10 Best Things to Do for Family in Philadelphia

The Franklin Institute is a science and natural history museum that offers entire galleries full of interactive, hands-on, and kid-friendly exhibits plus fantastic traveling exhibitions. Kids here can explore such activities as a gigantic walk-through human heart, a Space Command hall where they can explore the stars, the Sports Zone, exhibits exploring electricity and gravity, mechanical constructs, and even trains. They can explore the human brain over an 8,500-square-foot gallery. The museum also hosts a full planetarium and an IMAX theater showcasing documentaries about science and the world.

This museum has also showcased traveling exhibitions on King Tut, Vikings, and even the history of superheroes. It's in the heart of downtown.

Sesame Place Field is a fun, exciting family theme park that offers kids the one-of-a-kind and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to interact with Big Bird, Elmo, Abby, and others. They can also ride themed rides, play games, participate in interactive Sesame Street-themed activities, see fireworks shows, dance and music performances, and eat delicious amusement park food. Even better, the kids can put on their swimsuits and splash, slide, and play in a water park during the summer.

Theme parks abound all over the world, but this one is truly one of a kind. This vibrant and exciting amusement park is located about 30 minutes northeast of downtown.

Dilworth Park is situated in the heart of downtown right in front of city hall and offers a retro roller skating rink, tree-lined fountains, statuary, and tons of family fun. Here you can catch pop-up free concerts by local acts all year long. Regular events and festivals are held, and you can enjoy a waterfront cafe to grab a bite to eat, and people watch. The rink transforms into an ice skating rink to celebrate the holiday season in the winter.

This is a piece of the heart and soul of the city's vibrant cultural scene. It's also free to visit, so if you're on a budget-friendly family vacation, it's a fantastic place to while away for an afternoon.

The Please Touch Museum in Fairmont Park offers kids a chance to engage their senses, creativity, and imagination while they learn about the world we share. Here they can ride a classic carousel or visit a fairy tale forest. They can visit a rocket room and learn how we've reached for the stars (and where we're going in the future), or they can head for the River Adventures exhibit to learn about the ecology of our waterways. They'll learn the importance of clean water to the species inhabiting it and how it feeds our entire world.

The Please Touch Museum offers a world of educational adventure. It's 12 minutes southeast of downtown.

Franklin Square is a historic town square that offers an ultramodern park experience with all sorts of exciting activities for kids and adults. Today it features a miniature golf course with a Philadelphia theme, a restored marble fountain, a vast playground where kids can climb, jump, swing, and bounce, and even a traditional carousel to ride. A seasonal burger stand sells burgers, fries, and shakes for when you get hungry.

From an important historical standpoint, Franklin Square was one of the original five town squares laid out by William Penn in the city's earliest days. It's located directly in the heart of downtown Philly.

LEGOLAND Discovery Center is a combination hands-on creativity museum and theme park where kids can see great LEGO sculptures and then try their hand at building their own. You'll take a train ride through a complete LEGO landscape with replicas of important buildings, bridges, roads, waterways, and parks. These landmarks were made from more than 1 million bricks. You can visit a 4D cinema where you see your favorite LEGO characters larger than life. Then the kids can let their imagination go crazy in the many themed build-and-play areas.

You can spend multiple days engaging imagination, creativity, and inspiration here. LEGOLAND Discovery Center is about a half-hour north of downtown Philadelphia.

One Liberty Observation Deck lets you catch a birds-eye, 360-degree panoramic view of the entire city from 57 floors above the street. The kids will wonder at the viewpoint, and you can capture the scenery for your Instagram and other social media feeds. This viewpoint opened in 2015 and is operated by a global company specialized in observatory decks, so you're sure to get a picture-perfect view no matter which way you turn. You can also see Philly-themed art installations and explore interactive technology related to the observation platform.

One Liberty Place is among the tallest standing buildings in Philly. It's directly in the heart of downtown.

Treetop Quest Philly is an outdoor extreme action adventure playground where kids can explore a massive attraction that will get their pulse up and their adrenaline pumping. It offers 20 ziplines and is a self-guided course that takes about 2 hours to go through, including 60 obstacles like tightropes, jumps, and swings of a wide range of difficulty levels. The different courses are rated for various age groups, so your kids can pick the one that fits them. A unique Check Pea course is perfect for kids aged 4 to 6.

If exciting outdoor adventure appeals to your family, this do-it-yourself theme park is the ideal spot. It's 15 minutes north of the central downtown area.

Philadelphia Magic Gardens is a fairytale-like folk environment and art gallery and massive mosaic art piece covering 3 city lots with indoor and outdoor spaces. It's among the largest of its kind by a single artist and includes a labyrinth outdoors and art space. The gigantic mosaic uses many repurposed materials like bike wheels, china plates, kitchen tiles, and Latin-American art pieces. It's a public art installation and the brainchild of famed local artist Isaiah Zagar. It uses materials from his world travels.

The total space of the art covers 3300 square feet, and the interior gallery showcases international artists from the world over. It's right in the heart of downtown Philly.

Smith Memorial Playground & Playhouse offers the chance for kids to enjoy one of America's oldest playgrounds with a free space to climb, jump, laugh, and learn. This spot is famed for its massive Ann Newman Giant Wooden Slide erected around 1899, but the park is even older than that. The park is intended for kids 10 and under to enjoy. They can learn about nature while they swing, climb, jump, and play on over 20 pieces of play structures and gear.

The park also includes a 16,000 square-foot playhouse to enjoy when the weather outside doesn't cooperate. The park is just 11 minutes north of downtown along the Schuylkill River.