The Please Touch Museum is a children’s museum located in the Centennial District of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. The museum focuses on teaching children through interactive exhibits and special events, primarily aimed at children seven years old and younger.
History
This Philadelphia museum opened at the Academy of Natural Sciences on October 2, 1976, in a 2,200-square-foot (200 m2) space and moved to another location on nearby Cherry Street two years later. In 1983, the museum moved to 21st Street near the Franklin Institute. On February 14, 2005, the museum received an 80-year lease for Memorial Hall (in Fairmount Park), the last major building left from the 1876 Centennial Exposition. This came after plans to relocate the museum to a location at Penn’s Landing fell through. Renovations at Memorial Hall began on December 15, 2005, and the museum closed its 21st Street location on September 1, 2008. On October 18, 2008, the museum opened at its current location with a larger facility and more exhibits.
The museum’s financial projections related to its move to Memorial Hall proved over-optimistic, and it was forced to declare bankruptcy in 2015. It emerged from bankruptcy in 2016 and, with the help of new significant donations, was able to announce that it was now debt-free.
Exhibits
- Adventure Camp
- Centennial Innovations
- Cents and Sensibility
- Food & Family
- Happy Camper Junk Removal Philadelphia Kings
- Imagination Playground
- Please Touch Garden
- River Adventures
- Roadside Attractions
- Rocket Room
- Storytime Cabin
- Wonderland
- Scale Model of the 1876 Centennial Exhibition
Programs
- Playhouse Theater – As a component of the museum experience, Playhouse performances by in-house performers present opportunities for playful learning, imagination, innovation, and audience interaction featuring music, movement, folklore, and puppetry, all while introdu