Calendar of Events

Every Wednesday, beginning at 4:00pm, museum admission is just $5 per person! And best of all, the museum stays open until 8:00pm so there’s plenty of time to explore! Members and children under age 1 are always free.

Celebrate the favorite father in your life with a trophy you build in his honor. In honor of Father’s Day, visit The Shop to use a variety of real tools and materials to construct a trophy to commemorate the importance of the dad in your life. Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials safely in this space.

A country or city’s flag symbolizes its people, culture, and sometimes its geography. Visit Spark!Lab Smithsonian to use a variety of materials to design your own flag that symbolizes your favorite location, real or imaginary. Using a variety of materials including felt, construction paper, and other colored papers and fabric scraps, visitors can design a flag that represents nearly anything they can imagine. Please note: Spark!Lab offers access to tools and materials that can cause injury if used improperly. Parents are…

Celebrate the favorite father in your life with a trophy you build in his honor. In honor of Father’s Day, visit The Shop to use a variety of real tools and materials to construct a trophy to commemorate the importance of the dad in your life. Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials safely in this space.

A country or city’s flag symbolizes its people, culture, and sometimes its geography. Visit Spark!Lab Smithsonian to use a variety of materials to design your own flag that symbolizes your favorite location, real or imaginary. Using a variety of materials including felt, construction paper, and other colored papers and fabric scraps, visitors can design a flag that represents nearly anything they can imagine. Please note: Spark!Lab offers access to tools and materials that can cause injury if used improperly. Parents are…

From Memorial Day, May 26 though Labor Day, September 1, 2025, The Discovery adds Monday to the days the museum is open to the public. That’s seven days a week you can build, invent, explore and have fun! We hope to see you here. Be sure to check out the calendar of events to find out what’s happening all summer long!

Join us here at The Discovery every Wednesday for a special morning just for young learners ages 5 and under. Hear stories, climb the clouds, create art, and enjoy the entire museum for a full hour before it opens to everyone! Please note: Admission during Small Wonder Wednesday is limited to families with children ages 5 and under only. Visitors with children age 6 and older can visit the museum beginning at 10:00am.

Every Wednesday, beginning at 4:00pm, museum admission is just $5 per person! And best of all, the museum stays open until 8:00pm so there’s plenty of time to explore! Members and children under age 1 are always free.

It’s Gerard, The Discovery’s resident Allosaurus’ second birthday. To celebrate, we’re filling the museum with a ton of dinosaur themed activities like this one! Visit Spark!Lab Smithsonian to invent your own modern-day dinosaur. Using a variety of recycled materials you can create a new imaginary type of dinosaur. Be sure to consider where it will live, what advantages it should have, and any other attributes it might need to survive. Please note: Spark!Lab offers access to tools and materials that can…

It’s Gerard, The Discovery’s resident Allosaurus’ second birthday. To celebrate, we’re filling the museum with a ton of dinosaur themed activities like this one! Visit Spark!Lab Smithsonian to invent your own modern-day dinosaur. Using a variety of recycled materials you can create a new imaginary type of dinosaur. Be sure to consider where it will live, what advantages it should have, and any other attributes it might need to survive. Please note: Spark!Lab offers access to tools and materials that can…

Visit The Shop to use a variety of tools and materials to design and build your own dinosaur exhibit. Learn woodworking skills, safe tool handling, and effective planning when you combine a variety of materials with expert craftsmanship to create a model of a hands-on dinosaur exhibit. Best of all, what you make is yours to keep! Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents/caregivers are encouraged to help young…

Celebrate Gerard’s 2nd birthday with us here at The Discovery! We’re marking the two-year anniversary of the installation of the museum’s Allosaurus cast with a weekend filled with dinosaur activities for all ages. Invent a Dino Using recycled materials and some templates cut from cardboard our visitors will be asked to create a new imaginary type of dinosaur, considering where it would live and what advantages it would have based on whatever they added. ex. “what advantages does having a…

It’s Gerard, The Discovery’s resident Allosaurus’ second birthday. To celebrate, we’re filling the museum with a ton of dinosaur themed activities like this one! Visit Spark!Lab Smithsonian to invent your own modern-day dinosaur. Using a variety of recycled materials you can create a new imaginary type of dinosaur. Be sure to consider where it will live, what advantages it should have, and any other attributes it might need to survive. Please note: Spark!Lab offers access to tools and materials that can…

Visit The Shop to use a variety of tools and materials to design and build your own dinosaur exhibit. Learn woodworking skills, safe tool handling, and effective planning when you combine a variety of materials with expert craftsmanship to create a model of a hands-on dinosaur exhibit. Best of all, what you make is yours to keep! Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents/caregivers are encouraged to help young…

From Memorial Day, May 26 though Labor Day, September 1, 2025, The Discovery adds Monday to the days the museum is open to the public. That’s seven days a week you can build, invent, explore and have fun! We hope to see you here. Be sure to check out the calendar of events to find out what’s happening all summer long!

Hands-on gets serious in The Shop! In this material-specific session of Open Build, you’ll use real tools to build nearly anything you can imagine out of cardboard. Best of all, what you create is yours to keep! Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can cause injury if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials safely in this space.

Hands-on gets serious in The Shop! In this material-specific session of Open Build, you’ll use real tools to build nearly anything you can imagine out of cardboard. Best of all, what you create is yours to keep! Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can cause injury if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials safely in this space.

Join us here at The Discovery every Wednesday for a special morning just for young learners ages 5 and under. Hear stories, climb the clouds, create art, and enjoy the entire museum for a full hour before it opens to everyone! Please note: Admission during Small Wonder Wednesday is limited to families with children ages 5 and under only. Visitors with children age 6 and older can visit the museum beginning at 10:00am.

Put your do-it-yourself skills to work in The Shop when you use real tools and materials to create a fun game to play with family and friends. Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials safely in this space.

Every Wednesday, beginning at 4:00pm, museum admission is just $5 per person! And best of all, the museum stays open until 8:00pm so there’s plenty of time to explore! Members and children under age 1 are always free.

Dogs are easy to train. Bugs are not. Except for this cute little fella. He always does what you tell him. But can you program him to navigate an obstacle course or perform a specific action? Visit Spark!Lab Smithsonian to find out if you have what it takes to code a bug!

Dogs are easy to train. Bugs are not. Except for this cute little fella. He always does what you tell him. But can you program him to navigate an obstacle course or perform a specific action? Visit Spark!Lab Smithsonian to find out if you have what it takes to code a bug!

Dogs are easy to train. Bugs are not. Except for this cute little fella. He always does what you tell him. But can you program him to navigate an obstacle course or perform a specific action? Visit Spark!Lab Smithsonian to find out if you have what it takes to code a bug!

From Memorial Day, May 26 though Labor Day, September 1, 2025, The Discovery adds Monday to the days the museum is open to the public. That’s seven days a week you can build, invent, explore and have fun! We hope to see you here. Be sure to check out the calendar of events to find out what’s happening all summer long!