Top Things to Do with Kids in Philadelphia

Housed inside Fairmount Park’s Memorial Hall (built for the 1876 Centennial celebration), the beloved Please Touch Museum (opened for the 1976 Bicentennial celebration) is a heaven-on-earth-for-kids attraction, offering two full floors of interactive exhibit zones, plus a fully restored century-old carousel. Kids can play and pretend amid Fairytale Garden, River Adventures and other hands-on fun among nearly 20 permanent and a selection of rotating exhibitions. And if you’re looking for a great place to celebrate holidays with kids, the Please Touch Museum has events for everything from Earth Day to Pride to Halloween.

The region’s most popular and oldest science museum, The Franklin Institute — celebrating its bicentennial in 2024 — fills a city block with kid-friendly exhibitions including SportsZone, Sir Isaac’s Loft, Amazing Machine, Franklin Air Show, Your Brain and the new two-story Wondrous Space journey through the cosmos, plus exciting rotating special exhibits. The museum also houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial and Fels Planetarium, which offers a half-dozen shows each day. Please note: The Train Factory (being reimagined as the Hamilton Collections Gallery) and The Giant Heart are closed for renovation through November 2024.

America’s first zoo and a foremost conservation organization, the Philadelphia Zoo is home to nearly 1,300 animals, from African Lions to Western Gorillas to Golden Tamarins and Red Pandas. The attraction has a first-in-the-world animal travel and exploration train system, Zoo360, enabling primates and big cats to move above and across the main visitor pathway. Other exhibits include Big Cat Falls, the McNeil Avian Center, PECO Primate Reserve and KidZooU — an interactive wildlife academy of dynamic displays, rare breeds and indoor-outdoor learning.

One of William Penn’s five original squares, Franklin Square is more than just a beautiful green space. The outdoor haven features a bevy of activities perfect for the kiddos, including a festive playground and splash pad, the landmark-themed Philly Mini Golf, the Parx Liberty Carousel and the restored marble Rendell Family Fountain. When hunger sets in, seasonal SquareBurger delivers with burgers, fries and Cake Shakes (trust us). Summer brings the Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival, while the holidays feature Winter in Franklin Square programming and its Electrical Spectacle Light Show.

Two million gallons of water and 15,000 aquatic animals — including the largest collection of sharks in the Northeast — lie just across the river on the Camden waterfront at Adventure Aquarium. Highlights include a Shark Bridge to cross, hippos and penguins to meet (and smell), stingrays to feed, and horseshoe crabs, starfish and sharks to actually touch. The biggest wow: Ocean Realm, a 760,000-gallon tank of sea turtles, stingrays, schooling fish and sharks, including a seven-foot Great Hammerhead. (The aquarium is just one of two in the nation to feature the apex predator.)

The oldest natural history museum in the Americas, the Benjamin Franklin Parkway’s The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University dates all the way back to 1812. But the elder institution still keeps it fresh with exhibits like Outside In, where kids can meet and interact with the attraction’s living animal ambassadors, historic dioramas and a myriad of exciting rotating visiting exhibitions. But the centerpiece is Dinosaur Hall, complete with 30 dinosaur and prehistoric reptile fossils, a fossil preparation lab, a dig site and a fully reconstructed 42-foot Tyrannosaurus rex.

We’ll tell you how to get, how to get to Sesame Place — the only Sesame Street themed amusement park in the nation east of California. Come meet stars like Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Elmo and Abby as you enjoy sunny day fun at the 14-acre small-child-friendly park with 35 rides and attractions, interactive and educational games, parades, fireworks, character shows, a water park and the new-for-2024 123 Playground. The park is seasonal spring to fall (water park open Memorial Day through Labor Day), along with special Halloween and December holiday programming.

Are you a LEGO maniac? Then head to the 33,000-square-foot LEGOLAND Discovery Center at Montgomery County’s Plymouth Meeting Mall. Designed for kids 3 to 10, the indoor playground offers a dozen LEGO-themed rides and attractions (including the Imagination Express and Great LEGO Race VR Experience), a 4D cinema, create-your-own stations and LEGO workshops (with master builders), and the LEGO Ninjago Training Camp, plus a themed café and LEGO store. Don’t miss Miniland, with huge miniature recreations of Philly’s most iconic landmarks created from over 1 million LEGO bricks.

