I'm not sure I'd pay for anything--DC has so many wonderful free spaces, starting with the Smithsonians. Here are a few off the top of my head that I enjoyed with my kid at that age:

-Toddler story/craft time at th Hirshorn (also offered at other Smithsonians)

-Walk around the Botanic Garden on a cold day

-Toy area at the American Indian museum

-Portrait Gallery has a large atrium that's like an indoor park (be VERY cafeful if they turn on the fountain, it becomes very slippery)

-Postal Museum has lots of interactive exhibits geared toward kids

-House of Sweden on Georgetown Waterfront has a small toy room/library.

-DC and the suburbs has so many nice libraries with toy areas. MLK library and Cleveland park are so great

-Also look into DCPR's playgroups at the rec centers if you are a DC resident.

I am not sure it really makes sense to join anything until you try all the free stuff first. (BTW if you are a Ward 3 resident with a residential parking permit sticker, you have free street parking near the Zoo.)

If I were going to pay for something, I'd think about the Capitol Children's museum and maybe the Building Museum because they have a great building area...although 1 year old is still a little young.

Anonymous wrote:I am a first-time mom to a super energetic 1-year-old and am trying to figure out if some of these items are worth it.

National Zoo: Is the Premiere ($92) dollar membership worth it? Do you feel like you take advantage enough to make the membership worthwhile?

The Little Towns: Is buying a single pass or multiple passes better? Did your kid enjoy multiple visits or did they find it repetitive after a few visits?

From your experience, are there other venues or play centers worth the membership investment or entry fees?

TIA.

I'm not local, although I have been to the National Zoo. But I have had many different memberships at places over the years.

Looking at the Zoo one, so the zoo is free, but it seems the membership gets you 3 parking passes? If you were to go about once a month, would that make it worth the $92 (I don't know anything about parking there). It might be worth it, seems you get a food/merch discount also. My family has a zoo membership where I live at our amazing local zoo (Zoo Tampa).

The Little Towns-that place looks fun! Looking at the pricing, I think you could try a single day with your dc and see how they like it. My dc loves a similar place where we are (Glazers Children's Museum). We did have a membership from about ages 2-5 but once they started school, it was hard to get there as regularly so now I just pay the once or twice a year that we get there. Being that it's inside, you can go there year round.

Some places have a deal where you pay for a day, if you decide to get a membership that same day they apply that day's entry towards it. That's a good way to try places. I think we typically had a membership to 2 or so places during the preschool years.

A one year old needs repetition to some degree - they need reassurance that it looks the same way and works the same way. Plus, just how good do you. think their memory is? You'll get bored before they do. And they need new stimulation as well. When my kids were one, they went to the zoo once or twice a month.

We live in dc but have memberships to port discovery and the Baltimore zoo. My kid is 4 and both are definitely worth it. For a 1 year old, I’d wait until they are 2-3.

I think you should take your kid to Little Towns once first and see how it goes. I think it's a lovely place but my child doesn't naturally engage in pretend play (she has ASD, but we didn't find out until she was in preschool). So it was a bit of a slog taking her there and required a lot of me facilitating her play. As I recall, it didn't have a ton of physical play type stuff though it's probably enough for a 1 year old.

I am a first-time mom to a super energetic 1-year-old and am trying to figure out if some of these items are worth it.

National Zoo: Is the Premiere ($92) dollar membership worth it? Do you feel like you take advantage enough to make the membership worthwhile?

The Little Towns: Is buying a single pass or multiple passes better? Did your kid enjoy multiple visits or did they find it repetitive after a few visits?

From your experience, are there other venues or play centers worth the membership investment or entry fees?

TIA.