# A 5-day Washington, DC plan for families \(kids \~6 & 9\) > Five days in Washington, DC with kids 6 to 9: Air and Space, pandas at the zoo, dinosaurs, Tidal Basin pedal boats and the Wharf, with downtime built in. Canonical: https://wonderkit.app/itineraries/washington-dc/5-day-with-kids HTML: https://wonderkit.app/itineraries/washington-dc/5-day-with-kids - City: Washington, DC - Trip: Family trip · 5 days · 10 stops - Audience: families - Last reviewed: 2026-06-23 - Plan this trip: https://wonderkit.app/start?city=Washington&source=premade_trip&vibe=family&wk_src=itin-washington-dc-5-day-with-kids&itinerary=washington-dc%2F5-day-with-kids&wk_cta=markdown ![A 5-day Washington, DC plan for families \(kids \~6 & 9\)](https://wonderkit.app/og-heroes/washington-dc/5-day-with-kids.5d2bcf44.jpg) A piece of the Moon you can touch, pandas on a hillside, a T. rex, pedal boats past the Jefferson Memorial: five days in Washington hand a 6- and a 9-year-old one big thing each morning and leave the afternoons for doing nothing much. Most of it is free. The catch is scale, since the museums are huge and the Mall is bigger than it looks on a map, so every day here has one anchor, an easy backup and downtime built in, and everyone still has something left by dinner. ## How to use this plan Several Smithsonians and the zoo use free timed-entry passes you reserve online; grab those a few days out. The National Children's Museum and Planet Word close on Tuesdays. Strollers work almost everywhere, but the walking is real, so take the break each day builds in. ## Day 1 — National Air and Space Museum ### Anchor: National Air and Space Museum Spend the freshest morning of the trip on the marquee stop. Kids around 6 and 9 are exactly the right age for "real spaceship, right there": the 1903 Wright Flyer, a renovated planetarium and a piece of the Moon they are allowed to touch. The museum has been through a multi-year renovation, so check which galleries are open on your date, reserve free timed-entry passes in advance, and look at the IMAX schedule if you want one big-ticket extra. ### Backup: National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden *Easy backup* If passes are gone or the line is long, walk five minutes to the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden. It is free and open-air, and kids can roam between giant sculptures like the Typewriter Eraser and cool their toes at the fountain’s edge. ### Eat & rest The museum café gets busy. For a calmer reset, picnic on the Mall lawn or duck into the National Gallery cafeteria nearby, then keep the afternoon loose: first-day tiredness is real. *Plan half a day, not a full one, so it stays fun. L’Enfant Plaza Metro, then a flat, stroller-friendly approach.* Day reference: 1 ## Day 2 — Smithsonian's National Zoo ### Anchor: Smithsonian's National Zoo Pandas first: giant pandas Bao Li and Qing Bao live on the Asia Trail, and the Kids' Farm \(cows, alpacas, goats, donkeys\) is made for the 6-year-old. Animals are the universal kid win, and because the zoo is free you can leave the minute energy drops, guilt-free. Reserve free timed-entry passes ahead. The zoo is built on a hill, so go in at the top and let gravity carry you down. ### Backup: Reptile Discovery Center *Easy backup* If it’s pouring or brutally hot, the indoor animal houses \(Great Apes, the Small Mammal House and the Reptile Discovery Center\) keep the day going under cover. ### Eat & rest Duke’s Counter, across from the zoo gates in Woodley Park, is a family-friendly gastropub with a kids’ menu and a patio. Quick-casual spots line Connecticut Avenue too. *Go in the morning, when it is cooler and the animals are livelier. Woodley Park–Zoo/Adams Morgan Metro, then a short uphill walk on stroller-friendly but hilly paths.* Day reference: 2 ## Day 3 — National Museum of Natural History ### Anchor: National Museum of Natural History This is the wow museum for 6 to 9: dinosaurs, gems, bugs and things you are allowed to touch. The David H. Koch Hall of Fossils — Deep Time has a real T. rex posed over a Triceratops and a woolly mammoth, and the hands-on Fossil Basecamp lets kids touch real specimens. Add the giant African elephant in the rotunda, the Ocean Hall and the live Insect Zoo. Entry is free, and a timed pass typically isn’t required. ### Backup: National Children's Museum *Easy backup* When the older one needs to burn energy, the National Children’s Museum is a few blocks away, with a three-story Dream Machine climber and big slides. Unlike the Smithsonians it is ticketed, and it is closed Tuesdays. ### Eat & rest Eat in the museum or at the food trucks and quick spots near Federal Triangle. Then take a real break: this is the afternoon to head back for downtime before dinner. *Budget two to three hours and let the kids lead between the big three: fossils, ocean, bugs. Smithsonian or Federal Triangle Metro; flat and stroller-friendly.