How To Do DC With Kids

Austin Graff has made a living off of exploring D.C., and with a kid in tow, no less. He shared some tips on our podcast City Cast DC for how to tour the city with a young one and where you should start.

Ideas for Exploring:

Take a bike: Kids’ patience for walking is limited; biking is fun and lets you explore an entire neighborhood in one day.

Play the alphabet game: Teach kids the alphabet by venturing across the city. Start from A and go to different neighborhoods that began with that letter. So, A for Anacostia, B for Brookland, C for Congress Heights, etc.

Read the plaques throughout D.C.: They're everywhere in parks, on buildings, and outside of museums. Take the time to read them because it’s an easy way to learn about the history and context of a place. Especially fun for kids learning to read.

Where to start:

🌅 Southwest Waterfront: A underrated area to explore with kids, Southwest has great food and architecture peeping. Austin recommends the duck pond, which has rocking chairs and a four-story little free library, for a Sunday afternoon. The nearby Titanic memorial is perfect for watching the sunset over the water.

🎨 Mt. Pleasant: This neighborhood has a lot of murals that have been mapped out. Austin and his daughter love printing the map and using it as a scavenger hunt.

🪑 Anacostia: Grab a fried chicken sandwich and brown butter chocolate cookie from Open Crumb and walk by the Big Chair, which gives the kiddos a kick. Anacostia Park has an outdoor skating pavilion that has local DJs on the weekend.  You can bring your skates or rent them.

Listen to our City Cast DC episode for more tips!