Kids can play their way through a half-dozen explore-able exhibits at The Bucks County Children’s Museum, many of which offer insight into the county’s long history. Play area themes include The Hospital (where kids can play doctor and giant Operation), a kid-sized Town Square, the Factory Works engineering display, the Big Dig fossil hunt, Bucks County Country (where kids can learn about recycling), and Airways to Waterways (which recreates a lock on the Delaware Canal).

It’s a special year at Elmwood Park Zoo in 2024, as the 16-acre attraction celebrates 100 years. Meet over 100 species, including bison, zebras, jaguars, red pandas, otters and more, as well as Liana the two-toed sloth, Penny the American alligator and Noah the bald eagle, the mascot of the Philadelphia Eagles. Families can pet the goats, sheep and donkeys in the barn, feed the giant giraffe, ride the zoo-themed carousel, or zip line 50 feet above the grounds. Adults can grab a drink at the Zoo Brew Bar & Beer Garden.

One of the last working farms in Delaware County, Linvilla Orchards is a 300-acre family farmstead dedicated to agriculture, education and entertainment where visitors can roam the fields for pick-your-own produce like apples, peaches, berries and corn, and attend plenty of fun-filled festivals and educational programs built around them. Stop by the open-daily, always-fresh farmers market, or enjoy seasonal events and activities like fall’s Pumpkinland (hayrides and pumpkin carving) and Christmas Around the Farm (chop-down-your-own Christmas tree and a holiday gift market).

At over 1,000d acres, Longwood Gardens is Philly’s largest and most famous botanical garden, taking the top spot on Fodor’s list of best botanical gardens in the United States. Pierre du Pont’s tranquil horticultural oasis showcases nearly 10,000 varieties throughout its grounds. Highlights for families include the Indoor Children’s Garden in the Conservatory District, which inspires kids with an imaginative, child-size space filled with hands-on water features, handcrafted sculptures and secret stairways and the warm-weather Outdoor Children’s Garden, offering a splashy Flower Fountain and plenty of seating for adults.

Across 92 acres of sprawling gardens and natural areas, Morris Arboretum & Gardens uses education and imagination to reveal a collaborative relationship with nature through lively exhibits for the whole family. The Garden Railway (select dates throughout the year) features a miniature world of trains, bridges and small-scale buildings made of natural materials on a quarter-mile track. The Treetop Canopy Walk exhibition puts visitors 50 feet into the trees for a bird’s-eye view and includes a larger-than-life Bird’s Nest. Also featured: Squirrel Scramble, where kids can scamper across expansive hammock-like netting.

Bring your own hammer (no joke!) to Ringing Rocks Park, a seven-acre field of hulking round stones that respond to whacks and thumps with the sound of ringing bells. Climb the field and start banging away on the primordial igneous diabase boulders to experience an unexpected melodic geological sound created by a combination of melting permafrost, weathering and rock shape. Once through the boulder field, visitors can continue on into the 123-acre park, a dense forest for hikers, bikers and picnickers which also features High Falls, Bucks County’s highest waterfall.

Dating back to 1965, the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education is a 340-acre preserve in Roxborough offering innovative environmental education programs, including the nation’s most ambitious environmental art initiative and the region’s only wildlife clinic. The Visitors Center includes the interactive kids’ Discovery Center, the Environmental Art Gallery, a sensory garden, a natural playscape, a water-capture yard and a walkable green roof. Among the fields, ponds and streams of the largest tract of private land in the city are four miles of wooded hiking trails.

Hundred-year-old Shady Brook Farm in Bucks County (just north of Philadelphia) is a real working farm and home to a fresh market, garden center and plenty of pick-your-own opportunities. Seasonal festivals focus on what’s currently growing and feature hayrides, games and activities for the kids. Parents can enjoy a beer or cocktail and live entertainment at the on-site Stone’s Throw pub. Come wintertime, don’t miss the Holiday Light Show Drive Through Experience, with millions of lights illuminating acres of farmland and a bonfire with hot cocoa and s’mores for purchase.

Offering parents the best of both worlds, the indoor-outdoor open-concept Craft Hall food and beer hall features stellar barbecue and pub grub, craft brews for the grownups and plenty of fun for the little ones. With Mainstay Independent Brewing Company located inside, the space — named a Best of Philly Bar for Parents — is explicitly family-friendly until 9 p.m. each day. While adults sip and mingle, kids can play in an indoor pirate-themed playground or game room with Nintendo, shuffleboard and more. There’s even a combo beer garden and dog park for the furry kiddos.

