On our Spring trip to Pennsylvania, we visited the Please Touch Museum, a children's museum that's all about kids interacting with the exhibits. Like many children's museum, it was a hit with our children.
In the lobby is a recreation of the Statue of Liberty's torch. It's made from toys and other bric-a-brac and is quite impressive, though our kids were not so interested in it.
The first exhibit we saw was the River Adventures, with lots of wet play stuff. The kids enjoyed playing with floating things and manipulating water with Archimedes' Screw and other gadgets (like canal locks) on display.
A small tree house (though big enough for the kids to go in) had a fun periscope and a musical instruments.
The Imagination Playground lets children construct all sorts of shapes and structures from large, light-weight blocks.
Downstairs is an Alice in Wonderland area with all sorts of optical illusions and fun mazes.
A nearby fairy garden has more musical fun.
The basement also has an exhibit on the 1876 Centennial Exhibition. Philadelphia had a massive festival back in the day to celebrate America's Declaration of Independence (even though we didn't win independence till much later). There's a 20-by-30-foot model of the exhibition's 200 structures, including Memorial Hall which has been turned into the Please Touch Museum.
The area also has a lot of model and toy trains for children to play with.
Also downstairs is the City Capers area, with recreations on a child's scale of various shopping experiences. They have a supermarket, a shoe store, a restaurant (fast food), and even a little hospital!
More on the museum in the next post!
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| Big friendly letter, just like HHGG |
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| Building exterior |
In the lobby is a recreation of the Statue of Liberty's torch. It's made from toys and other bric-a-brac and is quite impressive, though our kids were not so interested in it.
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| Arm and torch from the Statue of Liberty (sort of) |
The first exhibit we saw was the River Adventures, with lots of wet play stuff. The kids enjoyed playing with floating things and manipulating water with Archimedes' Screw and other gadgets (like canal locks) on display.
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| River Adventures section |
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| Archimedes' Screw! |
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| Duck Pond |
A small tree house (though big enough for the kids to go in) had a fun periscope and a musical instruments.
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| Looking around the high tech way |
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| Brothers make music |
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| We had one of these as a kid! |
The Imagination Playground lets children construct all sorts of shapes and structures from large, light-weight blocks.
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| Assessing the options at the Imagination Playground |
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| Working together |
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| Making arches |
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| Crafting a slide |
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| Posing on the slide |
Downstairs is an Alice in Wonderland area with all sorts of optical illusions and fun mazes.
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| This hall looks longer than the building |
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| Children forcing themselves into perspective |
A nearby fairy garden has more musical fun.
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| Toddler makes music |
The basement also has an exhibit on the 1876 Centennial Exhibition. Philadelphia had a massive festival back in the day to celebrate America's Declaration of Independence (even though we didn't win independence till much later). There's a 20-by-30-foot model of the exhibition's 200 structures, including Memorial Hall which has been turned into the Please Touch Museum.
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| Centennial Exhibition exhibit entrance |
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| Model of the Exhibition |
The area also has a lot of model and toy trains for children to play with.
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| Building tracks |
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| What's this station? |
Also downstairs is the City Capers area, with recreations on a child's scale of various shopping experiences. They have a supermarket, a shoe store, a restaurant (fast food), and even a little hospital!
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| Shopping in the freezer section |
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| The fish counter |
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| Elvis "Pezley" Pez dispensers on display |
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| More Pez dispenser on scale with the characters from Tolkien |
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| My daughter as a shoe clerk |
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| My toddler as an MRI patient (not sure patients should run the equipment!) |
More on the museum in the next post!
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