Step Inside Pennsylvania’s Most Famous Interactive Museum for a Family-Friendly Adventure on a Hot Day

Summer can be scorching, and you never know when the next heat wave might be coming—it could even intrude on your next trip to Philadelphia! The City of Brotherly Love is an amazing place, one of my favorite cities to visit, thanks to its rich scene of dining, shopping, and attractions, but it's also big, and you might wind up doing a lot of walking. That's why it's always good to have options for indoor activities when the weather starts getting intense—and you won't do better than the Franklin Institute.

This interactive museum in Philadelphia has been an institution in the city since 1824, and the Franklin Institute Science Museum within is probably the state's most popular spot for school trips. I visited several times as a kid, and it's just as fun, engaging, and interactive as it ever was. If you have kids who haven't been there, it's an amazing place to discover for the first time—and if you don't have any kids in tow, it's the perfect place to discover that kid at heart!

The Franklin Institute is so much more than a museum; it's one of Pennsylvania's top event facilities, but for those who have visited it as a child, the place will be full of memories. As one of the nation's oldest science museums, it's a very popular spot for parents whose kids have outgrown the Please Touch Museum but still want to engage with the exhibits.

The science center is full of educational and interactive activities, many centering around the ingenuity of Benjamin Franklin. Some of the machines he worked on are demonstrated here, as well as his work on the nature of electricity. Kids can't just read about them and see them—they can experience them for themselves!

The museum also features one of the most iconic museum exhibits in the world: the giant heart, a massive sculpture of the human anatomy in an area dedicated to the way our body works. Kids can actually enter the heart and see the anatomy of this critical organ from within.

The museum is expanding and adding new temporary activities all the time, including an art exhibit dedicated to Universal Studios, where guests can see the development of the new Epic Universe theme park in action. The planes and trains on display here are sure to be a huge hit with vehicle buffs as well. The odds are that a family will be able to spend hours here, if not the full day.

Have you visited the Franklin Institute? Are you nostalgic for this interactive museum in Philadelphia? If so, tell a friend about this article and plan another visit! You can see all the current exhibitions and buy tickets on the Franklin Institute website, and make sure to follow the Franklin Institute Facebook page for updates on upcoming events. The only thing even more exciting than Philadelphia's cultural scene is its dining scene, so why not follow up your visit with dinner at The Dandelion, Philadelphia's most acclaimed British pub? Or if you're looking for something more casual, pay a visit to Reading Terminal Market, one of the country's oldest and most diverse food halls.