Washington D.C. For Teens
Traveling to Washington DC isn’t always the first place most teenagers think of when they are looking for a fun place to go on vacation. And yet those of us who have been and want to share our heritage with the next generation know it can be a fun place as well as educational. There are a lot of boring things in DC that would make an teenager groan at the thought of being dragged through every museum reading plaques about some old stuff they don’t even care about. It is our job to make history fun and interesting without boring them to death while still instilling in them a sense of pride for where we have come from as a nation.
Look around you for teachable moments, ask your teen at the end of the day what they liked best and what wasn’t fun and adjust your schedule for the next day so that your teen feels like you care what they say (and you should) to make it a great experience for everyone. The teenage creature has this weird way of going into a disgruntled bad attitude quickly and for no reason at times. One way to help avoid that is to give them rest, food, some independence and a say in what you are doing. Let them lead you around and play tour guide if that helps, give them freedom to choose what they want to see. Talk about where you’re going each day and what would interest them. Then when you get to a museum set them free and let them roam for an hour then meet up and ask them what they saw that was interesting to them. If you have time ask them to show you what they found and maybe you show them one thing. Teenagers need independence and freedom to discover and when you show an interest in what they are interested in then they will return the favor and you both can share what you like and have fun together.
The last thing you want is to beat them over the head with a history book that will further divide this next generation from learning from our great history, so remember HAVE FUN!
I have been working with teens for 20 years taking groups of teens around the world and I have a good understanding of how to put all the details together for a great trip no matter where we go. The sooner you start planning your trip, the better your chances of getting tickets to the places you want to go! Most everything is free, but a few things cost $2 to get advance tickets but you don’t have to stand in line, so it’s worth it! This book is one I put together after 7 months of research and planning on what our students said they wanted to see in DC and after taking groups to DC this is tried and proven fun! This plan will work for a family of 1 or 200 teens, it doesn’t matter how many you have as long as you have enough leaders to “wrangle the cats.” All the questions I asked and searched for I have compiled here to help your trip planning be quick and easy. If you have any suggestions please email me and I’ll add it to the updated edition. I would love your feedback email me matthewrings@gmail.com I have built this eBook as an interactive travel guide with a lot of helpful hyperlinks (if you don’t know what that is, ask your teen :)) It should work on most ereaders but if you have trouble accessing links, simply download the pc or mac version of the Nook or Kindle and from any Smartphone or computer you can get to all the helpful links to work.
One last thing before we get started, if you want to teach your teen about the spiritual heritage of our country I wrote another book called In God We Trust? which is a daily devotional for a trip to DC. It is packed with tons of research on our history as a nation and the impact God had on the lives of our founding fathers. I wrote it to go with the week trip we took our youth to D.C. so it is connected each day with lessons that go with where you travel each day.
Table of Contents
Travel Plans
What to see and do and where to eat
Weekend Plan
Bonus Fun
washington dc tourism
washington dc visitors guide
visit dc
tourist attractions in washington dc
washington dc tourist attractions
washington dc activities
washington dc trip planner
where to stay in dc
