The Please Touch Museum

On Saturday, June 4, our family ventured to Philly to visit the Please Touch Museum. Through one of our credit cards, we had two free tickets to the museum, so we only had to pay for the boys. Now, I say "only" but the tickets are $15/each for ages 2 and up. Parking next to the museum would have cost $8, but when we got there, the road leading up to it was closed, which forced us to park a block down. Now, it was a good walk, but it was worth saving the extra few dollars since we also had to figure in the cost of gas and tolls to get there. That said, I packed our lunches to save some more money, and we thought it would be worth the trip. We were right!

When we arrived at the museum, we discovered that it was a race that had prevented us from driving up this road. They were just gearing up to get started, and the music was BUMPING! Caleb ran to Daddy, scared to death of the loud noise. Joshua, on the other hand, started to dance. My boys are so different! And I love them both so much! Once inside the museum, the first stop we went to was the "cars" station. In the picture above, Caleb got right into the first car he saw. There was also a huge bus that they could drive or ride in, and many other options to play with.

Caleb & Daddy headed to the area where you can build your own race car. He's putting wheels on the car above, while Daddy put the face on him. It was a neat little area! Joshua wanted to head straight for the bulldozer. He used all the cranks to lower the contraption, scoop up the balls, lift them up, turn them and drop them. He could have stayed here for hours! The only problem was that one of the bulldozers was out of order, so there were other little ones who wanted to take their turn where he was sitting. I thought the museum would be packed that day, but it really wasn't.

Joshua took two turns at the bulldozer, then we convinced him to keep checking out other areas, including an old Monorail that was hanging up. Daddy showed them how to make this cool little car wash go.

And there was a little garage area where the kids could fill up the gas tank, put air in tires and even play drive a Toyota Scion. Joshua climbed right into the driver's seat...

...while Daddy climbed in the back this time.

Caleb also took his turn behind the wheel. I thought this station was cool. Next to it was some sort of Central Park theme with fake little vendors, but we skipped by it heading to the space station!

I had seen on the website the night before that there was an entire section designed for rocket ships and space crafts, and I knew Joshua would go crazy over it! We promised him all morning that he would get to see a rocket ship if he was good in the car. And, this area did not disappoint! He's been asking for a rocket ship for his birthday, so this was cool. One of the first things he noticed was something that you crank and all the feathers start moving. He & Caleb both had fun with these big contraptions.

Then, we found another one that looked neat. As the boys would turn a lever, it lifted up a wooden ball that would be released at the top and circle down to start again. They could have stayed at this one for hours, but eventually we pulled them away to keep exploring!

I asked the man working what this glowing circle on the wall was, and he explained that it was a human hamster wheel. Daddy was the guinea pig...or hamster, in this case. Both boys were too scared to try it.

Next, we went to what intrigued me since the moment we entered the room. In this little station, you turned on blowers and balls would stay up in the air while the the blowers were on. It was cool to watch! You can see the purple balls in the photos. And if you'd run your hands through the air, you could make the balls go in funky patterns.

Caleb especially thought this was a hoot! His face was cracking me up!

We saw another contraption where you could turn a wheel and buzz light year would be come sailing down, along with the Dinoco helicopter from Cars and all sorts of other characters. There was also a place where you could walk across a balance beam that was lit up (which Joshua did) and climb into a boat of sorts and paddle and make all sorts of wheels turn, etc. There was another space room off of this one that we wandered into.

The first thing we saw was the astronaut gear. We put the helmet and coat on Joshua (Caleb wasn't interested). I thought the Bean looked adorable! Then, if you stood in this blue space, you could see yourself on a TV that had the controls of a space ship behind you (which is what the Bean is staring at - himself on TV!).

Here's what the TV screen looked like then:

Caleb found a place where you could pretend you were controlling the space ships. The buttons lit up and made noise, so they had a great time touching everything.

My absolute favorite in this room wasn't completely obvious at first. We saw all these foam pieces in the middle of the room to create a rocket ship, but it wasn't until I asked and the woman working explained to us what it was that it became a huge hit. First, you create your own rocket from the pieces in the circle where Daddy & Joshua are below. Here's Caleb's make-shift rocket.

Then, you put the foam pieces onto this contraption that made noise and had buttons.  Upon pulling the lever down, the rocket was LAUNCHED into the air and would land back in the middle area where you took the foam pieces. It was SO cool! The boys had a blast making the rockets and launching them. So fun!

When we had first arrived, the security guard told us that the magic show happening later that morning was well worth seeing. We hadn't originally planned on going, but we figured maybe it was worth checking out. Since it was getting close to that time, I suggested we start heading that way since it was on the lower level from where we were. So, we put back the astronaut gear and headed down the stairs that were right there.

While the space room we were in was empty, the downstairs shopping area was buzzing with kids. Daddy grabbed a cart for both boys, and they started shopping away. Caleb filled up on veggies & fruit, while Joshua took every last inch of cheese off the shelf. Once they were finished making their purchases, we helped them put everything back where it belonged. The gal working in that area noticed when Joshua put his last item away and gave him a star sticker for cleaning up. Poor Caleb had put all his things away, too, but he had already walked away with Daddy before the gal noticed his empty cart. He didn't seem to care, though.

In the same area as the shopping was a full huge kitchen where you could pretend to cook. Outside of it was a big McDonald's, where the kids could pretend to be working behind the counter or sitting in the seats. Joshua has taken to calling it "Old McDonald's" and sings "E-I-E-I-O" when we see the golden arches. Haaa!!!

The boys didn't stay long in Old McDonald's, but they did enjoy the fake mail truck right outside the door.

