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The official OWTK review of the new and improved Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia was written over the course of two full-day visits to the kiddie pleasure dome within it's first full week of being open to the public.
If you've never been, you should know that the old center city location of the Please Touch Museum was a stuffy, heavily-worn space that was unable to compete with other major metropolitan childrens' museums. While the exhibits there, Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are, the Septa bus, etc. showed ingenuity and used the tiny space as best it could, such cleverness couldn't help on a crowded day when the bevy of strollers, misdirected little feet and frustrated parents was more than unbearable. Additionally, parking downtown could be pricey and was at best 3-4 blocks away. Philadelphia needed something better.
The elongated, expensive project to move the museum to Fairmount Park was started years ago and just this month was officially completed when the doors swung open for the first time on October 18th. Memorial Hall, the grand old holdover from America's Centennial bash in 1876, is the site of the palatial childrens' fun house that is sure to become the crown jewel of America's kiddie museums. The venue is gargantuan, the exact opposite of the old place, and is remarkably striking inside and out. Memorial Hall lends itself very well to the new home-away-from-home to children everywhere. And the parking is only $5 (free for members and out front on the Ave. of the Republic) and the lot is right next to the massive building.
With numerous exhibits to see and touch, the best moments we experienced inside the Please Touch Museum were:
- The Please Touch Playhouse - an intimate theater seemingly carved out of 130 year old stone. The show running through December is called Pinch Bear and is absolutely terrific (shows at 11am, 1pm and 3pm daily). We saw it twice, once on each visit, performed first by Alice Gonglewski and then David Hutchmen; both actors were wonderful. The show is a perfectly enticing blend of imagination, humor and water (yes, you get just a bit wet. Your kids will love it!). David informed me that the Playhouse shows rotate about every two months so up next in December will be a Holiday show. We can't wait!
- Alice in Wonderland - as if the old Alice exhibit received a shipment from BALCO and beefed up like Barry Bonds. Pardon the pun, but the new Wonderland space is a grand slam home run. It's big, beautiful and exciting for kiddies while also nostalgic for grown ups.
- Fairytale Garden - an area ideal for the littlest visitors with a gated entrance and an attendant watching over the area. Right next to Wonderland, and a nice spot to let the children roam free while watching from a distance.
- City Capers Medical Center - a cute hospital/nursery with lab coats, cribs, baby dolls, blankets and a variety of doctor's equipment allowing your child to become a mini-M.D.
There are some cool little touches all over the place inside the museum. Nooks, crannies and bookshelves full of old toys like Marvin the Martian, an original Etch-a-Sketch, Kermit the Frog and other playthings from yesteryear lurk around every corner. These blasts from the past serve as a neat tool to bridge the gap between generations and signify the dawn of a new era at the Please Touch.
The Fairytale Garden has what appears to be the entire Smurf village encased in glass at eye level for toddlers and there are two cool found-art/toy projects in Memorial Hall. One is a large elephant and the other, a towering replica of the Statue of Liberty's torch that greets visitors as they enter the Hall. The Torch was displayed here in 1876 before the Statue was completed in NYC.
There is something inside the Please Touch Museum for adults as well. The 1876 Centennial exhibit is wonderful and is everything I hoped it would be the day I read that they discovered a full scale replica of what Fairmount Park looked like in 1876 during the preparation of the space for Please Touch to move in. It's amazing to picture the city at that time with so many long-gone architectural wonders dotting the landscape. (Even in this "adult" exhibit there is hands-on stations for children to explore - cool stuff like an old telephone, school house and wooden doll house furniture).
All is not perfect however. The serpentine line to enter the museum can be foreboding and when multiple kids are in tow, can be extremely off-putting right off the bat. One of the big reasons for the long lines is that there are a mere 4 cashiers to assist with tickets/memberships and although the menu of choices, if not at all complicated, still takes some time for each museum guest to finalize their ticket purchase. And being a member doesn't have it's advantages when it comes to entering quickly. Members, too, must stand in the general line for paper tickets in order to play inside.
