Please Touch Museum to reduce hours but programming will remain unaffected

The Please Touch Museum is reducing its days of operation from six days a week to five days a week, closing on Mondays.

Its new hours are Wednesday through Sunday 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and select holidays. The museum is also pausing its monthly First Wednesday evening program.

The changes go into effect on Oct. 29.

The reduction in hours is a response to a 15% drop in attendance numbers from 475,000 a year pre-pandemic to 400,000 a year. Mondays, the museum found out, are the lowest visitation days.

“This change in operations reflects post-pandemic visitation trends at Please Touch Museum and cultural institutions across Philadelphia and beyond,” Ivy Brown, spokesperson for Please Touch Museum, said in a statement. “We take seriously our responsibility to ensure the museum’s continued financial stability while delivering exceptional learning experiences for generations of children and caregivers to come.”

The reduction in hours doesn’t mean that museumgoers will have limited experiences. The beloved museum, featured in the season four finale of Abbott Elementary, boasts 18 permanent exhibits, including the popular Front Step where kids play on the stoop of a make-believe house.

“Food & Family” is a 3,650-square-foot exhibit, presented by the grocery chain Giant, that introduces tots to food systems in a supermarket, a home, an industrial kitchen, and a neighborhood festival. Kids can shop for parties and grill hot dogs at their own block parties.

The museum recently opened “AlegreMENTE | Happy Brain,” a bilingual exhibit, sponsored by Conshohocken-based pharmaceutical company Cencora, centering the relationship between children and their caregivers.

“AlegreMENTE” invites visitors to play in a magical, make-believe forest where they can invent stories, draw, and explore emotions with an emotion wheel.

The exhibit is open through Jan. 4.

📍4231 Avenue of the Republic, Phila., 🌐 pleasetouchmuseum.org, 💵 $20.