Please Touch Museum
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Please Touch offers many annual events. Every February visitors can enjoy the sounds of Junior Jazz. In mid-August things get sporty with ABC Games. In October the museum hosts ghosts, wizards, and potions. The day after Thanksgiving the museum displays scenes from the original Enchanted Colonial Village. Each year ends with a New Year’s Countdown Celebration on December 31 at 12:00 noon instead of 12:00 midnight, for those who can’t stay up that late!
Adults must accompany children into the museum and are encouraged to play just as much as their young companions. Wheelchair accessible. Strollers are not permitted on the gallery floor.
Summer Hours: (July 1–Labor Day) Sunday–Thursday 9am–4:30pm, Friday–Saturday 9am–5pm.
28 Reviews for Please Touch Museum
6
00 families found this helpful
"Incredible!"
This is the best idea ever. I cannot believe that there aren't more similar businesses/museums in the places I've lived before. This could truly be the key to the sanity of a mommy of a 2 yr old and 3 yr old. You really don't have to get too uptight anywhere within this building, because, as the title suggests, they WANT kids to touch it all!
My girls particularly loved the grocery store. It is incredibly fun.
I have to conclude with a word of thanks to the museum. As a military family, we were admitted free of charge. I cannot tell you how thankful I am, because I know that I would not be able to return often if not for the discount. I would suggest people look into the season pass.
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0 families found this helpful
"imagination"
These types of museums are fantastic for the little ones mostly under the ages of 6, I would say. The kids just love to be hands on and very imaginative as they travel through the museum in their own little world! There are things there for all types of imaginations as well, such as super markets to cornfields. A really great place for kids!
0 families found this helpful
"Simply Spectacular"
This has to be the most beautiful museum in the country. The Art Deco architecture has been meticulously restored and almost overpowers all of the wonderful kids exhibits. Don't miss the duck pond when you walk in and the carousel tucked all the way back behind it. My son especially enjoys the music show on the lower levee.
0 families found this helpful
"Please Touch Museum"
My son has been talking about getting to drive the bus for 6 months now! We spent the day there on our last trip to Philadelphia and had so much fun. There is lots of free parking and we brought a picnic lunch to share in the park that is on the grounds. My kids 2 & 4 our to little to really get in to all the arts and experiments but the transportation area (were my 2 year old got to drive a bus) is great fun! My 4 year olds favorite part is the basement were they have a hospital set up were she got to play doctor.
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1 family found this helpful
"Wow!"
This is the best children's museum I've ever been too. I took my son when he was too little for most children's museum (18 months) and there was a TON for him to do here. His favorite activities were the 3 bears house, paining the rosebushes in Alice and Wonderland, and climbing on all of the cars and trucks. They have the BEST mini grocery store. We will DEFINATELY make a return trip when he's older so that he can enjoy some of the exhibits intended for older toddlers. What a WONDERFUL place to spend the day!
1 family found this helpful
"Favorite Childrens Museum"
Out of the several Childrens Museums I've visited, this one is my favorite. It is located in this gorgeous historic building. It is well staffed, it is priced great. It has tons of well kept exhibits, that children can (as the name states) touch. It really is the one childrens museum that tops all the other ones. I will be visiting there again and again!
0 families found this helpful
"Museum"
A membership at the Please Touch Museum is a must for my 2.5 year old daughter, especially in the winter and hot months of summer. We like to get there close to opening as it tends to be pretty quiet for the first few hours and usually leave right at lunch.
1 family found this helpful
"Amazing Place"
I tell everyone to go here if they are in the Philly area. We had a wonderful family day here last summer. The kids can touch everything. My 2.5 yr old son at the time LOVED playing in the grocery store area as well as getting wet in the water area. The museum is very big and can get crowded but there is so much to do.
0 families found this helpful
"Once and Done."
We found the Please Touch to be a great activity but only once. It was a little bit too young to keep our five year old interested in for more than an afternoon. We were however with a three year old and she loved every minute of it and can't wait to go back. So it's best for the younger crowd.
'11
0 families found this helpful
"A Real Gem - Worth the Admission Price"
Located in the beautiful, woodsy Fairmount Park section of Philadelphia, the brand new home to the Please Touch Museum is actually a historic mainstay in the city. Built for the Centennial International Exposition in 1876, this awe-inspiring building is nothing short of regal. Over the last 134 years, the building has housed a museum school (now University of the Arts), an art museum (now the Philadelphia Museum of Art), a police station and now the Please Touch Museum.
History lessons aside, this building is truly something spectacular to see. We had the opportunity to take our first trip to the Please Touch Museum on Friday as part of a blogger event to celebrate a brand new summer exhibit: ABC Games.
We had a blast checking out the new exhibit, as well as everything else the museum had to offer. What a creative, exciting, interactive place! Lily Bean and her cousin Ava enjoyed climbing, splashing, exploring and laughing their way through the activities. The staff was SUPERB- everyone we encountered was upbeat, helpful and great with the kids. At 21 months old, I would say that Lily Bean is on the cusp of still being a tad young for some of the areas, but not for long.