City Hall’s front porch is the home of Dilworth Park, home to family-friendly programming when it’s warm (a retro-themed roller rink and tree-lined in-ground fountains) and cold (an all-ages ice skating rink with a ski chalet vibe). The centerpiece public space — celebrating 10 years since its transformative $55 million renovation in 2024 — also offers year-round pop-up concerts, fitness classes, festivals, and kid-focused events and programs (along with a cozy cafe and on-site access to public transit) in an inviting space for families at the very center of Center City.

Bucks County all-in-one play-shop-and-dine destination Peddler’s Village treats kids to Giggleberry Fair, a carnival-style indoor family fun center. Attractions include the three-story six-level Giggleberry Mountain obstacle course and maze, interactive exploration environment Giggles Discovers for toddlers and preschool children, a high-tech Game Room with more than 40 of the newest games and the popular centerpiece: a fully-restored and operating 1922 Philadelphia Toboggan Company Grand Carousel.

Open seasonally (typically summer and winter)

Independence Blue Cross RiverRink brings ice skating in the winter (Winterfest) and roller skating in the summer (Summerfest) on an NHL-sized rink to the Delaware River waterfront. Wintertime offers fire pits, indoor games, cozy couches and hot drinks while summer provides rocking chairs on a wrap-around porch, cool drinks, a moon bounce and a midway with rides and boardwalk games for the whole family. But both seasons feature a double-decker carousel, an illuminated 60-foot-tall Ferris wheel with views across the river, and plenty of fun and festive carnival food and treats.

Spread out over 30,000 square feet in Doylestown’s largest park, the Kids Castle Central Park playground is a year-round outdoor adventureland for kids ages 5 to 12 stretching across four “kingdoms” with treehouses, plastic rock walls, a kid-sized pirate ship, and dozens of next-level playground rides and interactive games. The centerpiece of the 100-acre park is the Kids Castle itself, a massive eight-story wooden play structure protected by a giant friendly plastic dragon with labyrinthine passages, drawbridges, overlooks, twisty tube slides and kids’ elevator.

Looking for a playground? A tennis court? Maybe a spray park or pool? The athletic facilities and green spaces of Philadelphia’s Department of Parks & Recreation offer all of those things — and more! — at facilities in nearly every neighborhood in the city. Use the department’s Activity Finder tool to find fields, courts, pitches, diamonds, playgrounds, equipment, pools, gymnasiums, classes, and a myriad of other awesome kid-friendly services available to visitors and locals. Search by type of activity, zero in on any city section on the map and start having fun.

Water-loving kiddos and their families frequent Sister Cities Park, a refreshing paradise at the midpoint of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway with a pebble-bottom wading pool sheltered by a landscaped hill and 11 spouting fountains (representing Philadelphia’s 11 sister cities) to run through and cool off on hot summer days. The park also boasts kid-friendly programming from top museums and attractions, the nature-in-the-city Children’s Discovery Garden, a cafe, and a kiosk selling plastic boats, swim diapers, sunscreen and other essentials during the summer months — all under panoramic views of Center City.

One of the oldest playgrounds in America, Smith Memorial Playground & Playhouse is best known for the circa-1899 Ann Newman Giant Wooden Slide which, at over 60 feet in length, 12 feet in width and 10 feet high, can accommodate a dozen kids at a time. Beyond the iconic slide, the attraction offers children (ages 10 and under) a free and safe place to play, jump, swing, climb and learn about nature. For children 5 and under, the Tot-Lot features more than 20 pieces of age-appropriate play equipment.

Open spring, summer and fall

Warm-weather outdoor oasis Spruce Street Harbor Park — ranked as one of the world’s best urban beaches — is the home of seasonal fun on the Delaware River. The buzzy park features a boardwalk with concessions and food trucks, giant board games, cargo container arcades and weekend craft markets. The highlight: the spaces to hang with the fam either in Adirondack chairs overlooking the waterfront, flat-bottomed net lounges floating above the river or in the woodsy meadow featuring cozy tree-slung hammocks under thousands of LED lights.

