Pre-Convening Tours

Pre-Convening tours are now full. 

Join us from 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM on Tues, March 26 for tours of two amazing institutions! 

Invent at KID Museum! 

Visit KID Museum, the nation's largest center for maker learning for youth in the Nation! Located in Bethesda, Maryland -just 2 miles outside of the District of Columbia and serving the DMV (DC, Maryland and Virginia) region and scaling nationally. During your visit you will take a deep dive into the Mind of a Maker —  a worldview that is guided by our values: curiosity, creativity, collaboration, and compassion. We foster this mindset in the kids and youth we serve, working with them to become empathetic and persistent problem-solvers, teammates, and changemakers. You will actively engage in sample challenges from our Invent the Future and KID Inventors programming where you will determine what you will make to improve life on our planet.  

Spark!Lab

Visit Spark!Lab, a drop-in, hands-on invention space for children and families, in the National Museum of American History. The primary educational program of the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, Spark!Lab uses the surrounding museum to deepen learners' inventive identities. You will see firsthand how Spark!Lab uses open-ended invention challenges based on real-world problems and historical inventions, as well as the stories of inventors and inventions, to engage visitors as inventors that identify problems relevant to their daily lives and use the invention process to test and tweak their solutions. The session will conclude with participants creating and workshopping their own invention activity inspired by an object from the museum’s collection.

PRE-CONVENING AGENDA

*Note: All times are in EST 

8:00 am Buses leave Westin Alexandria for KID Museum 

8:45 am Arrival - Transition

Coffee/tea and snacks available

9:00 am KID Museum program begins

11:00 am KID Museum program ends - Transition time to load buses

11:15 am Buses depart for Spark!Lab 

12 pm Arrival - Transition 

12:15 pm Boxed lunch at Spark!Lab

1 pm Spark!Lab program begins

3 pm Spark!Lab program ends - Transition time to load buses

3:15 pm Buses Depart for Westin Alexandria 

4 pm Buses arrive at Westin