What to Do in Philadelphia with Kids Right Now

Housed inside Fairmount Park’s Memorial Hall (built for the 1876 Centennial), the beloved Please Touch Museum is a heaven-on-earth-for-kids attraction, offering two full floors of interactive exhibit zones, plus a fully restored century-old carousel.

Kids can play and pretend amid Fairytale Garden, River Adventures and other hands-on fun among nearly 20 permanent and otating exhibitions. And if you’re looking for a great place to celebrate holidays with kids, the attractions has events for everything from Earth Day to Pride to Halloween.

The region’s oldest science museum, The Franklin Institute, established in 1824, fills a city block with kid-friendly exhibitions — some revered by Philadelphians for decades.

Popular exhibits include SportsZone, Sir Isaac’s Loft, Amazing Machine, Franklin Air Show and the two-story Wondrous Space. But two of the most beloved have undergone recent renovations: the 18-foot-tall Giant Heart (installed in 1953), which is now part of Body Odyssey, and the 350-ton Baldwin 60000 Steam Locomotive (installed in 1933), now in the Hamilton Collections Gallery, which also includes artifacts from Franklin’s lightning rod to Edison’s lightbulb.

Also on site: the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial and the Fels Planetarium

America’s first zoo and a foremost conservation organization, the Philadelphia Zoo is home to nearly 1,300 animals from African Lions to Western Gorillas, many rare and endangered. The attraction also features the Zoo360 first-in-the-world animal travel and exploration train system, enabling primates and felines to move above and across the main visitor pathway.

Other exhibits include Penguin Point, Big Cat Falls, the Giraffe Experience, Outback Outpost, McNeil Avian Center, PECO Primate Reserve and the interactive KidZooU. Coming in 2026: the newly renovated, 80,000-square-foot Bear Country exhibit.

More than just a beautiful green space, Franklin Square — one of William Penn’s five original squares — features a bevy of kid-friendly activities, including a festive playground and splash pad, the landmark-themed Philly Mini Golf, the Parx Liberty Carousel and the restored marble Rendell Family Fountain.

When hunger sets in, seasonal SquareBurger delivers with burgers, snacks and the famous Cake Shake. Summer brings the Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival, while the holidays feature Winter in Franklin Square and its Electrical Spectacle Light Show. Getting here is even easier with a newly reopened PATCO station.

Two million gallons of water and 15,000 aquatic animals — including the largest collection of sharks in the Northeast — lie across the river on the Camden waterfront at Adventure Aquarium, where you’ll find aquatic animals of every sort to greet, observe and even touch (well, some of them).

Special residents include Button and Genny, the world’s only aquarium-housed Nile hippos, and Little Blue Beach’s eponymous penguins, one of just a half-dozen aquariums exhibiting the world’s-smallest breed. The biggest wow is Ocean Realm, a 760,000-gallon tank of stingrays, sharks, loggerhead and green sea turtles.

The oldest natural history museum in the Americas, the Benjamin Franklin Parkway’s Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University dates all the way back to 1812. But the elder institution still keeps it fresh with new permanent exhibits and regular visiting displays.

Start at the kid-friendly Outside In, where visitors can interact with living animal ambassadors, climb into historic dioramas and view specimens under a microscope. And your little dino-fan will roar over Dinosaur Hall, complete with 30 prehistoric reptile fossils, a fossil preparation lab, dig site and a fully reconstructed 42-foot-tall Tyrannosaurus rex.

We’ll tell you how to get, how to get to Sesame Place — the only Sesame Street-themed amusement park in the world outside California. Come meet stars like Big Bird, Cookie Monster and Elmo while enjoying sunny day fun at the small-child-friendly park.

The 14-acre facility features 35 rides and attractions, a water park, interactive and educational games, parades, fireworks, character shows and much more. The park is seasonal spring to fall (with the water park open from Memorial Day through Labor Day), along with special Halloween and December holiday programming.

Explore your inner LEGOmaniac at the 33,000-square-foot Legoland Discovery Center at Montgomery County’s Plymouth Meeting Mall, an indoor playground designed for kids ages 3 to 10.

The hands-on attraction offers a dozen LEGO-themed rides and playplaces (like The Great LEGO Race VR Experience and Imagination Express), a 4D Cinema, create-your-own build stations, workshops with master builders and the LEGO Ninjago Training Camp. Also not to miss: toddler-friendly DUPLO Park, a themed café, a LEGO store and Philadelphia Miniland, with huge miniature recreations of iconic Philly buildings, streets and landmarks created from over 1 million LEGO bricks.