The other undersized area is the one where you might feel the most frustrated, especially with too-hungry little ones tugging on your pant leg. The food inside the cleverly named Please Taste Cafe is quite delicious and reasonably priced but the dining area is way too small for such an expansive new museum. They need to find more seating, I would recommend something outside during the warmer months and maybe inside the carousel house during chiller days. I imagine that enjoying lunch while watching the Dentzel carousel spin would be a lovely time. That being said, the lunch choices are quite good. We sampled the cold Grilled Chicken Sandwich with fresh mozzarella, roasted red peppers and a pesto mayo and the Pesto Pizzsand, which is a warm gyro-like sandwich with grilled chicken, sun dried tomatoes, marinated red onion and garlic mayo. It was fantastic, filling and only $5.75. The Please Taste Cafe also has a pasta station (see picture) where you can make your own pasta meal by selecting 1 of 4 types of pasta and a bevy of veggies and other mix-ins and 1 of 4 sauces. That is a mere $4.75. Very nice choices all of them. Also offered are yogurts, cereal, milk, super pretzels, drinks and a variety of snacks and frozen ice cream treats.
The Please Touch Museum Memorial Hall is a glorious place to spend a day as a family. OWTK cannot encourage you enough to come to Philly and see this marvelous place with your kids. Tickets are $15 for adults and kids over 1. A spin on the magnificently restored carousel (a pretty short ride for the price, to be honest) will cost you an extra $3 per person riding (you can stand with your child for free). Plan your visit to the Please Touch Museum today.
I bought our first gaming system yesterday. The OWTK household has officially become a part of the Wii generation. I spent a couple hours in Best Buy learning about the differences between LCD and Plasma and a variety of other entertainment-system related factoids and on the way out empty handed I spotted a table with 4 Wii systems and 2 Wii Fits. I picked up one of each along with MarioKart. Expect full reviews and some Wii game/accessory giveaways on OWTK in the coming weeks/months!
I was in Best Buy because we are going to be upgrading our old 27" boob tube to a 46" HDTV with a Blue Ray DVD/Home Theater setup. While it's pretty exciting, the thought of watching football, basketball and hockey on that size screen, I've been terribly conflicted about what this kind of purchase means. I feel like I am about to get sucked into a materialistic black hole, one from which I will not be able to return. Or maybe it's just a "treat ourselves" and help the economy kind of purchase that won't escalate any further. I'll go with the latter.
In other more traditional entertainment news the Bear is totally in love with The Little Miss and Little Mr. book series from Roger Hargreaves. Her "train mom mom" (my mother-in-law who always arrives in our neighborhood via the regional rail from Philly) bought her 5 books a couple weeks ago and the Please Touch Museum (full review coming this weekend) gift shop had a whole display so we bought 5 more. Constantly seeking that delicate balance of old and new media. I think the first thing we'll watch on the new HDTV is The Muppets or something. Or maybe The Jazz Singer. Haha.
It's that time of year again! Time to sit down and recall all the great kiddie music that passed through my hands and ears this year. I love going through all my old reviews and the big stack of discs in my office and I'm extremely pleased to once again be a part of the Fids and Kamily Awards.
I have my ballot all ready to go and will reveal how I voted after the official results are made public on November 15th. Probably no surprise what my #1 record of 2008 will be but the other 9 may not be so obvious. Stay tuned!
ASHA has teamed up with Justin Roberts in an effort to promote awareness of hearing loss in kids as a result of blaring personal audio devices like iPods. The campaign is called Listen to Your Buds and it's great because it seems to get almost no media coverage. I've always thought that the classic outer ear headphones served our kiddies better from a volume standpoint and now I'm starting to see "kid safe" headphones that appear to be smaller versions of those old fashion earphones. There are also cool earbud style listening devices that control the volume to protect your little one's ears.Check out the Justin Roberts/ASHA podcast.
From the creator of the terrific Holiday classic Olive the Other Reindeer comes a modern day vampire tale unlike anything you've read before. How does a vegetarian, candy loving, human fearing little Vamp sound? To this gang it sounds like vun heck of a book!
We tend to shy away from the hyper-illustrated glossy anime-style of some newer kid's books but Seibold's work here and on Olive the Other Reindeer is both retro (in an Airstream Caravan/1950's diner kind of way) and "of this era". It's also both utterly fun and fantastic. His illustrations are eye-catching and energetic and what makes them work so well is that the pages (aside from the wordless "centerfold") are not consumed with images. The drawings are visually intense, with cute little bugs and other small things worth seeking on each page, yet at no time do they overpower the reader. Seibold's formula proves to be quite perfect for the 3-7 age group.
Vunce Upon a Time is clever and interesting to both child and adult even after the 10th read. Dagmar, the star of the show, has to overcome his fear of humans in order to feed his sweet tooth and in doing so realizes that humans are generally pleasant and helpful. His attempt to dress up as garlic is a riot and even though the Bear doesn't understand why that is so funny, she still finds Vunce Upon a Time hysterical.
