Please Touch Museum

New Location!

Who doesn’t love the Please Touch Museum? And now, taking kids to the Museum is better than ever. The nation’s premier children’s museum — which has been a beloved landmark since it opened in 1976 — has a new home in Fairmount Park, opening its doors to a world of educational, hands-on fun.

The new location in Memorial Hall — a National Historic Landmark built in 1876 for the Centennial Exhibition celebrating the country’s 100th birthday — will boast three times more space for exhibitions and programs.

Just outside the museum, kids and adults will also delight in riding the meticulously restored 1908 Woodside Park Dentzel Carousel, built in Philadelphia for a now-defunct amusement park 10 blocks from Memorial Hall.

Visit The Please Touch Museum for more info!

The Experience

The city’s award-winning children’s museum is fun-filled, totally hands-on, and so delightful that adults are entertained, too. Each nook and cranny has a different theme — from the fantastic to the practical. In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, kids can play croquet with the Queen and sip tea with the Mad Hatter; nearby, oversized props bring Maurice Sendak’s classics to life.

Kids can take the wheel of a real bus and sail a boat on a mini-Delaware River; in “Nature’s Pond,” the youngest visitors (age 3 and under) can discover animals nestled among high grass and a lily pond, or enjoy stories and nursery rhymes in “Fairytale Garden.” Please Touch is also a first live theater experience for young children — Please Touch Playhouse performances are original and interactive and take place daily!

Please Touch Museum tends to be busier on rainy days. You may want to schedule your visit on fair weather days. Mornings are also a busy time with most school groups visiting during this time. Afternoons are a great time to visit the museum as well as Mondays when groups are not scheduled.

History

One of the lasting museums from the tourist upgrade of Philadelphia that coincided with the 1976 Bicentennial celebration, Please Touch Museum® filled a gap in the city’s cultural scene. Other museums in the area certainly have sections for children, but Please Touch Museum’s new home not only offers three toddler areas, but also exciting exhibit components for older siblings (for ages 7 and up).

Visiting Tips

Please Touch Museum tends to be busier on rainy days. You may want to schedule your visit on fair weather days. Mornings are also a busy time with most school groups visiting during this time. Afternoons are a great time to visit the museum as well as Mondays when groups are not scheduled.

Insider Tip

The museum has a full schedule of craft activities and music, dance and storytelling performances, which are entertaining for both kids and adults.

Great Kids’ Stuff

In The Supermarket, kids take control: They can stock the shelves, load their cart and ring up the order.