Families Together: Meet Ups

We are excited to be offering a museum exploration element to our Families Together: Meet Ups classes!  

Classes will gather at the National Mall for an outdoor exploration and then the class will enter the museum for a closer look at an object.  

Meet Ups mission is to create an atmosphere of lifelong learning. Families are invited to spend time together exploring a topic inspired by the Smithsonian’s collections. Different activities are available for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and early elementary aged children. Each Meet Up will focus on a specific artwork or object and a related topic. Play stations will be available for the hour, and an educator-led experience, centered around the object, will take place inside a museum. Explore, wonder, observe, and learn! 

Basic Information:

  • Starting Location: National Mall (Directions and a map will be sent prior to the event) 
  • Museum Visit: See below for individual class visits 
  • Time: 10:00 am – 11:30 am 
  • Masks are Encouraged
  • Age Range: 0-8 years 
  • Price: $35.00 
  • 1 ticket admits whole family

Current Offerings

Dinosaurs

Have you ever wondered about how dinosaur fossils get to the museum? Let’s find out together by becoming a paleontologist and looking for fossils. This class will begin by exploring dinosaur themed play stations outside on the National Mall and will end in the National Museum of Natural History where we will be able to see the dinosaur fossils in the museum!  

Saturday, September 24th (SOLD OUT) and Sunday, September 25th  (SOLD OUT) and Sunday, October 16th (SOLD OUT)

  • Starting Location: National Mall (Directions and a map will be sent prior to the event) 
  • Museum Visit: National Museum of Natural History 

Spiders

Through play, art, and experimentation, we’ll learn more about these fascinating (and sometimes spooky) arachnids. We will visit the National Museum of Natural History’s Insect Zoo to compare and contrast specimen. Then we will try out being a spider and spin our own web. 

Saturday, October 22nd (SOLD OUT) and Sunday, October 23rd (SOLD OUT)

  • Starting Location: National Mall (Directions and a map will be sent prior to the event) 
  • Museum Visit: National Museum of Natural History

Tea

Join us as we explore how tea is both a plant and a drink as well as a time for people to come together and take a breath. Families will have a chance to observe a tea plant in the Enid A. Haupt Garden and then go into the National Museum of Asia Art to explore how tea is made and served and learn about traditions surrounding tea in various parts of the globe. 

Saturday, November 5th (3 spaces left!) and Sunday, November 6th (SOLD OUT)

  • Starting Location: National Mall (Directions and a map will be sent prior to the event) 
  • Museum Visit: National Museum of Asian Art