* Day reference: 3 ## Day 4 — The Mall monuments, at a kid's pace ### Anchor: Lincoln Memorial Pedal boats turn "more monuments" into something kids actually ask for. The Mall runs about two miles from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial, so skip most of it and aim for the western cluster: the Lincoln Memorial \(climb the steps or take the elevator from the basement, where the restrooms are\), the Vietnam and Korean War Veterans Memorials, and the Washington Monument at a distance. Then take a Tidal Basin pedal boat for close-up views of the Jefferson Memorial. Boats hold four, suit ages 2 and up, and run spring through fall. ### Backup: National Gallery of Art *Easy backup* If the heat is punishing or the boats are closed, retreat to the National Gallery of Art on the Mall. It is free and air-conditioned, and its kid-friendly galleries plus the Sculpture Garden make a gentle afternoon. ### Eat & rest Mall food is thin and pricey. Pack a picnic for the Tidal Basin or Constitution Gardens, whose shaded benches and little island make a built-in rest stop when legs give out. *Foggy Bottom or Smithsonian Metro. The Mall is flat but wide open: bring water, hats and snacks, and don’t try to see every monument.* Day reference: 4 ## Day 5 — The Wharf & the waterfront ### Anchor: The Wharf After four big days, give them one where nobody has to be quiet. The Wharf strings a mile of Potomac waterfront with public piers, giant swings on the Recreation Pier, the 7th Street Park lawn and a seasonal splash pad by the Boathouse. Snack through the Municipal Fish Market, America’s oldest continuously operating open-air fish market. From spring through fall, the free Wharf Jitney crosses the channel to East Potomac Park at Hains Point, where a big fenced playground and open grass wait. ### Backup: Georgetown Waterfront Park *Easy backup* Georgetown Waterfront Park is the other riverfront option: an interactive plaza fountain kids splash in \(on from mid-spring through fall\), grassy lawns and the C&O Canal path nearby. ### Eat & rest Casual waterfront restaurants and the Fish Market’s crab cakes and fries make the easy last meal. Sit by the water and let the trip wind down. *Waterfront Metro, or a short ride from the Mall; flat and stroller-friendly. The ferry is its own small adventure. Half to full day, entirely flexible.* Day reference: 5 ## Rainy-day & heat-of-the-day indoor backups Washington summers are hot and humid, and afternoon thunderstorms are common. Keep these free or low-cost indoor options in your back pocket: - Planet Word \(closed Tuesdays\): the world’s first voice-activated museum, where the Speaking Willow and a 22-foot talking word wall win over readers around 6 to 9. Free, with a suggested donation. - The Smithsonians from Days 1 and 3 and the National Gallery from Day 4 swap into any day the weather turns. ## Where to eat without a meltdown Skip the Mall for sit-down meals. These family-tolerant clusters work better: - Eastern Market on Capitol Hill \(closed Mondays\): weekend stalls and prepared food like crepes and mini-doughnuts, with Ted’s Bulletin nearby, a longtime kid-friendly favorite. - Georgetown and its waterfront: plenty of casual options near the splash fountain and the canal. - A picnic on the Mall lawn or in Constitution Gardens beats most lines. Before you arrive, let each kid claim one day’s anchor, and agree as a family which afternoons stay empty. ## Plan this trip with your group [Start from this plan in WonderKit](https://wonderkit.app/start?city=Washington&source=premade_trip&vibe=family&wk_src=itin-washington-dc-5-day-with-kids&itinerary=washington-dc%2F5-day-with-kids&wk_cta=markdown): invite your group with one link, everyone votes on what stays, and the plan is rebuilt around your dates in about a minute. 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