National Air and Space Musuem Udvar-Hazy Center

The Udvar-Hazy Center is located in Chantilly, Virginia, right next to Dulles International Airport. It is part of the Smithsonian, and a companion facility to the original National Air and Space Museum building located on the National Mall in Washington DC. This huge hangar complex allows the Smithsonian to show off the biggest pieces of its large space and aviation collection. If your preschooler loves planes and spaceships, this is the place to be!

The good news is that admission to the museum is free. However, parking is $12 per vehicle, so if you’re going with a group, try to carpool. Also, most people will have to take the Dulles Toll Road to access the museum unless you live right nearby. As you drive up, you’ll likely have planes coming in for a landing right overhead. Some preschoolers will find that really cool, while others might be frightened.

You enter the museum on the second floor, and can check out several planes at eye level that are hanging from the ceiling. There are stairs, and elevator, and a ramp down to the ground level. We’d suggest the ramp. It’s very gradual, and your preschooler will still be able to see the planes without having to concentrate on stairs.

Your preschooler will probably gravitate toward the biggest exhibits first. At the bottom of the ramp and stairs, you’ll find a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, a military plane that is the fastest jet engine plane in the world. You’ll also find the Space Shuttle Enterprise, which was a test version of the space shuttle. There’s also a Concorde. All over the museum are many more aircraft, spacecrafts, and missiles, as well as smaller exhibits.

There’s lots of floor space between exhibits in the hangars, and your preschooler will be able to roam pretty freely without getting lost in crowds or running into people. Exhibits aren’t particularly interactive or hands on aside from a few that are a little advanced for preschoolers (like navigating a touch screen to see pictures of cockpits in different planes). You’ll still have plenty of wow factor here, though, and it’s unlikely your preschooler will be bored. Restrooms are centrally located. There is a McDonalds on site, as well as a museum store.

In the observation tower, your preschooler can check out planes in action at adjacent Dulles International Airport from a great vantage point.

14390 Air and Space Museum Parkway

Chantilly, VA 20151

(202) 633-1000 (Smithsonian Information)

Hours: 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM; open every day except December 25

Web: http://www.nasm.si.edu/museum/udvarhazy/