Move Your Feet for the Planet at the National Children’s Museum this April

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Published: 03/31/2013

Programming will celebrate both a healthy Earth and healthy bodies

Photo credit, Micaela Williamson

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD (March 21, 2013) – Honoring two of its core content areas, the National Children’s Museum will celebrate health and well-being and the environment through programs dedicated to movement, dance, reusing resources and helping others . All programs will take place at the National Children’s Museum at 151 St. George Blvd. at National Harbor in Prince George’s County, Md.

TOMS Sole Party: One Day Without Shoes

Saturday, April 13-Sunday, April 14, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

By partnering with TOMS to host One Day Without Shoes, the Museum will increase awareness of the health issues facing children who do not have access to shoes around the world. Museum visitors will have an opportunity to experience what it feels like to walk without shoes on various terrains and contribute their thoughts on how to make a difference to our NCM/TOMS pledge wall.

Free Family Night sponsored by GEICO

Friday, April 19, 5-8 p.m.

Enjoy free admission to the museum as well as hands-on activities and interactive play in the NCM theatre and exhibit areas. April’s Free Family Night will include programs that celebrate Earth Day. Please visit www.ncm.museum for more information on the free tickets and special programs.

Earth Day Artwork

Friday, April 19-Tuesday, April 30, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Visitors can celebrate Earth Day and the Earth’s resources by creating one-of-a-kind artwork from recyclable materials. All activities will take place in the Center for Learning and Innovation. Additional programs and activities may be announced at a later date.

Guest performer: Princess Mhoon Dance Institute

Saturday, April 20, 11 a.m.

Families can get their groove on with a special performance and dance class as part of the Princess Mhoon Dance Institute’s youth outreach program. Princess Mhoon’s dance programs help children discover how to use dance to better understand themselves and the world in which they live. This performance will take place in the NCM theatre and is included in the cost of admission.

Guest performer: Ballet Petite

Sunday, April 21, 1 p.m.

Experience the magic of ballet with a performance from Ballet Petite’s youth dancers. The event will take place in the NCM theatre and is included in the cost of admission.

Global Youth Service Day with Maddie’s Blankets

Saturday, April 27, noon-4 p.m.

The National Children’s Museum will celebrate Global Youth Service Day through a partnership with Maddie’s Blankets, an organization dedicated to improving conditions for rescue animals. Families will have an opportunity to design and decorate small quilts, which Maddie’s Blankets will donate to shelters and other organizations serving animals in temporary homes. Available as supplies last.

Activities in the Center for Learning and Innovation

Nature serves as the inspiration behind April’s activities in the Center for Learning and Innovation. Visitors ages 3 and under will enjoy a sensory garden and nature table; explorations of the wonders of the ocean; and storytimes featuring Lois Elhert’s Planting a Rainbow, Todd Parr’s The Peace Book, and Jan Peck’s Way Down Deep in the Deep Blue Sea.

Photo Credit, Micaela Williamson

Visitors can purchase online tickets to the Museum for every day of the week. If tickets sell out online, tickets for that day and time slot may still be available for purchase in-person at the NCM box office. For more information, visitors may go towww.ncm.museum, email info@ncm.museum or call the museum’s main number at 301.392.2400.

The museum is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. between Labor Day and Memorial Day. During the summer months, the museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Standard admission is $10 per child or adult and $8 for seniors ages 65 and up. There is no cost of admission for infants 12 months or younger.

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About National Children’s Museum

The National Children’s Museum (NCM) is a world-class cultural and educational center (www.ncm.museum) that inspires children to care about and improve the world. NCM opened in Dec. 2012 at National Harbor in Prince George’s County, Md. After operating as a “museum without walls” for several years, the Museum is now Greater Washington’s premier family attraction and the only national museum dedicated especially to children and their families and caregivers. NCM was designated by Congress in 2003 and was founded in 1974 as the Capital Children’s Museum.

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ICE! at the Gaylord National

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Published: 11/26/2012

My family was very fortunate to be invited to the Gaylord National Hotel and Conference Center to check out ICE! this year. ICE! has become something of a holiday mainstay here in the DC Area, and while it's technically in Maryland's National Harbor, it's only a 35 or so minute drive up 95, making it totally trip-worthy from Prince William County.

Hubby wasn't available to come with us, because our even time was 1pm. To those of you out there who are aware what that means this time of year, I feel your pain. To those of you who aren't clear what I'm talking about, I'd like to refer you here: 1 PM IS NOT OKAY That was okay, though, because PwcGrammy is always game for shenanigans with the grandkids.

