please touch museum

Established October 2, 1976 Location Memorial Hall in Fairmount Park

4231 Avenue of the Republic, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19131 Type Children's[1] Public transit access SEPTA Routes 38, 40 Website Please Touch Museum

The Please Touch Museum is the Children's Museum of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, and the nation's first museum for children ages seven and under. The museum's mission is to "enrich the lives of children by creating learning opportunities through play." [1] Contents [hide] 1 History 2 Exhibits 3 Gallery Programs 4 Community Outreach 5 Footnotes //

History This section contains information which may be of unclear or questionable importance or relevance to the article's subject matter.

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Please Touch Museum originally opened its doors on October 2, 1976 in a 2,200 square foot space at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Center City Philadelphia. A dozen parents, educators, and artists led by Portia Sperr, a Montessori educator, came together to offer over visitors a new kind of museum- a hands-on environment in which "learning was child’s play." Please Touch Museum was a pilot project, with a small staff and a small budget, but it was the first museum ever dedicated to serving children ages 7 and under.[2]

By 1978, Please Touch relocated to a larger space on nearby Cherry Street. Hours of operation were Tuesday through Sunday from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday morning hours were added after children and parents staged a mini-protest.In 1983, the museum moved to its next location, 210 North 21st Street, one block west of The Franklin. From opening day in 1983 to 1993 the museum's attendance grew 70%, memberships increased 52%, full-time staff increased from nine to 37, and the operating budget more than tripled. In the following years, Please Touch made leaps and bounds in the areas of exhibits, educational programs, collections, and community involvement. And after 12 years of outstanding leadership, founding director Portia Sperr passed the reigns in 1988 to Nancy D. Kolb, who became the museum's new Executive Director.[3]

At its 21st Street home, Please Touch Museum was home to nine interactive exhibits and featured daily gallery activities based on science, art and music, including Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, The SuperMarket, Sendak, Barnyard Babies, Story Garden, Move It!, Kids Construct, Recycled City, Kids Creations, and a variety of temporary traveling exhibits.[4]

On February 14, 2005, the City of Philadelphia and its Fairmount Park Commission granted Please Touch Museum a special valentine in the form of an eighty-year lease for use of Memorial Hall, the last major building remaining from the 1876 Centennial Exposition, this coming