At The Bucks County Children’s Museum, kids can play their way through a half-dozen explore-able exhibits that offer insight into the county’s long history.

Play area themes include The Hospital (where kids can play doctor and play giant Operation), a kid-sized Town Square, the Factory Works engineering display, the Big Dig fossil hunt, Bucks County Country (where kids can learn about recycling) and Airways to Waterways (which recreates a lock on the Delaware Canal).

Norristown’s 16-acre Elmwood Park Zoo just celebrated its centennial anniversary in 2024, and there’s a ton more to celebrate during the next century, including the 100-plus species on-site, including bison, zebras, jaguars, red pandas and otters.

Some of the zoo’s most famous residents include Liana the two-toed sloth, Penny the American alligator and Noah the bald eagle, mascot of the Philadelphia Eagles. Families can pet the goats, sheep and donkeys; feed the giant giraffe; ride the zoo-themed carousel; or zip line 50 feet above the grounds. Adult diversions are available at the Zoo Brew Bar & Beer Garden.

At over 1,000 acres, Longwood Gardens is Philly’s largest botanical garden. Pierre du Pont’s tranquil horticultural oasis showcases nearly 10,000 varieties throughout its grounds while taking the top spot on Fodor’s list of best botanical gardens across the United States.

Along with amazing fountain shows and vast floral vistas, the site includes the Indoor Children’s Garden in the Conservatory District, which inspires kids with an imaginative, child-size space filled with hands-on water features, handcrafted sculptures and secret stairways. Even more strolls, activities and events for children are available throughout the year.

Across 92 acres of sprawling gardens and natural areas, Morris Arboretum & Gardens uses education and imagination to reveal a collaborative relationship with nature through lively exhibits for the whole family, including two kid-friendly popular faves.

The Tree Adventure & Treetop Canopy Walk puts visitors 50 feet into the trees for a bird’s-eye view and includes a larger-than-life Bird’s Nest and Squirrel Scramble — expansive hammock-like netting which kids can scamper across. And the wonder-filled Garden Railway features a miniature world of trains, bridges and small-scale buildings made of natural materials on a quarter-mile track.

Bring your own hammer (no joke!) to Ringing Rocks Park, a seven-acre field of hulking round stones that respond to whacks and thumps with the sound of ringing bells. Climb the field and start banging away on the primordial igneous diabase boulders to experience a most-unexpected melodic geological sound created by a combination of melting permafrost, weathering and rock shape.

Once through the boulder field, visitors can continue on into the 123-acre park, a dense forest for hikers, bikers and picnickers which also features High Falls, Bucks County’s highest waterfall.

Dating back to 1965, the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education is a 365-acre preserve in Roxborough offering innovative environmental education programs, including the nation’s most ambitious environmental art initiative and the region’s only wildlife clinic.

The site’s Visitors Center includes the interactive kids’ Discovery Center, Environmental Art Gallery, a sensory garden, a natural playscape, a water-capture yard, a walkable green roof and a gift shop with snacks. The city’s largest tract of private land also includes three miles of wooded hiking trails dotted by dozens of environmental art sculpture installations, including the ADA-accessible Widener Trail.

Kids of all ages can live out their backyard tree fort dreams at Treehouse World Adventure Park in West Chester. The 14-acre compound features nearly a dozen massive themed treehouses, including a pirate ship, a giant shoe, an enchanted village and an oversized birthday cake.

Also located among the Chester County trees are two tiny tot-friendly zip lines (and an aerial zipline tour for kids 12-plus), a giant trampoline, a wooded obstacle course, a small animal farm, and opportunities for rock climbing, ax throwing, gaga ball and bungee jumping.

Open spring, summer and fall

Aerial adventure park TreeTop Quest Philly in Fairmount Park features nearly 20 ziplines — ranging from 30 to 200 feet in length, with some lines as high as 60 feet up — through the trees. Open May through November, the zip courses also feature 60 challenging obstacles like swings, jumps and tightropes.

Four self-guided levels of difficulty are available — two for ages 6 and up, one for tykes between 4 and 6, and a challenging course for kids 12 and over. Ticket prices are based on age, which include unlimited runs through over two-and-a-half hours.

If your family is always on the go, take a trip to zip line park TreeTrails Adventures at Trevose in Bucks County, which offers six aerial trails featuring over 50 elements, including bridges, netted tunnels and elevated swings.

