Please Touch Museum
add photos
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.
34 Reviews for Please Touch Museum
140
78
'11, '12, '133 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.
Send a Message 
Send a Compliment
It's helpful
0 families found this helpful
"Not your ordinary museum"
This place is more like a playground rather than a museum. My children, and most other children I saw, loved this place and had to be pulled away by the arm when we were ready to leave. Each exhibit is a hands-on experience. My children especially enjoyed the giant water table and grocery store. The make-believe car center was also a hit. The areas are very detailed and seem to appeal to both boys and girls. The kids have so much fun that they don't even realize they are learning. It is very loud and chaotic so if you have infants or cranky adults in your party, it may not be a great place to visit until they are older and can better deal with all the stimuli. For a more quiet experience, I recommend the full size, indoor carousel. It helped my kids wind down before we left.
0 families found this helpful
"Please Touch!"
Every time we go into a museum or exhibit, I'm yelling at the kids, "don't touch that", "get off that" or "you had better not break that!" This museum is just the opposite. My son was excited to visit as soon as he heard the name. I told him he could climb and jump and touch everything. The museum is 2 floors and very large. There are a bunch of different areas, including a water section, an Alice in Wonderland section, a hospital and much more. My kids' (3 & 4 y.o.) favorite part was the grocery store. They have little toddler size carts that the kids push around the store and shop for items. Then they can bring them up to the register and check out. The only down side, is you have to return everything to where you found it. We were there for a little over 2 hours before we had to leave to get back home. I had to drag them out kicking and screaming. It was one of their favorite parts of the whole trip.
0 families found this helpful
"Get there early"
This is a must do in the colder months in philadelphia. Just outside center city, this museum is perfect to let a kid run out their energy and enjoy all the hands-on exhibits. The only problem is this place gets busy very quickly on weekends so you need to get there early if you don't want to be immersed in the sea of kids, strollers, and parents.
1 family found this helpful
"A Wonderful Treat!"
The Please Touch Museum is a wonderful treat for the family with kids of all ages. They have a ton of different set ups from the Tree House and the Walking Piano, to the Music Forest, the Alice in Wonderland maze, the grocery store, house, McDonalds, car mechanic set up, science room, etc etc. They have made it possible to imagine again and for kids to run around and just make up stories. On the downside, the place is always so crowded that it is hard for kids to just play on their own or with their friends and have fun. It's a lot of going with the flow - which is good for kids to learn - but also paying close attention that your child doesn't accidentally put something in their mouth, spread germs, etc. The carousel is an added bonus that is a must-stop after every visit! Tip: bring your own food and drink and save money!
0 families found this helpful
"Great Place for kids"
Wow, what an awesome place! I was there years ago before they moved and renovated and what a great job they did with the renovation! We arrived at opening with prepaid tickets (purchased online) and walked right in. For the first hour there was not much of a crowd at all. Our almost 2 year old daughter LOVED it! So much to see and play with. The exhibits downstairs are so much fun..it's like a little town that is child-sized: supermarket, restaurant, shoe store, etc. You could spend hours in there! We are a military family and the discounts for military are great so definitely check it out!
0 families found this helpful
"Great for the 8 and Under Crowd"
My family visited the Please Touch Museum to break up a long drive over Thanksgiving. The cafeteria has lots of good options (sandwiches, soups, decent pizza, made-to-order pasta, veggie burgers) with a solid number of vegetarian and gluten free options. The first exhibit we went to was a water exhibit, that had my kids splashing around with their hands, running boats, and having a good time. In the basement was a great Alice and Wonderland display, the best mini grocery store for kids that I've seen, a hospital, and a construction site. In many exhibits, complete strangers were playing with each other. My children are 5 and 7, and I'm guessing in a couple of years my son won't be as interested. There are 2 or 3 areas for kids ages 3 and under which we did not visit. All in all, my kids were able to burn a lot of energy, eat a good lunch, and were tired enough that they napped for much of the rest of the car ride. We'll definitely make a return trip.
0 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.
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.
;
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.
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!
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!
What's Nearby? Hotels » Activities »
Find Hotels near Please Touch Museum »
Find Activities near Please Touch Museum »
Find Restaurants near Please Touch Museum »
Join Using Facebook
Get the inside scoop from parents who have been there!
