International Spy Museum

Meg loves mysteries. Her favorite book series include Encyclopedia Brown (my favorite as a kid), A to Z Mysteries and the Boxcar Children mysteries. The girls also became interested in spy kits during the school year. With all this mystery and intrigue, I decided it might be time to try the International Spy Museum. The Spy Museum is definitely not geared towards smaller children. Reading is absolutely a necessity to experience the museum fully. In fact, the first stop in the museum is a room full of fake identities which you must read and choose one to memorize as your own identity. I looked through the D.C. parent websites to see if 8-year-old Meg and 7-year-old Clare were likely to enjoy the museum and most people believed the museum was great for kids 7 and above. 

I started the day out with a code to break. At breakfast I gave Meg and Clare this puzzle and they used the cipher Meg and I made at the Smithsonian Sleepover to solve it.

I should note that while the museum was more age appropriate for Meg and Clare, 3-year-old Anne was definitely along for the ride. Happily there is no admission cost for kids 6 and under, so as long as I could keep her occupied, we weren't out much. We were planning to do the Family Mission activity provided by the museum as a way to keep the kids connected as they make their way through the exhibits. The museum also provided an age-appropriate activity sheet for Anne that used pictures of animals and other things kids could spot around the museum. 

The museum definitely offers hands-on activities that kids and adults can enjoy. There is a duct tunnel that kids can crawl through and attempt to listen in on conversations. The sound made in the duct tunnel is measured so kids know if they are quiet enough to be a spy. There are touchscreens with video footage of crowds and the user attempts to locate the disguised spy. The James Bond exhibit includes a hang time test, which Meg is using below.

Even with all these great activities, it wasn't the most successful trip. Clare was not having a good day. I think her perfectionism was overwhelmed by trying to memorize a secret identity. She then struggled to follow along on the Family Mission activity and became frustrated. She would say she wanted to go home and ignore an activity, but then get very upset when she realized she had missed filling in a blank on her activity sheet. This is not unusual for Clare when something is just slightly beyond her abilities. She can't accept only partially completing a task. She wants to conquer everything and becomes distraught when she can't do something. She's lucky that both her father and I have personal experience with that type of frustration and we can be somewhat sympathetic. We know the frustration will pass and that she mostly just needs a supportive hug as all of her fears of not being good enough work their way through her little mind. That being said, it is difficult to watch because Clare is such a talented and smart girl. We all know how gifted she is in so many ways and it is so hard to watch her feeling inadequate. 

I'm glad to say that even grumpy Clare found some ways to amuse herself. Here, she and Anne are being Bletchley girls--intercepting German intelligence in World War II. 

While the trip was not a huge success, it wasn't a total failure either. After returning home, I noticed Meg pulled out her books on spies and was using her spy notebook. Clare was attempting to covertly blend in to various surrounding so she could spy on people. Anne simply asked, "Can we play spy?" The museum certainly triggered their imaginations and that was really all I was trying to accomplish. We, however, will wait another few years until we try it again.