Check out this short Vunce Upon a Time video from Chronicle Books website and then visit the Vunce Upon A Time online activities page for coloring pages, recipes and jack-o-lantern templates.Shop directly from the publisher to save 25% and get free shipping until October 23rd, 2008.
Last Wednesday the girls and I spent our stay at home day on the road. On a whim, after playing with Harmony, one of the Bear's stuffed animals purchased from the sweetest place on Earth earlier this year, I decided to pack up the troops and head west to Hershey, PA. The Mouse was still in a Baby Bjorn snuggly-thing back then so I can only assume she didn't enjoy all that Hershey's had to offer while lassoed around her Mum's chest. Seeing as how she now loves cows and cute Moooo one of the animal sounds she can make, I figured she would fancy seeing the singing trio of bovines that guide you through the cool (and free) little "factory" tour in Chocolate World. Wednesday afternoon seems a good time to visit as there was NO ONE in line for the tour. A much different scene will greet you on a weekend, that's for sure.
Having eaten in the cafeteria last time, I knew I wanted to stop and have a real meal with the little ladies so with the help of my Garmin Nuvi I located the Chocolate Ave. Grill in downtown Hershey. They served the Mouse one of the best grilled cheese sandwiches I've ever tasted...she devoured it! The Bear enjoyed a huge plate of yummy spaghetti and meatballs (both meals were under $5). The kids got to play with crayons and twisty wax strings that can be made into any number of things. Very, very cool place that caters nicely to kids of all ages. I would return in a heartbeat the next time we're in town. If you're heading to Hershey for the Chocolate World Experience, stop at the Chocolate Ave. Grill for a great meal at a reasonable price thus avoiding the disappointing food court.
After buying three bags of fancy Kisses (Pumpkin Spice, Candy Cane and the best Hershey flavor ever - Mint Truffle) we headed over to the lovely Hershey Gardens. We got in free thanks to Winterthur's reciprical program (love those!) Even though their butterfly house was closed we three still had a good time for well over an hour in the Children's Garden where the kids can kinda roam free.
Next Monday we will spend another stay at home day out and about as the new Please Touch Museum opens in Fairmount Park. We joined during the summer and have been eagerly awaiting this day. Our membership gets our girls free and unlimited Carousel rides for a year! Yeah!!!
Check out Philly.com's interactive Please Touch Museum website.
We got a new cat from the SPCA today! A 3 year old orange tabby named Tilly. The girls are in heaven..jpg)
How cute!!!
On a whim, we drove up to New York City on Sunday afternoon for an overnight stay at The Manhattan Club and a day at the American Museum of Natural History. My brother owns a timeshare up there (more on that later) and couldn't make his Sunday night reservation work so he offered the place to my gang. Since only one of us actually works for a living, we decided to go.
Sunday was already scheduled to be jammed packed as we took a stroll around Villanova stadium during the 2008 Buddy Walk in the morning then could be found strolling the streets of Malvern, PA for the annual Fall Festival. After all that, we drive 2 hours to the Big Apple. The girls and I were pretty bushed yet we still managed to enjoy a great, late-night dinner at Beacon on West 56th. We didn't leave the place until 10pm. Needless to say, we all sleep well that night!
I'd eaten at Beacon once before and loved it. I made a quick same-day 1000 point reservation on OpenTable.com then we called ahead to make sure it's "kid-friendly". We we're assured that it was and boy, they weren't lying! The kiddies get their own little menus, a coloring book filled with a mix of popular characters (from Elmo to Spongebob...something for most everyone) and the best part? Kid's under 4 eat free!
It being a Sunday, it was Beacon's Sunday Supper Pre-Fixe dinner for $44 per adult. The appetizers were a set of 4 served family style, including Pumpkin Apple soup which the Bear and Mouse both devoured (they shared the Mrs' and mine as the kids did not get the individual servings of soup). I tried Oysters for the first time and enjoyed very much the wood roasted with shallots and herbs preparation that Beacon prides itself on.
If you're looking for a great upscale place in Midtown for a dinner with children don't hesitate to consider making a reservation at Beacon. The booster and high chair were clean and while no changing table in either bathroom there is a space for swapping diapers easily.
On Monday we finally became members of the always amazing American Museum of Natural History. For me, that place is like heaven on Earth. I could spend an eternity inside those walls yet constantly find myself rushing through and out because my visits continue to occur on traveling days. Our visit this time unfortunately comes just 5 days BEFORE the beautiful Butterfly Conservatory reopens for the season! The upside? I have another excuse to visit again real soon!