Kids of all ages can live out their backyard tree fort dreams at Treehouse World Adventure Park in West Chester (directly west of Philly’s Center City). The 14-acre compound features nearly a dozen massive themed treehouses — including a pirate ship, a six-car locomotive, an enchanted village and a giant birthday cake — along with two tiny tot-friendly zip lines (and an aerial zip line tour for kids 12-plus), a giant trampoline, a wooded obstacle course, a small animal farm, and opportunities for rock climbing, ax throwing and bungee jumping.

Open spring, summer and fall

Aerial adventure park TreeTop Quest Philly in Fairmount Park features nearly 20 zip lines — ranging from 30 to 200 feet in length, with some lines as high as 60 feet up — through the trees. Guests can choose from four levels of difficulty for adults and kids ages 7 and up (plus a mini-course for kids ages 4 to 7). The best part: unlimited runs through the self-guided course over a two-and-a-half-hour session. Open May through November, the attraction also features 60 challenging obstacles like swings, jumps and tightropes.

If your family is always on the go, take a trip to Lower Southampton in Bucks County to visit zip line park TreeTrails Adventures, which offers six aerial trails featuring over 50 elements, including bridges, netted tunnels and elevated swings. The main courses are open to adults and kids ages 7 and up. Choose from beginner zip lines 10 to 12 feet in the air to advanced zips over 50 feet high, as well as a side-by-side 1,000-foot-long zip line racetrack and a KidsTrails spot for kids ages 4 to 7 with lines just two to three feet off the ground. Experiences are two hours in length and include guided practice time.

Founded in 1976 for the nation’s Bicentennial, the groundbreaking African American Museum in Philadelphia tells stories of notable early African Americans through the core exhibit, Audacious Freedom: African Americans in Philadelphia 1776-1876. A number of rotating exhibits on display throughout the year examine contemporary racial, societal, economic and cultural issues through art and historic artifacts. Special programs, workshops, tours and events designed specifically for younger audiences include Family Fun Days (hands-on activities and more every second Saturday) and family-friendly celebrations around Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth.

Nearly three-dozen helicopters, autogiros, convertiplanes and other spiral wing aircraft are on display at the American Helicopter Museum & Education Center. Highlights of the nation’s premier rotary flight aviation museum include a model helicopter room with over 400 pieces and an exhibit dedicated to the Whirly-Girls female helicopter pilots. The Girls in Science and Technology program is offered daily for girls aged 6 to 12, and the museum holds its annual FamilyFest each June. Several times a year, guests have a chance to ride in a working helicopter.

Located in the renovated 1902 firehouse of Engine Company Number Eight — a descendant of Benjamin Franklin’s 1736 Union Fire Company — the Fireman’s Hall Museum offers lessons in the history, art and science of firefighting. Exhibits include historic fire trucks dating back to the 1800s; some of the nation’s earliest firefighting equipment (like ladders, badges, helmets, parade hats and fire marks); fire safety initiatives; a comic strip art-styled exhibit where kids can learn about fire prevention and try on firefighter gear; and a gallery of 19th-century stove-top parade hats.

On the edge of the Delaware River, little landlubbers can explore the massive Cruiser USS Olympia, which participated in the Spanish-American War, and World War II-era Submarine USS Becuna (first brought to Philadelphia to celebrate the Bicentennial in 1976), both docked outside the Independence Seaport Museum. Indoors, kids can visit the Ship Model Shack with over 50 models and the Seaport Boat Shop live shipbuilding workshop. In summer, families can also rent kayaks or museum-built rowboats to explore the calm waters of the river.

Offering free admission to children under age 5 and discounts to older kids, the Museum of the American Revolution delves into the conflict that created the United States. In the War at Sea gallery, board the deck of an 855-square-foot privateer ship and learn the story of 14-year-old free African American James Forten, who volunteered aboard a similar ship to fight the British. Afterward, explore interactive Revolution Place (for ages 5 to 12) that recreates 18th-century Old City via a military encampment, a tavern, a home and a meetinghouse.

America’s first and only museum dedicated to the U.S. Constitution, the National Constitution Center includes interactive exhibits, the powerful Freedom Rising multimedia performance, exhibits on the First and 19th Amendments, Signers’ Hall’s life-sized statues of the signers of the Constitution, and a number of permanent and rotating house-curated exhibitions all forwarding the message of “We The People.” Special family-friendly programs take place throughout the year on civic holidays, including Constitution Day, Presidents Day, Veterans Day, Tax Day, Earth Day and more.

