Are you a book lover? Join thousands of like-minded folks for two days of festivities featuring more than 100 authors, poets, illustrators, and entertainers. Hands-on activities, live performances, author book signings, and PBS Kids characters for the young ones. (The National Mall, September 22–23, 2012)

America's National Independence Day Parade takes place annually on July 4th at 11:45 am in Washington, D.C., on Constitution Avenue from 7th to 17th Street. You can see bands from all over the country, fife and drum corps, floats, military units, giant balloons, equestrian and drill teams, and celebrity hosts.

The National Air and Space Museum useum encourages families to learn together with special themed "Family Days" that celebrate aviation and space themes. Visitors can "Meet the Experts," see live performances and participate in a variety of hands-on activities.

Learn to fold a full-size replica of the 30x42-foot Star-Spangled Banner in Flag Hall. Get a sense of the true size of the flag that Francis Scott Key saw over Fort McHenry when he wrote our National Anthem.

Take a seat at a large, communal table in the center of the exhibition to share their own thoughts and experiences about food and change in America. See Julia Child’s home kitchen — with its hundreds of tools, appliances and furnishings. (National Museum of American History)

In this hands-on program, discover mysterious miniature objects created in China hundreds of years ago. IMake your own miniature clay person, animal, or object to take home. (Freer Gallery of Art)

Explore different modes of transportation like snowshoes and skateboards; sit inside a full-sized tipi and learn about the buffalo; see what makes a Pueblo adobe house special or learn how a Comanche tipi is built; storytellers, artists, and other unique performers and activities — and much more. (National Museum of the American Indian)

Relax by the fountain and enjoy free jazz performances at the outdoor café every Friday evening throughout the summer. (National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden)

This exhibition explores how people interact with natural resources in an urban setting. The exhibition also examines civic attempts to recover, clean up, re-imagine, or engineer urban rivers for community access and use. (Anacostia Community Museum)

Josh Gibson and “Buck” Leonard, star players of the Negro Leagues most celebrated team, the Washington Homestead Grays are featured in this exhibition. (Anacostia Community Museum, July 30, 2012–ongoing)

Led by museum educators, each program includes reading a children's book, looking at one work of art in the galleries, and completing a simple hands-on activity. This summer's theme is Tour de France: Explore France, from its countryside to the bustling urban center of Paris, through works of art in the French galleries. (National Gallery of Art, West Rotunda)

Become a builder for the day! Climb aboard cranes and tractors, build a brick wall, construct a log cabin, carve stone, compete in a nail driving contest and more. (National Building Museum, September 21, 2013)

See how plants have been used for generations in medicine, ornamentation, music, ceremony and cooking. Children will love smelling the aromas of herbs, spices and other natural scents as well as experiencing the larger-than-life plant sculptures of the "Garden of Ideas."

The planetarium holds regular shows on Saturdays and Sundays at 1 p.m. for children five and older and at 4 p.m. for children seven and older. The show for the younger children concentrates on the identification of major constellations and the movement of the heavenly bodies through the night sky. The show for older children, is divided into a study of the sky as it will appear that night and an in-depth astronomy presentation. On Wednesday afternoons year-round there is an after- school show at 4:00 p.m.

Tours, demonstrations, talks, and family festivals — all centered around plants and gardening.

Each evening, at 6:00 p.m., the Millennium Stage features free performances by a broad range of music, dance, and theater artists from the Washington metro area, across the nation, and around the world.

Something is always happening at the National Zoo. Daily programs include animal training, feeding demonstrations, and keeper talks. Learn more about how to feed an octopus or a crustacean; watch the orangutan crossing, explore the world of the cheetah, and much more.