That's all we did, a dinner, a night stay and the museum. The night stay was enjoyable at the Manhattan Club but geez is it hard on an owner of that timeshare high rise. My brother has been extremely frustrated with the availability, or lack thereof, of rooms since buying his share a couple years ago. He has been emailing and calling months in advance looking for regular non-holiday nights scattered throughout the rest of the year and the 1st 1/2 of next year and keeps striking out. Our Sunday night was chosen only because it was one of only 2 nights left available in 2008 (he booked this in August!). That's nuts.
Seems like it would have been easier to set aside a wad of cash and just book fancy hotels whenever you decide to visit NYC instead of paying a steep price upfront for this timeshare and constantly being told the place can't accommodate you. Terrible.
The Scholastic DVD series is almost always reliable for good, clean fun for kids ages 2-5 (or so). The DVDs are also perfect for stoking a healthy amount of nostalgia in moms and dads. Last week two new DVDs hit shelves in the form of the animal themed offerings Harry the Dirty Dog and Make Way for Ducklings. Sound good? Head over to Thingamababy for your chance to win Make Way for Ducklings.
While the Bear prefers the Harry the Dirty Dog collection both DVDs are wonderful to share with any animal loving baby. The Mouse perks up for Angus, the live action short film about a cute black dog, when he shows up on both videos. The bonus story "I Want A Dog" is one of the better segments on any of the Scholastic DVDs we've seen. The story may inspire a puppy-dream in your little one but the tale is very clever in showing the hard work involved with caring for a dog. Oh, and the song is terrific.Make Way For Ducklings takes Robert McCloskey's original 1969 illustrations and story to introduce this classic to a new generation. Speaking of Make Way For Ducklings, check out this clever Luxurious Make Way For Ducklings New Baby Gift Basket!Either of these Scholastic DVDs would make a cool stocking stuffer for a toddler or preschooler. Click the picture below to buy from Amazon.com
If you've never been, you should know that the old center city location of the Please Touch Museum was a stuffy, heavily-worn space that was unable to compete with other major metropolitan childrens' museums. While the exhibits there, Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are, the Septa bus, etc. showed ingenuity and used the tiny space as best it could, such cleverness couldn't help on a crowded day when the bevy of strollers, misdirected little feet and frustrated parents was more than unbearable. Additionally, parking downtown could be pricey and was at best 3-4 blocks away. Philadelphia needed something better.
The elongated, expensive project to move the museum to Fairmount Park was started years ago and just this month was officially completed when the doors swung open for the first time on October 18th. Memorial Hall, the grand old holdover from America's Centennial bash in 1876, is the site of the palatial childrens' fun house that is sure to become the crown jewel of America's kiddie museums. The venue is gargantuan, the exact opposite of the old place, and is remarkably striking inside and out. Memorial Hall lends itself very well to the new home-away-from-home to children everywhere. And the parking is only $5 (free for members and out front on the Ave. of the Republic) and the lot is right next to the massive building.
With numerous exhibits to see and touch, the best moments we experienced inside the Please Touch Museum were:
There are some cool little touches all over the place inside the museum. Nooks, crannies and bookshelves full of old toys like Marvin the Martian, an original Etch-a-Sketch, Kermit the Frog and other playthings from yesteryear lurk around every corner. These blasts from the past serve as a neat tool to bridge the gap between generations and signify the dawn of a new era at the Please Touch.
The other undersized area is the one where you might feel the most frustrated, especially with too-hungry little ones tugging on your pant leg. The food inside the cleverly named Please Taste Cafe is quite delicious and reasonably priced but the dining area is way too small for such an expansive new museum. They need to find more seating, I would recommend something outside during the warmer months and maybe inside the carousel house during chiller days. I imagine that enjoying lunch while watching the Dentzel carousel spin would be a lovely time. That being said, the lunch choices are quite good. We sampled the cold Grilled Chicken Sandwich with fresh mozzarella, roasted red peppers and a pesto mayo and the Pesto Pizzsand, which is a warm gyro-like sandwich with grilled chicken, sun dried tomatoes, marinated red onion and garlic mayo. It was fantastic, filling and only $5.75. The Please Taste Cafe also has a pasta station (see picture) where you can make your own pasta meal by selecting 1 of 4 types of pasta and a bevy of veggies and other mix-ins and 1 of 4 sauces. That is a mere $4.75. Very nice choices all of them. Also offered are yogurts, cereal, milk, super pretzels, drinks and a variety of snacks and frozen ice cream treats.
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