A robust calendar of kid-friendly programming is offered at the Philadelphia Museum of Art throughout the year, including Art Kids Studio where kids create their own art projects (materials provided) and Art Kids Tours gallery tours with a museum educators (for ages 3 to 10). Admission is free for those 18 and under, with pay-what-you-wish every Friday after 5 p.m. and the first Sunday of every month. Finish with a run up the Rocky Steps after you snap a pic with the Italian Stallion himself (or at least a statue of him).

Dr. Fred Simeone’s impressive collection of racing cars — including Ferraris, Alfa Romeos, Bugattis, Aston Martins, Corvettes, Mustangs and more— led to the creation of the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum, perfect for gearheads of all ages. The collection features over 75 historic (and just plain cool) rides along with rotating exhibits showcasing the history of sports cars and racing machines. Staff regularly take cars from its collection outside for a spin on demonstration days so you can experience the beauty and power in motion.

Take a journey through 360 years of Jewish history in the U.S. at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, which is filled with more than 1,200 artifacts and documents, 2,500 images, 30 original films and 13 state-of-the-art interactive media displays — all free to visit (with a suggested donation). The experience delivers a rich tale that traces the path of the nation’s Jewish diaspora from struggling immigrants to integral citizens. While you’re there, snap a picture of the cheeky OY/YO sculpture installed outside of the museum entrance.

At the Betsy Ross House, America’s most famous flag maker greets guests in her interactive 18th-century upholstery shop. Visitors learn about Betsy’s life, work and legend from the upholsterer herself. Tours are available either self-guided or with audio guides, including a special version just for kids to learn about life in 18th-century Philadelphia while also solving a number of “history mysteries.” And from Memorial Day through Labor Day, kids can help raise the American flag during a daily hoisting of Old Glory.

Predating the Declaration of Independence, Fort Mifflin is the oldest active military facility in the nation. The fort saw its heaviest action during the Revolutionary War, beating back a British invasion in the Battle of Red Bank and holding off 2,000 Redcoats until Washington could withdraw to Valley Forge during the Battle of Mud Island. Visitors can tour the Revolution-era grounds and buildings, watch reenactments or grab a picnic. Bonus for plane-loving kids: Watch jumbo jets land up close from the border of the military park and the Philadelphia International Airport.

The Liberty Bell and Independence Hall are two of the 25-plus attractions that make up America’s most historic square mile in Independence National Historical Park. The National Park Service’s Junior Ranger program gives kids a chance to earn a special badge sticker and certificate during their visit by attending at least one ranger program and completing five activities in the Junior Ranger Activity Booklet (available at the Independence Visitor Center). Other National Park sites in Philadelphia offering badges include the Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial and the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site.

Offering a lighthearted break from the more serious historical sites in Old City and Philadelphia’s Historic District, the awe-inspiring Museum of Illusions features a reverse room, a vortex tunnel, a brainteaser game room, and a handful of installations and “Illusion Rooms.” Interact with the space’s holograms, stereograms and optical illusions (like a Beuchet chair and cloning table) while learning about vision, perception and the human brain. Visitors to this good-for-the-whole-family spot typically spend about an hour exploring the attraction.

Open select days in summer

Family-friendly Once Upon A Nation storytelling benches feature free tales performed by professional (and often costumed) storytellers at a half-dozen locations around Philadelphia’s Historic District, from the Independence Visitor Center to Franklin Square to the Betsy Ross House (as well as in Valley Forge National Historical Park). Told in three to five minutes each, the stories recount details about some of our nation’s earliest citizens, well- and not-so-well-known, who shaped America’s history, shared in the places where they actually happened. Benches are open on select days from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

One of the most popular public art installations in the city, Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens is Philly-based artist Isaiah Zagar’s large-scale indoor/outdoor found-item mosaic structure spanning half a city block of South Street. Visitors can take guided or self-discovery tour and snap some selfies in a wonderland of concrete-sealed mixed-media mosaics constructed from discarded materials like broken mirrors, reclaimed glass, tiles, bicycle parts and an assortment of urban waste. On the second Sunday afternoon of each month, the space hosts PECO Family Jams dedicated to family-oriented programming and craft-making.