree branch was still a bit much for us.
But while we tolerated the dead animals, it was no surprise that the boys were more attracted to the live animals. The Butterfly Pavilion and the Insect Zoo were by far their favorites and where we spent most of our time.
Sponsored by Orkin (yes, the bug-killing company), the museum’s insect zoo is the oldest continuously operating insect zoo in the country. All sorts of creepy-crawlies are on display here, many even stationed around the room with staff members who let you touch or hold them. JB was all over this. Hold a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach? Sure, why not?
Aside from the critters out and about, there are some 50 species of arthropods on display in various enclosures. There are cool exhibits as well. Kids can crawl through a giant replica of a termite mound. And the interactive “Our House, Their House” exhibit lets you see where the creepy crawlies are hiding around your home. (Not coincidentally, you may have the urge to call Orkin after you see all the spots in your house light up.)
After the bugs, it was on to the butterflies! For an extra $7.50 ($6.50 for kids), you can take a stroll through the Butterfly Pavilion on the second floor. The tickets are timed entry and we had to wait about 45 minutes from the time of purchase to our entry time. Once inside, you can stay as long as you’d like.
The Pavilion itself is small and crowded and can be viewed (for free) through the windows, but most kids won’t be satisfied with just peering in. It was neat to walk through and see the butterflies up close. They really are beautiful creatures and the variety of species in the exhibit was impressive. Some lucky visitors (my nephew included) even had butterflies land on them and try to hitch a ride out.
We spent a surprising amount of time in the butterfly pavilion – we just couldn’t tear the kids away. When we finally finished, we visited a few other exhibits. The dinosaurs were neat, but our older boys are not as interested as they would have been as toddlers and pre-schoolers. They were more interested in another type of “dinosaur”. As part of the exhibit, they had the original arcade-style game “How to Become a Fossil” that graced the halls of this museum in 1986. I always find it so funny when the kids are mesmerized by 30 year old video games.
There were two other exhibits that the boys really enjoyed – Bone Hall and the Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals.
Bone Hall houses skeletons from every major group of vertebrate animals. It was really interesting to see what’s inside of different animals, and was especially fascinating to see the bones of larger fish and rays. We also loved the side-by-side comparisons of similar species.
And finally…rocks! It’s amazing how fascinating and surprisingly beautiful something as seemingly boring as a rock can be. My kids have collected them for years and really loved this exhibit. In fact, we went twice during our visit because they couldn’t see it all before our butterfly time came up. Made up of 7 different galleries, there is a lot to see and learn about. From volcanoes to meteors to precious gems and everything in between, you will not regret spending a lot of time here. (The magnetic rock was a huge hit with the boys but the Hope diamond was a huge disappointment.)
I was happily surprised with how much time we spent in the National Museum of Natural History and how much the boys enjoyed it. We spent almost 4 hours there and only saw about half of the museum, but the parts we did visit, we explored very thoroughly. There is something for everyone here and I would recommend at least a half a day to explore it.
