The Bub in the Belly

This is part 2 of our visit to the Please Touch Museum. Sorry about the lack of photos - I was having too much fun playing with the exhibits!

After lunch, we went to explore Roadside Attractions which was in the opposite wing. The theme for this exhibit was road transportation. There were lots of opportunities for pretend play and role playing here. Children could pretend that they were going on a trip on a SEPTA bus (or they could be the driver), he/she could pretend to buy/sell a sandwich from a roadside snacks/drinks cart, or work the excavators at a construction site (scoop up balls). They could also fill up their cars at the gas station or fill up tires with air, collect tolls, learn about road signs, construct a large car (put on the wheels, the bumper, etc), send a car to a carwash, ride a scooter, etc. Ryan had a lot of fun here.

Next to this was "City Park", which was a replica of a small park, with park benches and trees. There is a mural made up of magnetic tiles there, which the children can rearrange to create an image and learn how things fit together.

The Please Touch Playhouse Theater was having a puppet show so we went over to the theater. On the way, we passed the Liberty Arm & Torch which is a 40-foot replica of the Statue of Liberty's Arm and Torch. The sculpture is made of toys, games and other objects. There is a small circular flight of steps leading up to it and you can touch it freely and try to spot some of your old favourite toys and games. It sits in Hamilton Hall, which is in the centre of Memorial Hall, and you can see the Memorial Hall's famous copper dome above it.

There was another sculpture made from discarded toys just outside the cafe called Artie the Elephant, which is a life-sized elephant made from hundreds of discarded playthings, including a 1960s Batmobile, some Smurfs, a Spider-Man and a football helmet.

The playhouse was putting on a puppet show called "There's Something Under My Bed". Here's a trailer on Youtube of the show, although the puppeteer we had was a different person from the person in the trailer. The show was fantastic, we enjoyed it thoroughly.

After the show, we ventured into Wonderland. This is based on the world of Alice in Wonderland. You can walk through a circular maze of green hedges, have tea with the Mad Hatter, make tea in a hollowed out tree trunk (the Duchess' Kitchen), play in the Hall of Doors and Mirrors where proportions and perspectives are not what they seem, play dress up - whether as the Mad Hatter, Alice or a playing card, and play croquet with flamingoes as the characters did in the story.

As usual, there was a toddler area for the youngest among us. It was called "Fairytale Garden" where children could pick apples off a tree, pin the laundry on a line (or take it off and put it in a basket), go on a ship adventure (like in the story of The Owl and the Pussycat), milk a cow, etc.

Oh Captain, my Captain! (The boat rocks and rolls while there are people in it)

Next to this was a hall which housed the Centennial Exploration exhibit, which showcased the sight and sounds of Philadelphia in 1876. We were running out of time so we gave this a miss, but from the writeup on the website it did sound very interesting and fun for the children. Although it is more of an "adult" exhibit, there are still hands-on experiences for the children to explore, like an old telephone, typewriter, building a miniature railroad, playing with a wooden dollhouse, etc.

We spent a lot of time at City Capers, a child-sized "city" in the museum, which lets children explore a realistic urban environment, while getting to know the people, places and businesses that make up city life. There is a medical centre with lab coats, cribs, baby dolls and doctor's equipment, where the children can pretend to be a doctor/nurse/patient, there is a shoe store, with lots of shoes, where they can pretend to be a salesperson, customer or shopowner. There is a construction site ("Busy Build") where children can pretend to be construction workers, architects or city planners while using the tools and equipment on the construction site, like pulleys to lift bricks, etc.

Part of City Capers is "Front Step", which is the toddlers area. There is a small house surrounded by a garden complete with deck chairs. The children can go into the house and sit at the dining table or they can hang out on the porch. They can also do some vegetable gardening - Ryan planted and harvested some potatoes and carrots - or mow the lawn.




And yes, there is a replica of McDonald's - the quintessential symbol of modern civilisation. We didn't go there.

The last exhibit zone we explored was Flight Fantasy, which has an outer space theme. Children are encouraged to experiment with balance, speed and coordination and create movement using their bodies. For example, there is a giant hamster wheel, a balance beam, a flying propeller bike, and a pedal track that operates a revolving circuit of toys. There is also a space where you can put together UFOs and rockets (made of styrofoam) and launch them across the room. Lots of opportunities to learn about math (there are timers at each launching station), science (gravity, wind resistance, lift), cause and effect, plus lots of gross motor development.

We next visited The Program Room, which provides arts-related programmes for the children, whether painting or building a tower with blocks. You can sit as long as you like with your child and play or paint as many pieces as you like, for free. In fact, everything in the museum was free, except for the Carousel (and the food at the cafe of course).

One of Ryan's masterpieces done at the Program Room

Our last stop was the bookstore/toy store/gift shop, where we picked up some toys and souvenirs for Ryan.

