Is 8 a good age for Washington dc?

leshunlenese

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 9, 2010
Hey everyone. So, my son is 8 in the second grade and he recently was learning all about the government and history. He even had to do a report on the three courts he gets excited just seeing the Georgia state capital building. So i figured since he has a real interest that it may be a good time to try Dc out or do you think I should wait a few more years? either way it will be the 1st time for both of us.
 
We moved to the DC metro when I was 8 and honestly, I barely remember the first couple of years even though we hit every museum, the Capitol and monuments a couple of times since my dad originally thought we were only here for a year or two and family came to visit so we took them touring. I remember a lot more from when I was 12 and older. We ended up staying in the DC area and rarely go downtown anymore although we did take our boys when they were growing up and they now go occasionally as adults. Your son will probably enjoy it, but probably won't remember a lot of it.

We did go on a White House tour when I was about 12 and that I remember.
 


For my 10 yo and almost 8 yo we are definitely waiting til they are older but the way you describe your son’s interests I would take him now! I can’t wait to go back, i haven’t been since I was 13 years old. My youngest barely made it through a museum and a historic village in our state capital this summer so I know we will have to wait :worried:
 
We took our son to DC and New York the summer after 1st grade when he was 7 and it was a lot of walking for him, but he definitely enjoyed the museums.
 


DC has so much to offer kids and adults of all ages. We've been to D.C. countless times with our dd starting when she was about 3. She's now a college freshman at GWU in DC. Have fun!!
 
I don't think there's really a bad age to take a school-aged child to DC. We've taken ours at various ages from 6 to 16 and they always enjoyed it. Youngest DD is 9 now and when her class was learning about the space program she told them all about how she got to see the Discovery at Udvar-Hazy and the Apollo return capsule at the Smithsonian when she was 6.
 
We just got back, interesting trip.

We went and got passes from my Senator's office while we were there recently. We spoke with 2 nice college interns. One of them gave us an escort in the subway under the Capitol. Fun.
https://www.visitthecapitol.gov/plan-visit/special-tours-and-activities

We went into the House and Senate Chambers. (You cannot talk in there FYI)

We did not even attempt to do White House, so can't answer you there.

It was fun, bring 100 bucks a day for taxi's. Most things to do are free, so keep that in mind.

We did stay in DC at the Benton and the Capitol Hill Hotel. The Benton we got a nice upgrade 1 night. Capitol Hill was eh, but it had a very nice breakfast and was in a neighborhood, with restaurants. That was a bonus.

We went to the newest Smithsonian, National Museum of African American History and Culture. Pretty powerful history there with current stuff too. It is an impressive museum. You need tickets for that. They are free, you just have to sign up for times because they are crowded.

Have fun!
 
This is my boy, age 7, on our first visit to Washington DC, way back in 2005. We visited museums and parks. There is so much to see and do. I don't know if he was already into politics by this point or if this first visit sparked what now appears to be shaping up to be a lifelong interest, however the whole family had a terrific time, and we immediately started talking about going back in a couple years (which we did). He even went to the Rally to Restore Sanity And/Or Fear with his dad when he was a teenager (does anyone remember that?). :laughing:

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8 years old is fine. Have you considered the time of year however. Personally going in spring or summer would be the best IMHO. Baltimore has the great Harbor area and is really cool in the summer months. Only a short drive from DC.

Springtime you also get the Cherry Blossoms which is nice.
 
We went to DC this last June and my youngest was 8 (almost 9). She enjoyed it, but liked to move through things at a faster pace than I liked to (got bored with all the reading about exhibits). Her favorites were the White House (especially the visitors center), the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the Holocaust museum where we went through "Daniel's Story", the Lincoln memorial, Mt. Vernon, and a side trip we did to Gettysburg. We did the visitors center there and purchased a kid friendly CD that took us on a tour through the battlefield. Oh, and she loved riding the metro - I actually think that was her favorite part :) The only time we took a taxi was to and from the airport. The rest of the time was metro or city bus. Except Gettysburg and Mt. Vernon - we rented a car for those.

It was a lot of walking, but she did great.
 
Washington is great for families. My kids love it. The Spy Museum and Newseum were two of our favourite stops. There is so much to do and see in Washington. I just tried to make it fun for the kids.

My goal on most of our travel was to educate without feeling like anything was a lesson.
 
I would think it would be great. I really want to take our 5 year old. Between the zoo, aquarium, and all the Smithsonian stuff, I would think there is tons.
 
Washington is great for families. My kids love it. The Spy Museum and Newseum were two of our favourite stops. There is so much to do and see in Washington. I just tried to make it fun for the kids.

My goal on most of our travel was to educate without feeling like anything was a lesson.

Fun. We missed those museums. Have to go back, lol. DH *thinks* he is done.
 
If hes a nerd like me he'll absolutely love it.

Please just keep in mind that during the summer it is a really hot and humid city with lots of concrete!! I would say close to walking through MK during the summer. Autumn there is gorgeous.
 
We took our kids last year ages 12,10,8,6,4,&2 and they loved it! The best thing I learned for touring the Mall was the DC circulator bus (National Mall route). You pay $1 to get on (we used our metro cards). There are 12 stops all around the Mall. If you get off and back on within 2 hours the transfer is free. Way less walking, the kids loved waiting for and getting on the bus, and we hit all the stops around the Mall for $1!
 
We went when my son was 9, he loved it! We drove from CT, and stayed in National Harbor, which we loved. We did Air and Space downtown, as well as Udvar-Hazy (which I highly recommend!). Natural History. Spy Museum (son's favorite). Newseum (my favorite, son loved it as well). Capitol tour. Saw the White House, and the monuments. We got him a 'passport' (National Parks one) and he loved getting it stamped everywhere.

We skipped the Holocaust Museum. We felt ds could handle it, however, my paternal grandmother and great grandmothers were survivors, and this is a very emotionally charged topic for me. I have been before, and I was concerned he wouldn't be yet able to handle MY emotion. We decided a separate weekend trip just for this would be best.

And note that at Newseum there are some very graphic portrayals of some of the most horrific things of the past few decades. It's an AMAZING museum, but brings forth lots of discussion, so just be prepared for that.

We had a car with us. We tried the shuttle to the Metro, and taking the Metro in but my dh wasn't a fan of all the waiting. So after the first couple days we drove in, using Parking Panda to find a garage affordable for each day near what we were doing. That worked great, dh was happier. I would have been fine with the Metro, though the shuttle waiting was a bit of a PITA. If you're staying in the city this isn't an issue.
 

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