The two-hour excursions are open to adults and kids ages 7 and up, from beginner ziplines 10 to 12 feet in the air to advanced zips over 50 feet high. The attraction also features a side-by-side 1,000-foot-long zipline racetrack and a KidsTrails spot for kids ages 4 to 7, with lines just two to three feet off the ground.

Indoor-outdoor open-concept Craft Hall food and beer hall features stellar barbecue and pub grub, plenty to do for the little ones, and craft brews for the grownups from Mainstay Independent Brewing located within. Named a Best of Philly Bar for Parents, the venue is explicitly family-friendly until 9 p.m. each day.

While adults sip and mingle, kids can play in an indoor pirate-themed playground or The Den game room with Nintendo, billiards, air hockey and more. There’s even the Unleashed Bark & Beer combo beer garden and dog park for the furry kiddos.

Dilworth Park — City Hall’s fantastic front porch — features a plethora of year-round family fun on the west apron, highlighted by the retro-themed Rothman Orthopaedics Roller Rink and tree-lined in-ground fountains (splashing encouraged) in warm weather and the all-ages Rothman Orthopaedics Ice Rink with a ski chalet vibe in winter.

The decade-old centerpiece public space also offers all-season pop-up concerts, fitness classes, festivals, and kid-focused events and programs — along with a cozy cafe and on-site access to public transit — in an inviting space for families in the heart of Center City.

Open seasonally (typically summer and winter)

Independence Blue Cross RiverRink brings ice skating in the winter and roller skating in the summer to the Delaware River waterfront on an NHL-sized rink, along with a slew of kid-friendly adventures.

Along with riverside skating, Winterfest offers fire pits, indoor games, cozy couches and hot drinks, while Summerfest provides rocking chairs on a wrap-around porch, cool drinks, a moon bounce, and a midway with rides and boardwalk games. Both seasons feature a double-decker carousel, an illuminated 60-foot Ferris wheel with views across the river, and plenty of festive carnival food and treats.

Spread out over 30,000 square feet in Doylestown’s largest park is the year-round sunrise-to-sunset Kids Castle Central Park playground. The outdoor adventureland offers two-dozen activities across four “kingdoms” with treehouses, plastic rock walls, a kid-sized pirate ship, and dozens of next-level playground rides and interactive games.

The 100-acre park’s centerpiece is the Kids Castle itself, a massive eight-story wooden play structure protected by a giant friendly plastic dragon with labyrinthine passages, drawbridges, overlooks, twisty tube slides and a kids’ elevator. The park is also noted for its all-ability, accessible-friendly features and activities.

Looking for a playground? A tennis court? Maybe a spray park or pool? The athletic facilities and green spaces of Philadelphia’s Department of Parks & Recreation offer all of those things — and more! — at facilities in nearly every neighborhood in the city.

Use the department’s Activity Finder tool to find fields, courts, pitches, diamonds, playgrounds, equipment, pools, gymnasiums, classes and a myriad of other awesome kid-friendly services available to visitors and locals. Search by type of activity, zero in on any city section on the map and start having fun.

Water-loving kiddos and their families frequent Sister Cities Park, a refreshing paradise at the midpoint of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway with a pebble-bottom wading pool sheltered by a landscaped hill and 11 spouting fountains (representing Philadelphia’s 11 sister cities) to run through and cool off on hot summer days.

The park also boasts the nature-in-the-city Children’s Discovery Garden, the new Pollinator Garden, a cafe, and a kiosk selling plastic boats and summer essentials, as well as rotating kid-friendly programming from top museums and attractions — all under panoramic views of Center City.

One of the oldest playgrounds in America, Smith Memorial Playground & Playhouse is best known for the circa-1899 Ann Newman Giant Wooden Slide which — at over 60 feet in length, 12 feet in width and 10 feet high — can accommodate a dozen kids at a time.

Indoors, kids love the Stephen Starr Indoor Playground, Play-stallations in the Bodek Den, the Playbrary Imaginative Playspace and the children’s book-filled Marion Stokes Library. And beyond the iconic slide, the attraction’s massive outdoor playground features over 50 pieces of equipment, plus the tiny tyke-driven Tot-Lot.

Open spring, summer and fall

Summertime festival oasis Spruce Street Harbor Park offers seasonal fun on the Delaware River for the whole family.

