Please Touch Museum

The Please Touch Museum is the answer to the question every parent of a preschooler asks in Philadelphia: where can we go that is built entirely for them? Founded in the 1970s on the radical idea that children learn by playing with things rather than looking at them, it has grown into one of the country's best-known children's museums, and since 2008 it has occupied Memorial Hall in West Fairmount Park, the monumental Beaux-Arts building constructed as the art gallery for the 1876 Centennial Exposition, the first official world's fair in the United States. The setting is half the fun for adults: a soaring domed hall, glass and limestone, and a large scale model of the Centennial grounds that shows what this part of the park looked like when the world came to visit. For children, the building is a playground of six interactive exhibit zones, where they can steer boats through water play, shop and cook in a pretend city, explore a storybook world, climb, build and dress up, as well as daily theater performances and programs. The museum's century-old carousel, restored and housed in its own glass pavilion, is a highlight for every age and costs a little extra per ride. The museum is designed for families with young children, roughly toddlers through early elementary school; older kids may outgrow it quickly. It opens Wednesday through Sunday, 9am to 4:30pm, and admission is priced the same for adults and children, with discounts for military, firefighters and police. Plan on three to four hours, bring a change of clothes for the water area, and expect weekend mornings and school holidays to be busy.

Making it work: arrive at opening, when the exhibits are freshest and the crowds thinnest, and let the kids lead. The water zone is usually the first stop and the one that soaks clothing, so a spare outfit is smart. Check the daily schedule for theater shows, which give everyone a seated break, and save the carousel for the end as a reward. The building has space to eat a packed lunch, and there is a cafe on site. Everything is on accessible floors, and strollers are welcome.

The building matters: Memorial Hall is one of the few major structures surviving from the 1876 Centennial Exposition, when nearly ten million visitors came to Fairmount Park to see the Corliss steam engine, Bell's telephone and the arm of the Statue of Liberty. Grown-ups who enjoy history should take a few minutes with the Centennial model and the building's restored interiors; it adds a layer most children's museums cannot offer. The hall served as an art museum for decades after the fair and later housed park offices and a recreation center before its restoration for the museum, so the building itself is a lesson in how Philadelphia reuses its landmarks. Parents who need a quiet minute can find one under the dome while the kids play.

Getting there and fit: the museum is at 4231 Avenue of the Republic in West Fairmount Park, a short drive or rideshare from Center City; parking is on site. It pairs naturally with the Philadelphia Zoo, a few minutes away, for a full family day, or with a stroll among the park's other Centennial-era landmarks. It suits families with children up to about age eight, grandparents traveling with little ones, and anyone with a rainy day and energetic kids. Families with older children should look at the Franklin Institute instead, while those with mixed ages can split the day between the two.