C limbZ o ne
Go on an adventure
It may be winter, but that doesn’t mean your family has
to forego outdoor-type activities—just do them indoors.

The climbing walls at Laurel’s ClimbZone, for example,
were made with kids in mind, with fun themes like Aztec
temples and the Lincoln Memorial. ZavaZone in Sterling
has climbing walls and more, including a glow-in-the-dark
climbing cave, a trampoline park and a ninja course.

How about an indoor water park? Cub Run RECenter in
Chantilly, for example, has a huge pool with two large slides, a
lazy river and a shallow pool for the younger ones.

climbzone.us, zavazone.com, fairfaxcounty.gov
COURTESY OF CLIMBZONE
Go to the theater
Explore a museum just for kids
If you haven’t yet brought the family to the newest iteration of the hands-on
National Children’s Museum—it opened only days before the COVID-19
pandemic unfolded in 2020—now is the time.

You may enter the 20,000 square feet of space via a three-story “dream
machine,” with slides that whisk you to the exhibit space. The museum is all
about sparking creativity and curiosity, with a virtual slime machine, a race car
track that experiments with height and weight, a Nickelodeon-sponsored Art
+ Tech space, a green-screen experience where children gain superpowers to
control the weather, a batting cage that teaches the mechanics of a home run hit
(courtesy of the Nationals) and more.

A small space for babies and another one for toddlers introduces a cloud and
flight theme. The museum frequently offers drop-in “making” programs within
the Tinkerers Studio, weekly “STEAM Storytime” on Thursdays at 10:30 a.m. and
“Baby Jam,” a musical programming adventure, on Fridays at 10:30 a.m.

Open Thursday through Sunday with two timed admission sessions
nationalchildrensmuseum.org PHOTO BY DANIEL SWARTZ PHOTOGRAPHY
Several live theaters in the Washington, D.C., region
offer productions at exactly the right kid-length.

At the Smithsonian’s Discovery Theater, children
can enjoy fairy tales, puppet theater and other live
educational performances. More shows will be
added based on COVID-19 protocols; check the
“What’s Playing” page for details.

Encore Stage & Studio in Arlington—“theater
by kids, for kids!”—offers productions as well as
classes and workshops for budding thespians. At
Bethesda’s Imagination Stage, kids of all ages can
enjoy modern productions. Two new works for
children are commissioned every year, along with
a series of theater programming that helps foster
theater appreciation.

discoverytheater.org, encorestageva.org,
kennedy-center.org COURTESY OF ARTECHOUSE DC
se When the kids simply need to expend excess energy—preferably
not in the house—head for one of the region’s play-oriented
destinations. BusyBees’ indoor playground is made expressly for
little ones shorter than 48 inches. Scramble in Alexandria and Falls
Church has something for every family member: tummy time for
babies, soccer for the older ones and lots of running and jumping
in between.

The Wonder in Arlington and Chevy Chase provides an imaginative,
low-key indoor play space for the 5-and-younger set. At the Arlington
location, for example, youngsters can play with a pile of snow (aka
balls), build an igloo and warm up with hot chocolate in an imaginary
winter scene.

busybeesplay.com, goscramble.com, thewonder.us n
um Just play
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