The buzzy park features a boardwalk with concessions and food trucks, giant board games, a stage with a 16-foot video wall, cargo container arcades, craft markets and The Trading Post bodega featuring ice cream and snacks. But the highlight is the relaxing spaces to hang with the fam — in waterside Adirondack chairs, flat-bottomed net lounges above the river or cozy hammocks under thousands of LED lights in the meadow.

The American Treasure Tour Museum in Oaks is assuredly the region’s kitschiest museum. The 100,000-square-foot collection features over 1 million pieces of pop culture memorabilia, including neon road signs, self-playing orchestras, life-sized cartoon characters, decades of movie posters, herds of stuffed animals and fleets of antique autos … all accessed via an indoor electric tram.

The museum is part of The Factory in Oaks, which includes Arnold’s Family Fun Center (think go-karts, laser tag, bowling, bumper cars and more — plus Sky Zone trampoline park, PRG rock climbing gym, and the famous Giant Lumberjack & Giraffe statues.

The recently renovated Battleship New Jersey, docked across the Delaware River in Camden, offers tours of America’s most decorated battleship’s seven levels and half-century of service. The best bet is the expert-guided 90-minute tour , which includes the 16-inch gun turrets, Admiral’s and Captain’s Cabins, Navigational Bridge, and more.

Preschoolers can visit Jason’s Kids Kompartment, a safe play area with a kid-sized boat to captain, a play galley and coloring books, while overnight groups can stay aboard with an opportunity to fire saluting guns and sleep in sailors’ bunks. Less comprehensive self-guided tours are also available.

At the Betsy Ross House, America’s most famous flagmaker greets guests in her interactive 18th-century upholstery shop where (a portrayer of) Mrs. Ross herself will discuss her life and work. Self-guided or audio tours are available, including a special version just for kids to learn about life in 18th-century Philadelphia while also solving a number of “history mysteries.”

Explore the house, hear stories from reenactors and ask probing questions. And from Memorial Day through Labor Day, kids can help raise the American flag during a daily hoisting of Old Glory.

Predating the Declaration of Independence, Fort Mifflin  — the oldest American military facility in continuous service (commissioned in 1771) — is where colonial troops beat back a British naval invasion and held off 2,000 Redcoats while Washington withdrew to Valley Forge during the Revolutionary War. Today, the site is still an active base for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Visitors can tour the Revolution-era grounds and buildings, watch reenactments or grab a picnic. Bonus for plane-loving kids: Airliners fly low right over the military park on approach to Philadelphia International Airport.

Bucks County’s all-in-one play-shop-and-dine destination Peddler’s Village is a wondrous place for folks of any age. But the carnival-style indoor family fun center Giggleberry Fair is what draws kids from across the region.

The playscape features a three-story six-level Giggleberry Mountain indoor obstacle course maze, interactive exploration environment Giggles Discovers for toddlers and preschoolers, a high-tech Game Room (with more than 40 of the newest games), and treats in the Painted Pony Cafe. But the attraction’s unquestioned centerpiece is the fully operational 1922 Philadelphia Toboggan Company Grand Carousel.

The Liberty Bell and Independence Hall are two of the 25-plus attractions that make up Independence National Historical Park, America’s most historic square mile. And while there, kids can earn a National Park Service Junior Ranger Program badge sticker and certificate.

Grab a booklet from Independence Visitor Center, complete at least one ranger program and five activities in the Junior Ranger Activity Booklet, then return to the center for your sticker and certification. Fill your booklet with more stickers at Valley Forge National Historical Park, Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial and Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site.

Mosaiced from floor to ceiling in handmade tiles, international folk art, reclaimed bicycle tires and more by prolific artist Isaiah Zagar, Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens Museum and its sister site, the Magic Gardens Studio, glisten with limitless creativity.

One of Philly’s most popular urban public art installations, the museum spans half a city block along famous South Street and features two indoor galleries and an unforgettable sculpture garden. One mile away, Zagar’s former workspace represents his largest masterpiece, three times the size of the flagship museum. On the second Sunday afternoon of each month, the space hosts PECO Family Jams dedicated to family-oriented programming and craft-making.

Bonus: Zagar has created hundreds of mosaics around the city, including many around South Street.

Offering a lighthearted break from the historical sites nearby, the awe-inspiring Museum of Illusions Philadelphia in Old City features a warehouse full of unusual and confounding tricks of the eye to engender wonder from children of any age.