We held off on visiting PTM because of the hefty $15/person ticket price- with no child discount (babies 1 and under are free). I have to say, after checking it out in person, $15 is a fair price. There is just SO MUCH to explore and do!
P.S. Still looking for a discount? The Entertainment Book has a coupon in it and the PTM puts out brochures (found at various spots throughout the city) with coupons.
1 family found this helpful
"The Best Children's Museum by Far"
I am glad we made the trip to go here. It was worth it, the place is huge, and the whole building is really nice. Everything was clean and organized. Not like most other children's museums! There is a lot of fun things to do for the kids, I think my three favorites were the art's and crafts room, story time, and the carousel. All the staff was really friendly, and helpful. They have a cafe, and the food was good, a little overpriced, but that's to be expected. You could probably pack a lunch and eat it outside if it was a nice day. I live about an hour and a half away, but I would go back again, it is a great place!
3 families found this helpful
"Hands-on fun and learning!"
How many times a day do you tell your kids to "please be careful" and "would you kindly put that down before you break something"? When you visit the Please Touch Museum you'll happily be telling them the exact opposite. "go over and see what that feels like," or "take a turn and try that yourself" are phrases you'll be telling your kids over and over again as you make your way through this terrific museum. It's a wonderful way to empower kids who like to explore and experience the world around them (and who doesn't like to do that?)! Most enjoyable for the 6 and under set, this place gives them the chance to TRY things and DRIVE things and OPERATE things -- like grownups always get to do. Easy to spend hours here exploring. And kids like to return here to re-experience their favorite activities. Went to the old PTM as well as the new one with my 3yr old and his cousin and the new one is fabulous. Don't miss it if you're in the area. Your kids will think this was the best part of the trip!
I just visited the museum again (2/20/10) with my now 4-yr old and his cousin and was impressed with their selection of food choices in the cafe. Kudos to them for having so many healthy choices! Sandwiches, salads, yogurt, milk, healthier juice boxes, hot meal options, and more. Great museum with healthy fare in the cafe -- 5 stars for sure.
2 families found this helpful
"Toddler boy heaven!"
A garage for fixing cars, a kid-sized digger, a dump truck that has lights and sounds, my 2 year old guy was in car/truck heaven! He just didn't want to leave and we had already been there for 3 hours! We didn't even get to check out the Wonderland or Centennial Exploration section.
We went on a Saturday morning which was pretty crowded. The water play area was jammed with kids and my little guy definitely had to stand his ground to make sure he didn't get squashed by the bigger kids.
Parking's easy and if you get there early, you should be able to grab a free spot on the right hand side of the road. Lots of hand sanitizing stations around if you're afraid of swine flu.
0 families found this helpful
"please touch museum"
Please Touch Museum: No surprise to see the childrens' museum is amazing! The Please Touch is absolutely fabulous and recently renovated and expanded to provide play experiences in each exhibit zone. And it has special "toddler-only" areas throughout the museum, so even the littlest ones will have a terrific time!
0 families found this helpful
"fun for all"
great way to get active and involved in the learning, and its fun. the activities are always changing. there is an amazing mini market, hospital, shoe store and construction site. never a dull moment and for lunch they have great healthy food options.
0 families found this helpful
"Spectacular new location"
On our recent trip, we actually first drove to the old site of this museum and were not sure what we were getting ourselves in to. After getting directions to the new site, we drove up to a beautifully renovated Greek Revival massive museum. The restoration is so beautiful and the museum is just awesome. Far and away our favorite activity of our Philly vacation.
1 family found this helpful
"Amazing - Big Winner!"
My kids (4 and 1.5) loved this! There is plenty of age appropriate things to do and they particularly loved the water play exhibit, where they get to use boats and dams adjust the current. We went in the late afternoon a couple of hours before closing, which ended up being perfect to avoid the crowd.
0 families found this helpful
"Awsome!"
I can not wait to go back here and I am sure my child is just as eager. This would best suit the 6 and under crowd but we saw older children when we were there. I think there is an adventure for every kind of child there is, from make belive to builders. Makes an awsome day trip, the price wasnt horrible either though I didnt check out what they wanted for food because we had a picnic out front.
0 families found this helpful
"If you were disappointed by the old Please Touch, the new one is worth the visit!"
It is a million times better than the old Please Touch, which I felt was overpriced and very disappointing. The new Please Touch is fun for kids of all ages, though it is best for the 5 and under crowd. It's still not as nice as the Indianapolis Children's Museum, but it is finally comparable!
1 family found this helpful
"Amazing place"
I am so glad I have young kids to be able to benefit from the brand new (as of October 2008) Please Touch Museum in Fairmount Park. It is truly spectacular and will capture the interest of any kid under the age of 9 for hours and hours. (The executive director emphasized to me that children of all ages love the Please Touch but my almost 10-year old daughter and her friends beg to differ). You cannot see the entire museum in a single visit so plan accordingly. You can bring your own snacks/drinks/lunch or eat at the rather good Please Touch cafe (better than most museum food with reasonable prices). If you have grandparents in tow, they will happily peruse the centennial exhibit on the bottom floor to take a break from the many different places your kids will want to go.
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