As part of the National Harbor development, NCM is regarded as an anchor for the many nearby hotels, restaurants, and retail stores. The indoor space will be located on American Way, the main thoroughfare of the National Harbor town center. The outdoor location will be across the way on St. George’s Boulevard and will include extend to access of a forested area as well as a designated slip on the main pier on the Potomac River. NCM will serve an audience of over 1.2 million children living in the local community and the 17.7 million tourists who visit the Washington region each year.

The National Children’s Museum will establish institution-wide sustainable goals, practices, and guidelines. NCM has developed strategies for sustainable design practices with the goal of creating the most sustainable exhibits possible with NCM’s current and future resources. The NCM team will continue to research and adopt best practices for sustainability including those recommended by leading professionals in the field and organizations such as the U.S. Green Building Council. 

Pelli Clarke Pelli (PCP), the project architect of the final home of NCM, is a world-renowned firm with many critically acclaimed buildings, including Reagan National Airport. PCP has the experience and qualifications needed to create workable solutions for the Museum’s facility needs. 

When completed, the National Children’s Museum will house some the most exciting and engaging exhibits, programs, and resources ever designed to spark the imagination, feed the soul, and celebrate the power of children and their families. Interactive exhibits, a rotating complement of temporary installations, and their complimentary online experiences will give children the opportunity to learn, explore, and get involved on a wide range of issues in core content areas: the environment, health and well-being, play, civic engagement, the arts, and the global neighborhood. 

Developed by exhibit design firms Amaze Design, Roto Studios, and Aldrich Pears, permanent and temporary exhibits, as well as public programming, will reflect the Museum’s mission, purpose, and values through three experience concepts:

• Being Me

Encouraging healthy self-awareness and self-esteem so children learn to make good choices and are motivated to care for themselves and others. 

• Kids’ Nation

Connecting kids to American Democracy and demonstrating how all of us are connected to our environment.

• Our World

Encouraging a global perspective – the idea that we are all citizens of multiple communities, so children learn empathy and understand their purpose and place in the human family.