Explore mind-bending Illusion Rooms like the reverse room, the vortex tunnel and the tilted room. Interact with installations like a Beuchet chair, a cloning table and a head on a platter. Or gaze at optical illusions, holograms, stereograms and more while learning about vision, perception and the human brain. Visitors typically spend about an hour exploring.

Hop on with the whole family with narrated train tours of scenic Bucks County aboard the 150-year-old New Hope Railroad. The historic railroad features vintage railcars pulled by the likes of a 1925 steam locomotive or 1960s diesel engine past sprawling farms, historic bridges and gorgeous valleys.

Family-friendly roundtrips include the 60-minute Lahaska Limited and 45-minute Traditional Excursion. Or sign up for holiday-themed tours for Halloween, Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and more, plus a special fall foliage journey. Choose seats in First Class, Coach Class, Open-Air Class or in the Private Caboose.

Running select days in summer

Family-friendly Once Upon A Nation Storytelling Benches feature free tales performed by specially trained, uniformed historians at key locations around Philadelphia’s Historic District, from Independence Visitor Center and National Constitution Center to the Betsy Ross House and Carpenters’ Hall.

Told in three- to five-minute summaries, the stories recount details about some of our nation’s earliest citizens — both well-known and not-so-well-known — who shaped America’s history, shared in the places where they actually happened. Visit all the benches and receive a certificate and a special surprise in Franklin Square. Benches are open select days from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

Founded in 1976 (for the nation’s Bicentennial), the groundbreaking African American Museum in Philadelphia tells stories of notable early African Americans, highlighted by the permanent exhibition, Audacious Freedom: African Americans in Philadelphia 1776-1876. A number of rotating exhibits on display throughout the year examine contemporary racial, societal, economic and cultural issues through art and historic artifacts, as well.

Special programs, workshops, tours and events designed specifically for younger audiences include Family Fun Days (hands-on activities and more every second Saturday) and family-friendly celebrations around Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth.

Nearly three-dozen helicopters, autogiros, convertiplanes and other spiral wing aircraft are on display at West Chester’s American Helicopter Museum & Education Center. The nation’s premier rotary flight aviation museum features displays like a 400-piece model helicopter room and an exhibit dedicated to the Whirly-Girls female helicopter pilots.

Among the museum’s kid-approved activities are the daily Girls in Science and Technology program for girls aged 6 to 12, scouting merit badge and summer programs, and the annual FamilyFest each June. Several times a year, guests can get a chance to ride in a working helicopter.

Located in the renovated 1902 firehouse of Engine Company Number Eight — a descendant of Benjamin Franklin’s 1736 Union Fire Company — the Fireman’s Hall Museum offers lessons in the history, art and science of firefighting through exhibits featuring historic fire trucks dating back to the 1800s.

Bring first-responder fan kids to view exhibits like the nation’s earliest hand- and horse-drawn firefighting equipment, Philadelphia’s early “Franklin’s Volunteers,” a when-to-call-911 interactive quiz, firefighting gear like coats and boots to try on, a display of 19th-century parade hats, and a gallery of 19th-century stove-top parade hats.

On the edge of the Delaware River, little landlubbers can get their fill of everything to know and love about Philadelphia’s extensive boating and shipping history at Penn’s Landing’s Independence Seaport Museum.

Start indoors with exhibits like River Alive!, Patriots & Pirates, Small but Mighty!: Models, Toys, and Miniature Ships and live shipbuilding at the Seaport Boat Shop. Then head outside to explore the massive Spanish-American War-era Cruiser USS Olympia and World War II Submarine USS Becuna (additional fee). Or hit the basin’s water with rentals from Paddle Penn’s Landing or Kayak Excursions.

Offering free admission to children 5 and under and discounts to older kids, the Museum of the American Revolution delves into the conflict that created the United States through permanent and rotating exhibits and kid-friendly activities.

Board the deck of an 855-square-foot privateer ship in the A Revolutionary War gallery, which tells of 14-year-old free African American James Forten who volunteered aboard a similar ship. Then explore interactive Revolution Place that recreates 18th-century Old City via a military encampment, tavern, home and meetinghouse. Don’t miss the Oneida Nation Theater, scavenger hunts and more.

America’s first and only museum dedicated to the U.S. Constitution, the National Constitution Center includes interactive exhibits forwarding the message of “We The People” along with family-friendly programs throughout the year on holidays like Constitution Day, Presidents Day, Veterans Day, Tax Day and Earth Day.