Before you head into ICE you get to watch a short film about the production process, which includes flying in a team of artisans from China who produce a giant outdoor ice show each year because it's so blasted cold where they live that the entire river turns into ice and they can make sculptures that last all winter. For real. Obviously here we don't have that problem, so they've put the ice sculptures inside two giant tents (think the white domes they put over your tennis courts if you live in Montclair) that they cool to a balmy 8 or 9 degrees. To prepare you for this, everyone gets a standard issue blue parka to go OVER your coat. Bring a hat, gloves, and a scarf, though, because it's COLD. Taking my gloves off to take pictures with my iphone made my fingers sad. PS- you'll want lots of pictures because those parkas are bringing sexy back. Check out me and my mom huggling for warmth. You know you wish you looked that good ;-)

I've been told by numerous readers that the best time during peak season to visit ICE is on a weekday. We were there on a Sunday, but since it was still November we didn't experience any real crowds. Even without the crowds, I'd recommend that if it's possible for your family you take one adult per child, or at least 2 adults, because when we got into the slide room, we were losing track of kids left and right as they went down the various slides at different speeds. Some of you may be calmer than me about that, but everyone was so blue! It was like trying to find a specific Smurf in a crowd, and that made me rather nervous. However, the kids had a blast and quickly figured out that to maximize your speed on the slides, you need to get your feet up and make sure your blue coat is under you. There are a total of 6 slides, and the ice stairs are covered with carpet, so you won't trip.

The ice sculptures themselves are absolutely amazing. Thinking that these were all just giant blocks of frozen water when they arrived is mind-boggling. My kids loved all of the funny scenes from "Shrek the Halls" and recognized many of the characters, which made them happy. I could not believe the craftsmenship that went into making everything. I believe that our entire walk through the displays, including sliding, took about 30 minutes. The setup is flat and the walkways are wide, though, so if you are bringing someone who will require a wheelchair, accessibility should not be an issue.

The final display at the end of ICE! is a gorgeous nativity scene done in all clear ice. When you're facing the scene, there's a giant clear angel behind you. The display lights up every few minutes and tells the Christmas story. Imbedded lights color the characters as they're mentioned and make the nativity be a rainbow of colors. It's pretty awesome. Pricing information is available here and starts at $15.99 for kids 4-11 and $22.99 for adults (weekday) going up to $22.99/$29.99 on the weekends. Military discounts are available on weekdays and some weekends, and start $13.99/$18.99. Children 0-3 are free.

So, after you finish walking around ICE! There's a lot of other stuff that you can do. For $35, you can meet the Dreamworks characters (Shrek, Po, Puss in Boots, Alex the Lion) and participate in a scavenger hunt that's themed for the movie "The Guardians", which my 6 year old liked for awhile, my 9 (9!) year old loved, and my 4 year old thought was torturous because she couldn't read and can't write small enough to fit in the blanks provided. She did like meeting the characters, though. This is a walk-through and you spend about 30 seconds with each character shooting a few pictures, which are available for purchase at the end of the walk. At the end of the scavenger hunt, your kids get a movie poster and a certificate, assuming they filled out all of the blanks correctly. We also tried making cookies at Gingy's House (my daughter is not actually unimpressed with the cookie, she's upset that I told her not to eat her cookie until I took a picture. My blog needs totally cramp her style). After you finish decorating your cookies (you can select a gingerbread train or a sugar cookie stackable tree)

When you're done decorating your cookies, you can visit Gingy and get a few pictures. Kits for this start at $29.95. Gingy was really cute, and the kids had fun, but the kits are just flat cookies, so if you're looking to keep prices down...

I thought this sign was hilarious....so, here's a picture of it.

Also available (but we didn't try them) are a ShrekFeast where you eat with the characters, brunch with Santa, pictures with Santa, Potomac Express rides (a mini train in the hotel atrium- rides are $2 and I know Supernovamommy.com's son loves the train). You can also package all of these things together with a hotel stay, and I have to say, I'd never been to the Gaylord before and it is absolutely breathtaking. It's the kind of hotel that you see in movies about hotels. Everything is spot on and gorgeous.

At the end of our visit, we were able to check out the nightly treelighting show, which is amazing. The lights and fountain dance, the music is great, and at the end it "snows" down into the atrium. The kids thought this was really neat, although I think they were expecting an actual blizzard. They liked the flurry anyway. I would literally go just to see the treelighting again. It was amazing. These happen at 6:30pm and 9:00pm every night from November 17th-January 6th. If your kids are old enough, you could make a complete day of this by taking part in whatever Dreamworks Experiences you'd like, and then staying for Family Fun and Fireworks in the National Harbor Plaza. They start live music at 5, you could come in and warm up with the Christmas Tree Lighting at 6:30, and still be outside in time for fireworks at 7! Brilliant!

All said and done, this was an amazing experience. It can definitely add up quickly, but it's an amazing thing for the kids. Have you been? Leave a comment letting us know your experience!

PwcMoms was provided with tickets to ICE! The Character Meet and Greet/Scavenger Hunt, and Gingy's Gingerbread Decorating. All opinions are my own.

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