In addition to the interactive exhibits, the museum also has a collection of over 12,500 toys from yesteryear. There are little nooks and crannies around the museum displaying these old toys like Marvin the Martian, an entire Smurf collection and some old Star Wars figurines.

The museum was a wonderful experience. The exhibits were attractive and interesting enough to capture the interest and imagination of the children, and they provided lots of learning opportunities through play. The children were free to touch everything and play with all the exhibits in any manner they could imagine - there was no "right" or "wrong" way to handle the exhibits or to play and there were no museum staff to tell you not to do this or not to do that. There was one staff member stationed at each toddler area, one staff member at River Adventures to help with the waterproof overalls and one staff member at Roadside Attractions to help the children with the excavators. There was also one staff member at the Carousel and one inside the Program Room to replenish the art materials - but most of the time she was painting her own artpiece! So we were largely left on our own to discover and explore and play. Fantastic place.

Once again, sorry about the lack of photos - here's a Youtube video (slightly less than 3 minutes) with a general overview of the museum, and you can also see the children playing with the exhibits. Good stuff. We were glad that we made the trip.

Next instalment - New York City!

From Bucks County, we drove to the Please Touch Museum using the interstate (I-95). It was straightforward enough and we got there without any fuss. Of course we couldn't leave these two fellows behind.

The award-winning Please Touch Museum is specifically designed for families with children and provides learning opportunities through play. The exhibits promote the philosophy that hands-on, self-directed, open-ended experiences facilitate learning and, importantly, are fun!

The museum is set up in Memorial Hall, which is a restored 19th century building. It is the only major structure remaining from Philadelphia's 1876 Centennial Exhibition (in honour of USA's 100th birthday). It is considered one of America's best examples of the Beaux-Arts style of architecture. I also found it interesting that, as graceful as it is, it is also completely fireproof, being fashioned from glass, iron, brick and granite, which I thought was remarkable for that era.

Here's a shot of the building. We didn't get a shot of the huge statues in front so do check out the shots on the internet to see those.



The exhibits are spread out over two wings and two floors - here's a map. All the exhibits in the museum are meant to be touched and played with in an open-ended manner - there is no right or wrong way to play!

The first section we went to was River Adventures. There are a few exhibits in this section, Ryan was most absorbed in this one.


Like a river, there is water flowing through the whole structure which snakes and curves around the hall. At various sections, there are  rubber ducks, boats, pumps, wheels, paddles and blowers. The children are encouraged to touch and play with the toys, the mechanisms, the structures and of course the water.


Ryan was able to see how the boats/ducks behave in the water, why some float and some sink, how the waves are generated, the patterns the waves make and how the waves affect the objects in the water. There was a miniature canal lock (like the canal lock in the Panama canal) which I found pretty cool. There is also a Water Wheel and an Archimedes Screw. Great introduction to basic concepts about engineering and mechanics, properties of water, a bit of math, nature, problem solving, critical thinking, and just plain fun. Gives a whole new dimension to the term "water play" and "sensory play"! We were there for a long time!

Off to one side of this water attraction was a section for younger children and infants to play, which was called Nature's Pond. There were animals hidden in the high grass, some logs and stepping stones. In addition to climbing up and down the structures, the children could also create nature's sounds by stepping on the lily pads in the pond and they could crawl inside the hollowed out log. There was also some educational information on eco-living for those who were interested. Of course, it was not a real pond with real animals, etc. Everything was cushioned or covered with PVC - all very safe for toddlers. We didn't venture into this section because Ryan wouldn't leave River Adventures.

Next to that was a giant musical keyboard which was placed on the floor for people to play by stepping or dancing on the keys. Anyone could step up and play if they felt like it. There were people playing with it when we were there so we gave it a miss. If you've seen the 1988 movie "Big" starring Tom Hanks, you'll remember the scene where he and Robert Loggia played "Heart and Soul" on a walking piano in the middle of a New York City toy store. This is the exact same keyboard from that movie. It was donated to the museum in 2009. Here's a link to a Youtube video of that scene.

After we tore Ryan away from River Adventures, Richard took him for a ride on this beautiful vintage carousel - the Woodside Park Dentzel Carousel.


This gorgeous carousel made its debut in 1924 at Woodside Park (although many of the animals on the carousel date back to 1908).  It is in the shape of an octadecagon (18-sided polygon). The animals are lifelike and were handcarved. They stand three abreast, the outer ring fixed while the inner rings rise and fall in a slow gallop. There are 2 chariots and 52 animals, including 40 horses, four cats, two goats and four rabbits. William Dentzel was so proud of the carousel that he had his initials carved on the lead horse. Some of the animals are quite rare - the "flirting rabbit" (where one paw is lifted as if waving hello) on the original carousel is one of only three known to exist in the world.


Eighteen beveled mirrors are attached to the outside rounding board, each surrounded by a clown head, decorated with acanthus leaves. There are 1278 light sockets lining the cross beams and decorating the entire lower edge of the outer rim, the clown shields and the mirror frames, leading The Smithsonian to note that they were "one of the most fantastic illuminated designs ever seen". I thought it was just beautiful!