Among museum attractions for kids to view are the powerful Freedom Rising daily multimedia performance, exhibits on the First and 19th Amendments and the centerpiece Signers’ Hall with life-sized statues of the signers of the Constitution where you can “shake” the Founding Fathers’ bronzed hands.

A robust calendar of kid-friendly programming is offered at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, including Art Kids Studio, where kids create their own art projects (materials provided) and Art Kids Tours with museum educators (for ages 3 to 10). Or explore on your own, aided by free admission for those 18 and under.

But you don’t even have to go inside for iconic kids’ fun in Philly. Finish up your excursion with a run up the 72 stairs that make up the legendary Rocky Steps and a family selfie around the statue of the Italian Stallion himself.

Dr. Fred Simeone’s impressive collection of racing cars like Ferraris, Alfa Romeos, Bugattis, Aston Martins and muscle cars including Corvettes and Mustangs led to the creation of Southwest Philadelphia’s Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum for gearheads of all ages.

The collection features over 75 historic (and just plain cool) rides along with rotating exhibits showcasing the history of sports cars and racing machines. Staff regularly take cars from its collection outside for a spin on Demonstration Days so you can experience the beauty and power in motion. The museum also includes an extensive automobile library.

Journey through 370 years of Jewish history in the U.S. at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History. The free (with suggested donation) institution is filled with over 1,200 artifacts, 2,500 images, 30 films and 13 interactive media displays exploring the nation’s Jewish diaspora from struggling immigrants to integral citizens.

Among kid-friendly activities are the covered wagon playroom, sleep-away camp gallery and It’s Your Story recording booth, plus child-height displays and special family days. Step outside to snap a pic of the cheeky OY/YO sculpture by the entrance.

Experience a real farm excursion in the breadbasket of Bucks County at Hellerick’s Adventure Farm, one of the region’s oldest operating farms dating back to 1794. The site provides fresh produce, educational opportunities and a bevy of kids’ activities.

Year-round attractions include Aerial Adventure’s nine zip lines, barnyard mini-golf, a climbing wall, a goat experience and goat yoga and, of course, pick-your-own produce opportunities and a seasonal market. The centerpiece, however, is the 18-acre Adventure Farm, which features hayrides, a five-acre corn maze, slides, a playground and pettable farm animals.

Fresh produce and farm adventure fill 200 acres at Highland Orchards, a working family farm in West Chester founded in 1941. Bring the family (and your appetite) and experience a Chester County afternoon of pick-your-own produce (May to October), including strawberries, blueberries, peaches, pumpkins, rhubarb, cherries, nectarines, pears, raspberries and more.

The farm also features a playground, goats to feed and pet, one- or two-hour hayrides, and a seasonal corn maze and apple cannons. But one cannot leave before hitting up the Farm Market & Bakery for pies and Highland’s world-famous apple cider donuts.

One of the last working farms in Delaware County, Linvilla Orchards is a 300-acre family farmstead dedicated to agriculture, education and entertainment where visitors can roam the fields for pick-your-own produce like apples, peaches, berries and corn, and attend plenty of fun-filled festivals and educational programs.

Stop by the open-daily, always-fresh farmers market, or enjoy seasonal events and activities like fall’s Pumpkinland for hayrides and pumpkin carving and Christmas Around the Farm’s chop-down-your-own Christmas tree and a holiday gift market.

Montgomery County’s Merrymead Farm is a working dairy farm that doubles as an ice creamery and market. It’s a different flavor of pick-your-own when you “pick” from nearly three-dozen flavors of farm-made ice cream, including options like lemon cookie, coconut, sweet cream & honey, blueberry cheesecake, peach melba and pumpkin.

Stop by the year-round shoppe for not just ice cream but also cakes, cookies, pies and fresh milk. And March through December, the farm invites visitors to visit the dairy cows — along with sheep, bunnies, peacocks and Arnold the Pig — and observe daily cow-milking sessions.

Hundred-year-old Shady Brook Farm in Bucks County is a real working farm and home to a fresh market, garden center and plenty of pick-your-own opportunities. While the farm is open year-round, the site comes to life during seasonal festivals with themed hayrides, games and activities for the kids.

The biggest events on the farm’s calendar are the Halloween season FallFest featuring pick-your-own pumpkins and wagon rides, and the wintertime Holiday Light Show Drive Through Experience with millions of lights illuminating acres of farmland, firepits, and hot cocoa and s’mores for purchase.