International Spy Museum DC | Everything You Need to Know
Do you have a kid who loves to spy on the neighbors? Loves a James Bond movie and leaving messages written in code? Then you need to come check out the International Spy Museum! While this museum is really for older kids, everyone over the age of 7 can really get something out of this amazing interactive place.
Tickets and Hours
Ticket prices, hours, and all the admission procedures can be found here:
https://www.spymuseum.org/visit/
Exhibits
The exhibits are super fun and there are several that change often. Here’s some of our favorite exhibits:
Stealing Secrets
Come face to face with spies and spymasters, gadget makers, scientists and engineers from past and present. Take a closer look at the hundreds of imaginative inventions used to steal secrets.
An Uncertain World
All countries experience threats — real, perceived, or contrived. But how do they respond to these threats? This gallery explores these responses — from interrogation to surveillance. How much protection is enough? How much is too much? The answer can be the difference between citizens living in security or living in an oppressive security state. Explore this uncertain world.
Go Undercover
But hands down the best thing to do at the Spy Museum is GO UNDERCOVER. You get to really become a spy. And work your way through the whole museum spying on other spies, cracking codes and completing your missions…..it is so much fun, my boys ask about completing missions at the Spy Museum every time we go to DC…..here is how it works
At the International Spy Museum, you can go undercover to test your spy skills at seventeen different digital and physical interactives spread throughout the Museum’s permanent exhibitions over two floors. You’ll be challenged to remember your cover identity, stay undercover, and participate in activities ranging from cracking codes, to crawling through an air duct and spying on other “spies.”
Before you arrive
If you want an advance peek at the Undercover Mission interactives and skill challenges, download the Undercover Mission Map.
WHEN YOU ARRIVE — GET YOUR BADGE AND COVER IDENTITY
You’ll receive your Undercover Mission badge and check in at our Briefing Center. Here you will be issued your cover name and cover details (a fake occupation and place of birth, and where in the world your mission will take place).
IN THE EXHIBITS — TEST YOURSELF
As you travel through the exhibits you can participate in Undercover Mission as much or as little as you like (or not at all). Your scores and collected “intel” will be tracked. In the final exhibit, the Debriefing Center, you can “checkout” with your badge to see your top two skills and discover the conclusion to your mission.
AFTER YOU LEAVE — DISCOVER ALL YOUR SKILLS
To get the full Debrief and find out all your scores, see your skill medallions, and photos, log on to the special Undercover Mission portal. Here you can also “meet” a real spy with similar skills and learn how they used your top skill in the field. To access this portal you can either provide your e-mail when you checkout at the Debriefing Center or use the number on the back of your badge when you get home (you’ll have 30 days to access this information).
Contact the Museum
00 L’Enfant Plaza, SW Washington DC, 20024
202.393.7798
info@spymuseum.org
Conclusion
The International Spy museum looks serious but is FUN with a capital F….you definitely want to have time for the Spy Museum next time you are in Washington DC. Find other fun things to do in DC on ZuzuForKids.com!