Please Touch Museum getting new $2.5M ‘Character Quest’ exhibit

The Please Touch Museum in West Philadelphia has always had character.

But, with the help of a new grant, the museum will soon have a new exhibit in Memorial Hall as the museum has announced that it will create a new Character Quest: Building Character Skills Through Play exhibit.

The museum said, in a statement, that the exhibit is intended to “help children develop the key character skills of Social Intelligence, Emotional Intelligence, Growth Mindset, and Perseverance through physical play and interactive experiences.”

In a statement on the new exhibit, officials with the Please Touch Museum said it will be created with the help of a new $2.5 million grant from Lilly Endowment as part of its Fostering Character Through Children’s Museums initiative.

“A grant like this is truly transformative for the Museum,” said Melissa Weiler Gerber, the president and CEO of the Please Touch Museum in a statement. “We are grateful to Lilly Endowment for its investment, and we are especially honored to be included in this initiative alongside respected peers from across the country. For nearly 50 years, Please Touch Museum has fostered a safe space for children to learn, explore, and build skills through play. While the Museum has always provided programs and experiences that foster character development in children and families, we now have the opportunity to place these goals front and center in a dedicated exhibit. We are thrilled to introduce this new exhibit as a lasting legacy of our 50th birthday year – one that we hope will give children and caregivers alike tools and experiences to understand their emotions, learn more about themselves, and connect with others.”

The walls of the exhibit, the museum said, will be lined with interactive elements that are intended to help children dive deeper into character traits and, officials said, children will be encouraged to “explore their emotions and identify them in others and strengthen their social intelligence through playful challenges that require collaboration.”

The central fixture of the exhibit, the museum said, will be a 20-foot-tall climbing structure, but there will also be rope swings, slides, climbing nets and viewing platforms that will offer views of West Fairmount Park through the windows of Memorial Hall.

The new exhibit is expected to be unveiled this fall when the museum celebrates its 50th birthday.