Sleeping with the fishes…

…or Naked Mole Rats. Your choice.

If you thought the aquarium was great during the day, how about at night?

Museums and other venues host annual events where, for a fee, patrons can spend the night in the facility. Evening stays often include exclusive extras, like behind-the-scenes tours of animal facilities.

Here are four places where you can spend an unusual night:

Port Discovery
This Baltimore Children’s museum opens up after hours. Kids (and their chaperones) are set loose to explore hands-on exhibits and romp on the three-story KidWorks climbing structure (which includes rope ladders, towers, and a zip line).
http://www.portdiscovery.org/portdiscovery/uploads/File/Program_Descriptive.pdf

Smithsonian National Zoological Park
Family Snore & Roar
A tour, a roar, and a boar. Tour the park, take a hike, sleepover with the animals, breakfast in the morning.
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/ActivitiesAndEvents/Activities/SnoreRoar/Tours/

National Aquarium, Baltimore
An experience for shark lovers. Hands-on activities, crafts station and guided tours through the Aquarium’s behind-the-scene areas. Then: sleep with the fishes. Overnight in the underwater viewing area with the sharks nearby.
http://www.aqua.org/immersiontours_sharksleepovers.html

International Spy Museum
Go on a mission where you change your appearance, crack a code, weed out a mole in your midst! Fee includes museum admission on day 2.
http://www.spymuseum.org/programs/calendar_pages/2008/q4/2008_11_15_ks_prog.php

This article originally appeared in Helping to Homeschool, my column at communities.washingtontimes.com