Philadelphia installed educational play structures for kids at 11 city landmarks, including Love Park, the Philadelphia Zoo, and Reading Terminal Market
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L Parker unveils 11 educational learning installations at landmarks across the city.
A stampede of tiny Croc shoes displaying ice cream and hamburger Jibbitz raced through an interactive structure at Sister Cities Park in Center City on a sunny Thursday morning.
“Philadelphia changed the world,” read an etching at the front of the play structure. “Ready to see how?”
Little red and blue gingham skirts fluttered in and out of wooden doorframes as 75 preschoolers explored the brand new play arena that featured a series of colorful, translucent posters highlighting inventions from Philadelphians, including the Slinky, the revolving door, and the public library.
Panels inside the structure showcased inventions spurred by the imaginations of children such as popsicles, earmuffs, and trampolines.
The Sister Cities Park installation is only one of 11 educational structures geared toward children placed at landmarks around the city. The series is an effort to further the city’s commitment to children’s engagement in public places and solidify its status as a great city for kids, as well as to celebrate the nation’s Semiquincentennial. It was unveiled June 11, a day the United Nations designated in 2024 as International Day of Play.
The bundle of installations includes colorful wheels at the Philadelphia Zoo teaching kids about animal species, a set of tabletops at Reading Terminal Market featuring displays about colors and tastes, and art on fencing at the Franklin Institute instructing children how to find different constellations in the night sky.
The final three installations — at Franklin Square, the National Constitution Center, and Elfreth’s Alley — have yet to be installed and are coming soon, according to the project website.
The goal is to keep Philadelphia a city on the forefront of children’s enrichment and one that makes it publicly available for all kids in the city to benefit from, said Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker at the unveiling of the Sister Cities Park installation.
“This idea that our children can have places and spaces where they can feel safe, supported, and seen, and free to just be children, is extremely important to me,” Parker said. “Truly great cities invest in their children.”
Sarah Lytle, executive director of Playful Learning Landscapes, a nonprofit that helps U.S. cities convert ordinary spaces into learning hubs, presented Parker with documentation of a new designation for the city — World’s First Playful Learning City.
Moments later, Parker ripped a red, white, and blue paper link chain and a procession of kids tore through the new installation, quickly getting to work weaving in and out of its pillars and standing on tippy-toes to doodle on chalk boards affixed to the structure’s middle section.
The Sister Cities event was finished off by words from who else but the city’s most renowned tinkerer and inventor, Ben Franklin (or, more specifically James Longacre, who specializes in lectures, TV commercials, and ribbon cuttings performing as Ben Franklin).
He thanked Parker for securing Philadelphia’s latest special designation and “for reminding our city that a spark of curiosity is brightest when struck with a bit of play.”
As quickly as the kids barreled toward the structure to inaugurate its first playtime, they returned to teachers and aides— popsicles, toy boats, and bottles of bubbles in hand, ready to be entertained anew. Dozens of tiny hands grasped onto a rainbow-colored rope and teachers ushered the students back up the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and onto their next adventure.