The next stop was the kids' favorite of the day, I'd say. [Although, when Joshua tells us about what his favorite was, he includes EVERYTHING he can think of. He had a blast!] This next station was a construction yard. You can see Joshua punching his time card in the picture above. Daddy helped them get their gloves on, and Joshua also wore one of the coats there. Then they took these fake foam cinder blocks and put them on a crank shaft.

The foam blocks were located on a truck, which Joshua is pretending to drive below. This is another little boy in the truck next to him, which accidentally made it into my photo. Joshua blew the horn of the truck and said "Mama, you can't stand in front of a truck!!!" I laughed... it's not smart to be in front of a truck, now is it?

You can see the back of the truck in the picture below. The boys LOVED the wheelbarrows, and they would stack the "bricks" (as they called them) into the wheelbarrow to drive to the crank.They made plenty of little friends in this area. One little boy in particular followed everything Joshua said, which was really cute.

After wheeling the "bricks" over, they would stack them onto the crank and turn it to get them up. This crank was actually pretty difficult to move and took just about all their strength. 

The real fun was at the top, then. They would go up the stairs to where the crank dropped the bricks, and they would take the stacks of bricks, run them across the way and throw them down the shoot. The bottom of the shoot would fill up, and then kids would either take them directly to the crank to be lifted back up or back over to the truck via the wheelbarrow. The entire process would start again. But, the business of taking the bricks and putting them down the shoot was a ton of fun to the boys. They kept saying "hurry, get all the bricks and throw them down the shoot!" They worked and worked until I was tired!

We left that area and started walking, reaching the doors for the magic show just as they opened. It was great timing! There was only one row of benches in the back, and I was so thankful we got there in time for me to sit in a seat and not on the floor. The magician was not all he was cracked up to be, in my opinion. But, Joshua counted the "fashion show" as one of his favorite parts of the day. He thought this man was hilarious! Shawn & I laughed and laughed at Joshua giggling at the show. He was all smiles. Eventually he learned the word "magic" and now calls it a "magic show" but I still crack up at his raving over the "fashion show."

Just outside the magic show doors was an entire exhibit from Alice in Wonderland. This area was cool and there was a maze of mirrors, the room with all the keys, the room that kept getting smaller and smaller with little doors (which you'll see above) and then eventually it lead out to a garden where the kids could play a type of golf game using a flamingo. There was the entire tea party with the Mad Hatter set up (although there were other little kids sitting there so the boys didn't partake) and a huge tree house filled with a table and chairs, etc. Eventually we made it out of the maze, but we thought it was cool.

Our next stop was the water station. Unfortunately, I had to use the potty and Daddy didn't take many pictures while I was gone, but this was a neat area. The boys loved the little baby duckies, and Joshua enjoyed racing the boats. There was an area where you could stop the water or let it flow in to make your boat higher or lower, like a little canal system. The Bean thought this was particularly neat. Caleb wanted to splash and splash. I was glad they had these little ponchos on.

I saw several areas that said "designed for the safety of families with children under three." By the sign, I guessed that they really weren't for Joshua who's four-soon-to-be-five. And, since Caleb also likes older areas, we stayed out of them. But, if we had a little one along, we may have ventured into a few of them. Instead, we pressed on to see other exhibits. We found the house of the Three Bears along the way.

Caleb began to tell the story, while Joshua rearranged the bears on the correct beds where they belonged.

I loved the piano that the kids could play by walking on it. And I would say that my personal favorite exhibit was the Rainforest Rhythm room.

In this room, the boys made lots of different types of sounds and music. There was one area that looked like a massive tree with "branches" hanging down. When you'd pull on a root or branch, it would make the instrument above go - from bells to wood rattles to anything that would make noise. I thought this was SO cool!

The boys also played the drums and other instruments that were in this room. But, we didn't stay for all that long because there was more to explore!

Eventually, we decided to head back downstairs to see anything we might have missed along the way. The first stop was the Medical Center which was sponsored by CHOP. In this room, there were all sorts of x-rays on the wall and lots of play medical equipment.

We put a doctor's coat on both boys, and I thought they looked adorable! The one side of the room was lined with little cribs and baby dolls, along with a scale and other items for baby. The boys took out their equipment to check the babies out.

Shawn & I HOWLED at the picture below. Just look at Caleb's face. He's not liking what he's seeing with this baby!

Joshua, on the other hand, was so gentle and loving with the little baby dolls. You can tell he's been to his fair share of hospitals!

 

The Bean weighed the baby in the photo below, and he weighed 7 lbs 6 oz.

Caleb turned the baby over and lifted up the gown. The baby was missing its diaper!

Then there was an area where parents could lay down and their kids could give them a check-up. Daddy laid down and let the boys give him a 'shot,' listen to his heartbeat and take his vitals.

I loved my little doctors! I thought this room was so cute! Eventually we cleaned up the equipment and put the doctor coats back as it was time to see more things.

Outside of the hospital was a shoe store. The boys typically love shoes, but I think they were starting to get tired. Joshua did find the equipment to measure feet, and Daddy obliged in getting his foot measured.

 

The last area we went to was the train exhibit. But this room was a little disappointing. There were some trains to play with, but none were going around on the big track. The boys put together this huge puzzle, which showed the dates of when some things were introduced.

We went back to a few of the areas that we liked the most and then decided to call it a day. Caleb started wanting held more and more, and we were all a little tired. We walked back to the minivan and ate our lunch together before heading toward home. It had been a fun day! We hit a little traffic on the way home, where there was an accident on the ramp that we wanted to take. So, we came home a different way, glad to be moving once again on the turnpike. The boys kept telling us what their favorites included, which was just about everything. They would remember something else about our time there and say "oh, yes, that was fun!" I'm glad we went.