1974 - 2024
50 years of play
a monumental milestone
In 1974, when only nine children’s museums existed in the country, a dedicated group of Washingtonians decided that DC’s children deserved their own museum. The museum they founded—first called The Children’s Museum of Inquiry and Discovery and later the Capital Children’s Museum—embodied their belief that experiential learning was the best way to inspire children to care about and change the world. This belief, which is enshrined in our mission, has guided our work for the past 50 years.
From exhibits set up as a museum-on-the-move to a state-of-the-art learning center in the heart of downtown DC, National Children’s Museum has been at the forefront of hands-on learning for 50 years.
Help us commemorate this monumental milestone and launch our next 50 years of play!
a commemorative exhibit
When the Museum opened its first building on Third and H Streets Northeast in 1979, one of the featured experiences was an immersive Mexico exhibit created with the support of the Mexican government. In this beloved exhibit, children were transported to a small village in Mexico where they learned about the country’s culture by exploring a market and making their own Mexican hot chocolate and tortillas.
This summer, the Museum paid homage to the Capital Children’s Museum and this experience with the opening of a reimagined Mexico exhibit – Placita Mágica – sponsored by Abuelita and developed in partnership with the Embassy of Mexico, the Mexican Cultural Institute.
placita mágica
A special 50th anniversary exhibit that pays homage to the Capital Children’s Museum.
floor 1
recommended ages: 3-12
the stories project
share your story
an archive + storytelling initiative
For five decades innovation and inclusion have been at the forefront of the Museum experience. The Stories Project is an opportunity to create connections between the rich history of the Capital Children’s Museum and a vision for the future laid out by National Children’s Museum. In this initiative, we bring together memories from our community and mementos from our institutional records to celebrate and preserve our legacy.
dreamers gala
an evening of celebration, a lifetime of dreaming
On December 7, 2024, our special 50th Anniversary Dreamers Gala celebrated the Museum’s past, present, and future promise to the next generation of innovators. We honored true champions of our mission and early education—congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton and former Museum President + CEO Crystal R. Bowyer—and brought together our wide community of supporters to raise support for the Museum’s continued work.