Make faces at the oh-so-cuddly panda cub or inspect a moon rock. Cheer on a big-league baseball team or practice spycraft.

Who says a learning vacation can't be fun? Maybe the kids griped when you suggested heading to the nation's capital rather than the beach. But that was before they knew how much fun they could have.

Washington is a lot more than boring monuments and stuffy museums. In fact, Washington may provide just the right blend of hands-on museum activities, outdoor fun, hip shopping and kid-friendly restaurants and hotels. (Visit www.washington.org for the best weekend hotel deals, and remember that most museums are free!)

No matter how many days you've got, you won't be able to see everything Washington has to offer. You'll make yourself and the kids crazy if you even try. Instead, let each member of the family choose one must-see site. The historic planes and spaceships at the National Air and Space Museum? The giant panda cub Tai Shan at the National Zoo? The chance to climb to the top of the Washington Monument? Reserve free tickets ahead of time by visiting www.nps.gov/wamo. Book a tour of the White House and the Capitol by contacting your congressional representative (www.house.gov).

GETTING AROUND

Wherever you go, locals say the best way to get around is via Metro (www.wmata.com). I'm also a fan of the Old Town Trolley Tours (www.oldtowntrolley.com) that stop at all the major tourist sites and allow you to get on and off all day.

Just make sure to leave plenty of time to play Frisbee on the National Mall, see the Lincoln Monument at night, check out the weird and wonderful gargoyles at the Washington National Cathedral (www.cathedral.org) and share a terrific pizza (locals say Pizzeria Paradiso is the best; www.eatyourpizza.com). Show the kids the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and tell them how many Americans protested that war. Cheer on the Washington Nationals at their new stadium, or drive to nearby Baltimore to watch the Baltimore Orioles play at Camden Yards.

If the kids are old enough, encourage each one to plan one day of the trip. You'll be amazed at where they lead you! Check out the kids' areas on the websites for the Smithsonian (www.smithsonianeducation.org/students), the White House (www.whitehouse.gov/kids) the National Zoo (www.nationalzoo.si.edu/audiences/kids) and the House of Representatives (http://clerkkids.house.gov/congress/index.html).

Guidebooks such as Frommer's Washington D.C. with Kids and Fodor's Around Washington, D.C. with Kids can also help. See what special activities and workshops are offered during the time you plan to visit.

INTERESTING THEMES

In addition to the major sites, consider activities that tap into your kids' interests-of-the-moment:

• The littlest artists will love The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden's Gallery Tales for Tots, which introduces kids to modern art through storytelling and the chance to create their own masterpieces. The museum (www.hirshhorn.si.edu) also has programs for older children and art labs for teens. The National Gallery of Art (www.nga.gov) hosts drop-in workshops for kids and ''postcard'' tours in which children are given packets of cards with pictures of objects they can find in the museum.

• Future spies and spycatchers can take KidSpy classes at the International Spy Museum (www.spymuseum.org), where they can also test their code-cracking skills.

• Doctors in training can check out the bullet that killed Abraham Lincoln, a pool of live leeches and the world's largest collection of microscopes at the National Museum of Health and Medicine (www.nmhm.washingtondc.museum), located on the campus of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

• Presidents-to-be can take one of the kid-friendly Washington Walks tours (www.washingtonwalks.com), including one at the Lincoln Memorial that introduces children to a young Abe Lincoln and another at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial as seen from the eyes of Roosevelt's famous pooch, Fala.

• Kids celebrating bar mitzvahs and bat mitzvahs should see the exhibition Remember the Children: Daniel's Story at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (www.ushmm.org). It tells the historically true story of a fictional German boy named Daniel, following Daniel from his middle-class home to Auschwitz.

• Animal lovers can talk to volunteers at the National Zoo (http://nationalzoo.si.edu/) and even help out at the on-site farm. Check out the Asia Trail, which not only is home to the zoo's famous pandas but also for sloth bears, fishing cats, clouded leopards and even a Japanese giant salamander.

• Young actors and actresses have their pick of productions to see, and more than 30 area theaters offer a free ticket for each child 17 and under with each adult ticket purchased. (Visit the League of Washington Theaters at www.lowt.org.) The Kennedy Center (www.kennedy-center.org) has a special family theater, while the National Theatre (www.nationaltheatre.org) touts special free children's entertainment each Saturday. The Kennedy Center is also featuring the Shakespeare in Washington festival through June.

• History nuts can talk to costumed interpreters at George Washington's plantation home in Mount Vernon (www.mountvernon.org), located 16 miles south of Washington, and see what 18th-century rural life was like, from the slave quarters to the mansion to the colonial farm site. There are plenty of hands-on activities for kids.

The kids will be too busy having a good time to realize how much they're learning. Good job.

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