A museum experience unlike any other.
Whether exploring citizenship and neighborhoods in “Healthy Me,” diving into the wonder of science in “River Adventures,” or teaching financial literacy in “Cents and Sensibility,” Please Touch Museum exhibits come to life for young learners.
And beyond our permanent exhibits, visits can be enhanced with special programs to create a full day of learning through play with theater performances and workshops, art programs, traveling exhibit-based programs, STEAM workshops, and group rides on our historic Woodside Park Carousel!
Learn about self-guided and guided field trips to Please Touch Museum below or book your field trip now.
Self-Guided Field Trips
$15 per person Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays
$18 per person on Fridays
Self-guided visits are perfect for teachers and group leaders who want to conduct their own tours* of the Museum. Children experience new worlds and make new discoveries about science, the environment, culture, math, and the arts as they visit our 18 engaging and interactive exhibits. Find a lesson wherever their curiosity leads, join in our daily programming with our Museum educators, and explore the attractions that have been entertaining young minds for years.
*Due to capacity limits in our exhibit spaces, we ask that you explore the museum in groups of no more than 15.
Guided Field Trips
$17 per person Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays
$20 per person on Fridays
Guided field trips include a 30- to 45-minute educational lesson or workshop with a Museum educator, in addition to unlimited exploration time in the Museum’s other exhibits. Select from one of our guided field trip themes below. All guided group visits with our Museum educators are scheduled based on availability, so contact us today to book your trip!
For a limited time, we are also offering select, free field trips available thanks to the generosity of our funders. Please contact us for more information.
Guided Field Trip Themes
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Rocket Launching
Rocket Launching: Guided Field Trip in the Albert M. Greenfield Makerspace
Engineer rockets and test different designs to see how far they can travel! Using recycled materials, build rockets and then make them fly using human-powered rocket launchers. Make hypotheses about which rocket will travel the farthest and continue testing rocket designs by launching more in our Flight Fantasy Rocket Room exhibit.
Recommended for 1st – 5th grade
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Forces and Failures
Forces and Failures: Guided Field Trip in the Albert M. Greenfield Makerspace
Who said failure was a bad thing? Learn from prototypes that don’t go according to plan and utilize the engineering design process. Experiment with water and buoyancy to discover what makes things float, learn about inventions that were made by mistake, and engineer for yourself! Using recycled materials, undertake our nautical design challenge, with a twist: try to make the worst boat you can, and redesign from what goes unexpectedly.
Recommended for 1st – 5th grade
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Humans, Rocks, and Fossils
Humans, Rocks, and Fossils: Guided Field Trip
Learn about the earth by examining strata, tree rings, and fossils in our mini archaeological dig site and around the museum in a fossil hunt. (You might even spot some real fossils in our museum floor!) Then, explore types of rocks, trees, and other materials that humans use to create buildings. Test out some building materials of your own!
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Engineering History
Engineering History: Guided Field Trip
Practice being a historian in our Centennial Innovations exhibit as we examine toys from our PTM Toy Collection and explore how inventions have changed the city of Philadelphia over the last 200 years. Then, look to the future to create your own engineering design and prototype in our Makerspace Studio!
Recommended for 1st – 5th grade
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Following Food
Following Food: Guided Field Trip in the Food & Family Market
Learn about where food originally comes from and how we measure and value that food. Go shopping in our Food & Family Market and figure out where that food would have come from hundreds of years ago using our giant world map. Then check the costs of different kinds of food, decide what food to buy with your money, and use different scales to see how much our food weighs and what weighs the most.
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We’re Going On A Camping Trip! (Spring/Summer 2023)
We’re Going on a Camping Trip! Guided Field Trip
Coming Spring/Summer 2023Come on an indoor camping trip with us! Practice navigating with compasses, learn about animals you might see out in the woods and examine some real animal skeletons, and try out different ways to use flashlights in the dark as we roast pretend marshmallows under the stars.
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Food, Plants, and Pollinators (Spring/Summer 2023)
Food, Plants, and Pollinators: Guided Field Trip in the Food & Family Market
Coming Spring/Summer 2023Learn about plants, the animals that pollinate them, and how humans use those plants every day! Use your five senses to explore the Please Touch Museum Garden and observe plants in different ways and then take a look at some real pollinators and how they help out plants. Follow a shopping list in the Food & Family market to find foods that grow in the garden, are made with help from pollinators, or that use certain ingredients.
Group Visit Information
Chaperone Policy
To ensure the highest quality experience for all visitors, the Museum requires one (1) chaperone for every five (5) children. For every five children visiting the the Museum, one adult chaperone will be admitted free of charge.
Lunch Reservations
All groups are welcome to reserve a lunchroom for 30 minutes at an additional cost of $75 (max capacity of 60 people). Lunchrooms should be reserved and paid in advance.
All field trips, group visits, and professional development workshops include:
- Private entrance to the Museum and Educator orientation
- Free bus parking on Lansdowne Drive, behind the Museum
Carousel Tickets
Single carousel rides are available for groups! Each ride is $3/child and must be reserved and paid in advance.
Ready to book your group visit?
Complete the field trip reservation form.
Please note:
- Memberships, general discounts, PA ACCESS card and/or other promotions cannot be applied to group visit rates.
- The Museum is closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.
- These programs are not offered on New Year’s Eve or free community days.
Contact Us to Learn More
- Phone: 215-578-5167
- Email: groupsales@pleasetouchmuseum.org
Group Sales: Contact Us
Thank you for your interest in visiting the Please Touch Museum! We are now booking school field trips, daycare visits, and summer camp visits. If you know which trip you would like to book, please fill out the Field Trip Registration Form. If you have additional questions, please fill out the form below or email Group Sales Manager Aaron Lawson directly at groupsales@pleasetouchmuseum.org.