This summer, the venerable venues lining Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway shed their serious sides and get seriously kid-friendly. The Parkway, a Champs-Élysées-inspired boulevard, extends from City Hall to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and is a destination within a destination.
Among its landmarks are Eakins Oval, which temporarily transforms into an urban beachscape with food trucks, family fests and larger-than-life games. Kids can “Meet the Masterpieces” at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which serves up an encore of its popular Art Splash program. The thoroughfare’s historically youth-centered educational institutions, The Franklin Institute and The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, both feature major reveals this vacation season. The Parkway’s pocket park transforms into an all-natural splash zone. Even the Barnes Foundation’s meticulously arranged masterworks aim to please the play-clothes set. The nearby Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and Penn Museum also offer wee ones plenty of summertime sustenance.
Alfresco Fun:
Barnes Foundation – Dr. Albert Barnes’ assemblage of works by iconic and unknown artists—including Cézanne, Renoir, Matisse, Picasso, Seurat, Gauguin and Soutine, along with Pennsylvania Dutch furniture makers, French blacksmiths, West African sculptors—is world-renowned. It’s also not to be touched. Lucky for owner-operators of little ones with busy hands, the Barnes kids’ programs have an “outreach-in-reach” policy, wherein tots can enjoy the collection without lingering in the gallery. Twice each Thursday, ARTime Storytime relates a piece in the museum to pre-K books. This season also brings free-to-attendARTSee weekends (July 18-20 and August 15-17), which kick off on Friday with ARTime Pajama Tour, perfect for preschoolers, and fun activities on Saturday and Sunday.
Philadelphia Museum of Art – Kids 12 and under always get in for free at the city’s flagship art museum, whose properties also include the design-centric Perelman Building and the astounding Rodin Museum. The main building goes kid crazy in the summer with Art Splash. Starting June 27, the museuminvites youngsters to “Meet the Masterpieces” during weekend-long bashes around artful themes such as Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, Picasso’s Three Musicians, the onsite medieval monastery and more. FromTuesday through Sunday, kids create all day in the Splash Studio, while blocks, books and beanbag chairs take over the balcony space. Tours cater to tots (ages 3-5) and elementary schoolers (ages 6-10), and games in the galleries include treasure hunts and sketching (ages 6-10).
Smarty Pants:
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University – Grown-ups always find it difficult to pull their tiny T-Rex fans away from the humungous displays of ancient bones in Dinosaur Hall; others can’t get theirs out of the sandbox and animal petting area. Since the museum opened Birds of Paradise: Amazing Avian Evolution (through September 1), budding birders are spending hours enraptured by 39 shape-shifting, fabulously plumed New Guinean species. The exhibit begins with Dance, Dance Evolution, wherein gamers square off against virtual birds. Come August, insect-obsessed kids score big with weekend-long Bug Fest (August 9-10). Roaches race, worms paint and crickets become snack foods.
The Franklin Institute – Specializing in learning through play, this vaunted establishment amps up the jaw-dropping discovery this summer. On June 14, The Franklin Institute opened its much-anticipated Nicholas and Athena Karabots Pavilion, a three-story, 53,000-square-foot wing featuring a slew of new reasons to visit. A new permanent exhibit, Your Brain, delves into the noggin.Kids dig the two-story jungle gym with lights and sounds that mirror a neural network. In the traveling exhibit space, Circus! Science Under the Big Top (through September 1) is a must for anyone who’s wondered how a person walks across a tightrope or becomes a human cannonball. People of all ages will stand in awe of the human and natural creations featured in 101 Inventions That Changed the World (through October 26) and National Geographic’s Ocean Soul (through December 6),two other temporary exhibits. The new rain garden and atrium with a freely moving aluminum “Shimmer Wall” provide utopian chill-out spot for fams seeking a break. 222 N. 20th Street, (215) 448-1200, fi.edu
Free Library of Philadelphia – The 50-some arms of the Free Library of Philadelphia give young readers hundreds of opportunities for between-school-year learning. The organization’s cornerstone branch, Parkway Central, is no exception. One highlight: OnAugust 10, dancers from Hip Hop Fundamentals will be on hand to offer dance instruction.
Nearby Musts:
Penn Museum – When the school lets out, the University of Pennsylvania’s esteemed museum of international art and artifacts lets loose. All year, children can experience ancient worlds and contemporary Native America Tuesday through Sunday. Come summer, midweek is designated for family fun. In July, Wednesday mornings bring Summer Wonder, with belly dancing, Chinese instruments, Aesop’s Fables, creation tales and live Middle Eastern music, all free with admission.
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) – America’s first art school makes Friday its main family day. Monthly Pre-K Family Tours explore painting, sculpture and drawing with little ones. Later those days, Homeschool Workshops offer 45-minute tours focusing on PAFA artists and special collections. Homeschool class on August 8, for example, highlights a collection of African-American works on paper. Kids who are often in town can join a four-part Family Arts Academy on Saturday afternoons or even enroll in weekly sessions of summer camp, open to ages 5 to 15.
Source:- Visit Philadelphia
The post Philly’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway Presents: A Family-Friendly Summer appeared first on Travelandtourworld.com.