Kiddin' Around: Insectarium
Thousands of creepy crawlers abound at Holmesburg museum of living, breathing, and sometimes totally dead bugs.
The long: Got a kid who digs bugs? No need to wait for warmer weather for them to crawl out of their winter hideaways. [Editor's note: The insects - or the kids?] This Holmesburg venue has countless tarantulas, termites, bees, beetles, scorpions, walking sticks, frogs, lizards, turtles, crustaceans and more on view - behind glass, for the most part - in 5,000 square feet of exhibit space.
The short: Kids can climb through a man-made spider web, pet bugs and watch a daily 11 a.m. feeding, which may explain certain escaped crickets during a recent visit.
The do: Check out the blue death-feigning beetles, which hilariously play dead when they sense danger.
The don't: Forget the hand sanitizer, to get all those creepy-crawly cooties off.
You'll wish you hadn't seen that: The "Cockroach Kitchen" shows back-to-back kitchen and bathroom facades, both teeming with hundreds of live cockroaches. You'll go home wondering what lurks behind your walls.
Second Saturdays: Visitors make insect-themed crafts at 1 p.m.
Moment to yourself: Yeah, no. Even as your kids bounce between exhibits in rapt wonder, you will jitter and jump imagining all the bugs climbing up your legs.
If you SEPTA: 66 bus.
If you drive: Metered street parking.
Coming up: Mid-May opening is in the works for a new, 9,000 square-foot butterfly habitat.
The basics: 8046 Frankford Ave., 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Saturday, $9 (free under 3), 215-335-9500, myinsectarium.com.