Visiting with Kids

View Dine and Shop for information on our cafés and kid-friendly options.

Outside food and drink are not permitted inside the following museums:  

• Air and Space Museum 
• Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center 
• Anacostia Community Museum 
• Cooper Hewitt Design Museum 

While visitors may carry outside food into other Smithsonian museums, they may not eat it while inside, except in the Kogod Courtyard at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery, the lobby of the Hirshhorn Museum, and on the outdoor grounds of the Anacostia Community Museum. 

You may bring your own food and non-alcoholic drinks into the Zoo. Glass bottles are discouraged, as broken glass presents a danger to visitors, staff, and animals. You may not bring alcohol. 

If you need assistance or guidance, check with the museum information desk or with security at each museum you visit. 

We encourage you to limit the number of personal belongings and bags you bring into our facilities as they will be subject to a thorough search. Limiting the items you bring will increase your speed through security checkpoints. 

The following museums currently offer visitor lockers/storage: 

• African American History and Culture Museum 
• American Art Museum/National Portrait Gallery (F Street entrance only) 
• American History Museum 
• Asian Art Museum (Freer and Sackler) 
• Hirshhorn Museum (temporarily out of service) 
• Natural History Museum 
• Postal Museum 
• Udvar-Hazy Center (VA) 

Visitors should not leave personal belongings unattended, nor leave them stored at one museum while visiting other sites. 

Restrooms at all museums and the zoo can accommodate families, through baby changing tables, care spaces, and accessible spaces. Please check with the visitor desk when you arrive to inquire about specifics.

All mothers are welcome to breastfeed in any space that is open to the public.  

If you would prefer to nurse in private, the following Smithsonian sites have dedicated lactation rooms:

• National Air and Space Museum (DC location) 
• National Museum of African American History and Culture 
• National Museum of American History 
• National Museum of Natural History 
• National Postal Museum 
• Smithsonian's National Zoo 

Please check at any information desk for specific locations and for options at those sites not listed here.

Strollers are welcome at all locations. However, Zoo visitors cannot bring strollers, baby carriages, or other conveyances, except wheelchairs, into exhibition buildings and public restrooms.

All buildings are accessible and at least one entrance is accessible to visitors with limited mobility. View our Accessibility Map (PDF) for accessible entrances, parking, and more.