After the ride, we had a quick lunch at the Please Taste Cafe. There is a dining hall adjacent to the cafe, which is a lovely sunlit space with a double-storey high ceiling and huge colourful artwork on the walls. I don't know if it was the intention but the proportions in the space - the windows, the high ceiling, the art - were so huge that I felt really small, like a child.



Ok, that's it for this post, I'll finish off the rest of our museum outing in the next instalment!

After our wonderful day at Sesame Place, we planned to spend the next day at the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia. We woke up in the wee hours of the morning, having succumbed to happy exhaustion the evening before and while we waited for a decent hour to venture out, we caught up on the news and Ryan played with his quiet book.

At 6 am, it was breakfast at Burger King again. Two new travelling companions joined us.


Ryan picked them up at one of the shops in Sesame Place and, although I asked him to pick one, he wouldn't let go of both. Back at home now, they sleep together with us in our king-sized bed and Ryan tucks them in at night.

When we finished our meal and stepped outside, we met these ladies and gentlemen crossing the street with their little ones. What a treat!


The route to the Please Touch Museum seemed straightforward so we decided to rent a car and drive there. We made some calls from our hotel and the rental company came to pick us up. We were offered the classic American car - a Chevrolet!

It was huge inside - three of us could sit comfortably abreast in front!


If that photo looked a little strange to you in Singapore, that's because the driver is on the left! We got an automatic gear shift so it wasn't a problem but it was a little tricky when we got to the turns. Fortunately, we were on the straight interstate expressway (I-95) for most of the drive. We got to Philadelphia (and back) safe and sound.

I mentioned that there was a Part 2 to my birthday celebration. Well, our little "staycation" last weekend was actually the teaser for a bigger and longer holiday, which is going to be ... drum roll please ...

We're going to NEW YORK CITY!

Did I say that loud enough? No? WE'RE OFF TO NEW YORK CITY, BABY! WOO HOO!!

Ahem.

It all began when Richard suggested that, for my birthday, we take a short holiday overseas, three days and two nights somewhere nearby. Problem was, we couldn't decide on a suitable destination. I'd just got back from Bali, we'd just gone to Chiangmai a few months back and we couldn't imagine that Ryan would enjoy Hong Kong and Bangkok very much at his age. We then talked about taking a few days off around Labour Day, perhaps make it a five day vacation, which meant the Maldives or Australia was possible. We were quite keen on that actually. Richard applied for two days' leave and we spent the next few days discussing possible destinations.

After a few days of ding-donging around, we were not getting anywhere (pun intended). I asked Richard to take a further two days of leave for that week and he did, which meant that we now had a stretch of 9 days to go somewhere. We were now thinking - Europe!

Another few days went by and still no progress on our target destination. We wanted a destination where we could enjoy both child-centred activities as well as grown-up activities. People were telling me that I could consider France because, apart from the grown-up stuff, there was a Disneyland. However, Ryan isn't familiar with the Disney characters and he is still too small for most of the rides. I started thinking about the characters whom Ryan knows of and, of course, ELMO was the answer!

It was an epiphany! I don't know why I didn't think of it before. I immediately searched online for Sesame Street theme parks and I found one, called Sesame Place, in Pennsylvania, about 1.5 hours drive from New York City. (I didn't realise it at the time but there are actually a few more around the world - check out this list.)

I immediately sent an SMS to Richard: "There is a Sesame Street theme park about 1.5 hours from New York City."

His reply was: "Huh then must go oredi".

And that settled it!

Over the next two weeks, we bought our plane tickets, applied for our visas which included a short over-the-counter interview at the US Embassy, checked the exchange rate (very favourable!), checked the weather, got an International Driver's Licence, all the while dreaming of Ryan having dinner with Elmo. At the last minute, Richard announced that we were still going to celebrate my birthday weekend and that's how we ended up in Resorts World Sentosa last weekend. So yes, we've been busy busy busy!

Now all you lovelies who have been to New York countless times may think, what's the big deal. Well, to explain, I have never been to New York or anywhere in the USA and I have always said that I will never be able to make it to the USA simply because I can't imagine being stuck in the plane for 24 hours. The long travel time far outweighs any motivation to be there. Now, for the sake of my son, I am determined to get him within hugging distance of his beloved Elmo, and no long haul flight is gonna stop me. You could say it was a life-changing moment for me.

We fly into New York City on Saturday morning (30 April) and we plan to go straight to Pennsylvania and spend about two to three days there, which includes one day for Sesame Place and another day for the Please Touch Museum. After that, it will be New York! New York! all the way. If you lovelies have any suggestions on where to go or where to stay in New York City (or Pennsylvania) or what to see/do/eat (or what not to see/do/eat), please feel free to pass them to me!

Can you tell I'm excited? No? NEW YORK CITY, HERE WE COME!!