Please Touch Museum, Museums in Philadelphia, Things to do for Kids in Philadelphia, Kids Museums

‘Where the Kids Take Charge’

Please Touch Museum is an interactive children’s museum in Fairmount Park. This type of museum in Philadelphia is where you can let your kid(s) loose for hours of fun and enjoyment and actually have fun with them.

History of the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia

The Please Touch Museum originally opened in 1976 and has been in several different areas since then. On February 14th, 2005, the museum received an 80 year old lease to move into the Memorial Hall building in Fairmount Park, the last major building left from the 1876 Centennial Exposition.

The new location had to go through renovations before moving into it, which started December 15th, 2005. The museum then closed it’s 21st Street location on September 1st, 2008 and finally moved into its current location in Memorial Hall on October 18th, 2008. This enabled the museum to open up a much larger facility with more exhibits.

Please Touch Museum Experience & Atmosphere

The Please Touch Museum gets kids, because it focuses on teaching children through interactive exhibits and special events, mostly aimed at children seven years old and younger. Keep in mind, there are exciting exhibits for older children of 7 years and up. Such exhibits as the “Centennial Exploration” exhibit, exploring the history of Memorial Hall and the 1876 Centennial Exhibition.

The Please Touch Museum has 6 exhibit zones, in which three exhibit areas are designed specifically for children ages 3 and under. All of these areas teach kids the importance of playing, and not just their focus on television.

This museum is perfect for the ages 2-6. The exhibits are incredibly detailed and really encourage kids to engage in creative play. Your child can take turns driving the bus, car, dump truck, motorcycle or mechanical backhoe; shop in the grocery store; making burgers in the McDonald’s, or play house.

What is more impressive than the amazing attention to detail and “fun” factor within the interactive exhibits at the museum is the Philadelphia history that comes with it. As mentioned above, the museum itself was the Memorial Hall for the US Centennial back in 1876 and one of the the only remaining buildings left from that exhibition.

The Please Touch Museum has been said to be one of the best children museums around. Not only is the museum very hands on and interactive for the kids, but that they have three basic programs. The three types are; Art Programs, Story Times, and Creative Dramatics. The daily gallery programs rang from theater shows, to story times, to interactive art activities, and character appearances that stimulate learning through purposeful play. It’s a museum that can be enjoyed by not only kids, but by adults.

The Please Touch Museum Extras

Visitor amenities include a restaurant, the Please Taste Cafe, the Kids Store offering a wide range of toys, books, games and apparel, and family restrooms.
Memorial Hall offers a variety of rental spaces. The building can accommodate more than 4,000 guests for a reception and more than 500 for a seated dinner. The exclusive caterer is Max & Me Catering.
The new museum has a performance area used by Please Touch Museum’s in-house Please Touch Playhouse theater performers, along with kid-friendly singers, musicians, and storytellers.
The museum’s collection of 12,500 historic toys and other aspects of child life is prominently displayed throughout Memorial Hall.