AT A GLANCE
Bottom: Arlington Public Library / Top: Courtesy of National Building Museum, photo by Allan Sprecher
LEARNING STEAM
Building Creativity
It’s Back!
Early learners can enjoy some new and
redesigned programs this spring at the
National Building Museum in Washington,
D.C., which reopened in March after a
three-month-long renovation to its historic
Great Hall.

For the first time, the museum is offering
a free interactive story time to promote
early reading skills. Children ages 5 and
under are invited to participate every other
Tuesday in exploratory activities related to a
featured book plus reading with music and
movement. This month, Story Time will take
place on April 14 and 28 from 10-10:30 a.m.

and 10:30-11 a.m.

The much-loved “Play Work Build”
exhibit, which introduces children to the
work of architects and engineers, received
a deep cleaning and fresh coat of paint
during the closure. The play table has been
replaced with a light table, and new sets of
Big Blue Blocks are ready to be stacked—
and knocked down—in the hands-on play
area. Additionally, some never-before-seen
No, you aren’t dreaming. D.C. finally has a
children’s museum again.

However, dreaming is exactly what the
National Children’s Museum, now open at
Woodrow Wilson Plaza on Pennsylvania
Avenue, wants you to do.

“We wanted to have the overarching
theme of dreams and dreaming that really
connects, subtly, all of the experiences to
another,” says Elise Lemle, vice president
of exhibits and education.

The Dream Machine, a three-story
climber and slide, greets visitors at the
plaza level and takes them down to the
20,000-square-foot concourse, where
the museum’s exhibits are located. At
the bottom of the climber, wheelchair-
accessible “pods” allow children who can’t
or aren’t interested in climbing to control
the LED lights inside the structure.

Nearby, kids can try to form a
person-sized bubble around themselves,
a nod to the beloved bubble room at the
museum’s original location on H Street,
which closed in 2004. But that’s not the
only throwback. Original artwork from
the old Mexico exhibit now hangs in the
Tinkerers Studio, a 21st-century learning lab.

A combination children’s museum
and science center, the new museum
focuses on STEAM—science, technology,
engineering, art and math. “We champion
a constructivist approach for learning,
which is really learning by doing and
learning through experience,” says Lemle.

There are high-tech exhibits in
partnership with Nickelodeon, Amazon
and even the Washington Nationals. A
highlight is Weather Worlds, an immersive
digital experience where kids can make
it rain, summon rainbows and shoot
lightning bolts from their hands.

The open-concept museum also has a
movement space for infants and toddlers,
a low-sensory hideaway and quiet room
and, soon, a café offering healthy food
and drinks.

The National Children’s Museum is
open seven days a week from 9:30 a.m.

to 4:30 p.m. Tickets cost $10.95 per
person; children under one are
free. For more information, visit
nationalchildrensmuseum.org. T
toys from the museum’s archives have been
added to the Architectural Toy Collection.

With the opening of the new The Wall/
El Muro exhibit in May, parents can have
open discussions with their kids about
border walls and their impact on individuals
and their families. The exhibit will include
a reading area with picture books to help
younger children understand the subject
matter in a more age-appropriate way.

For more information, visit nbm.org. T
—ADRANISHA STEPHENS
COMMUNITY Books on Wheels
What’s turquoise and white, has four wheels
and is filled with hundreds of books, games
and DVDs? Meet “The Truck,” Arlington
Public Library’s splashy new bookmobile.

The mobile library, a redesigned Ford
Transit van with a pass-through window,
allows residents of Arlington County,
Virginia, who may not live near a local
branch to sign up for a library card, check
out and return books and take advantage
of free WiFi. Outside the bookmobile, kids
and adults can participate in a variety of
programs, including story time, crafting
classes and technology tutorials.

The Truck will be cruising the streets
of Arlington twice a week for the first
few months, connecting with residents
at community centers, schools, local
businesses and parks.

Here’s where it will stopping in April:
4/11 Thomas Jefferson Community Center
4/14 Fairlington Community Center
4/18 Arlington Farmers Market
4/19 El Día de los Niños Celebration at
Central Library
4/21 Woodland Hills
4/23 Rosslyn Reads Pop Up
4/24 Gates of Ballston, Suite 100
4/25 Bonder and Amanda Johnson
Community Development Corporation
4/28 Arlington Free Clinic
Please check the library’s website at
library.arlingtonva.us/services/the-truck/ for exact times and future dates. And for
additional updates, follow the Truck on
Instagram at instagram.com/apl.thetruck. T
—PJ FEINSTEIN
12 Washington FAMILY APRIL 2020
—PJ FEINSTEIN



FREE FUN WITH A
PRE-K PASS
W NE
When your kids play for free all year long, it’s amazing. With the Pre-K Pass, kids ages 3–5
enjoy free admission all season in 2020. Laugh and play at the world’s largest PEANUTS ™
themed kids area: Planet Snoopy, cool down and splash at Soak City water park featuring
the all-new play area Coconut Shores, and celebrate the seasons at events like The Great
Pumpkin Fest and WinterFest.

Register online, activate at the park and it’s play time.

Register by June 14th at kingsdominion.com.

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