Academy of Natural Sciences Reviews

YOU HAVE TO GO LOOK AT THESE MAJESTIC BUTTERFLIES, THEYRE EVERYWHERE

Just in love with this museum. The diorama exhibits tell an amazing story and have been maintained diligently. Well done!

Unfortunately, I was only able to see it from the outside, but I thought the dinosaurs in warm clothes were cute!

Live butterflies,and history to...great for wee ones

Very fun and educational. Very family friendly and all of the staff we encountered was helpful. The extreme bugs exhibit was awesome. Anyone 2 and under is free and its a good cpuple of hours of entertainment.

An exceptional natural science museum. The staff are very pleasant and knowledgeable. The exhibits are remarkable in their detail. The best part was a live skunk with a trained handler who showed how the find food and explained the reason they do what they do in the wild. Great place for families.

Kids had a great time. Very interesting. Nicely kept.

The staff is what makes thus such a magical experience. Thanks guys

Great for smaller kids, old school natural dioramas, and a small dinosaur section.

Our favorite part was the dino dig area! My kids keep asking when we are going back. The best part is they participate with the libraries and you can get a pass from them to go!

From school field trips when I was a kid growing up in Philly 20 some years ago to taking my children their now. This place is still so awesome to visit and walk through and I'm glad my children get experience all it has to offer.

The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia was founded in 1812 "for the encouragement and cultivation of the sciences, and the advancement of useful learning." The unique aspect of this statement of purpose lies in the word "useful," a mandate the Academy has continuously redefined through research and education that reflects the needs of the times.

The Academy's history mirrors the evolution of the relationship between the American people and the natural world. The oldest natural sciences institution in the Western Hemisphere, the Academy was founded when the United States hugged the Atlantic coastline and Philadelphia was the cultural, commercial, and scientific center of the new nation. Classic expeditions to explore the western wilderness, such as those led by Stephen Long and Ferdinand Hayden, were organized at the Academy. These explorers brought back new species of plants and animals, which were studied and cataloged, and they formed the foundation of the Academy's scientific collections, which now contain more than 18 million specimens.

The Academy opened its doors to the public in 1828. Here, we revealed the mysteries of nature, its chaos organized and labeled in Latin and Greek. The collections expanded so rapidly through gifts, purchases, and exchanges as well as expeditions that the Academy outgrew its building three times in 60 years. In 1876, its present home was built at 19th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, then the outskirts of town and now the heart of Philadelphia's cultural district. With the opening of the new building, the Academy became a modern museum with areas for exhibitions and public lectures.

By the turn of the century, Academy expeditions were ranging farther afield, to the Arctic, Central America, and later Africa and Asia. Plants and animals collected during these excursions were incorporated into the Academy's magnificent dioramas, many of which were constructed in the 1920s and 30s. To capitalize on the educational potential of the dioramas, the Academy initiated classes for students in the School District of Philadelphia in 1932.

In 1948, long before water pollution and environmental degradation became topics of public concern, the Academy established the Environmental Research Division. This marked the beginning of a broadened research orientation for the Academy, which included applied research in aquatic ecosystems as well as the traditional systematics research discovering and cataloging organisms. Today the Academy is integrating its activities in research and education around environmental themes.

This iconic museum is wonderful for a weekend outing with family. What kid isn t exited about dinosaurs? The butterfly exhibit is spectacular. Kids get to dig for fossils. Very cool. A great morning or afternoon diversion.

Small but very engaging museum; my boys (8 and 11 years of age) loved it.

Great experience and weather! Cant wait until next year. Speaking life into my youth. #TUGrad

This place is so nice! Great trip. They have a lot of exhibits to explore and things that you can learn.

I've always loved coming here, ever since I was little. Even today, it still surprises me in every visit.

Went along as part of an elementary school field trip. Exhibits were great, the staff was friendly and helpful, and the kids had a great time.

Fun exhibits! Lots to see. Nice for whole family.

Absolutely fun and informative...bring your own food and parking is impossible to ascertain...but really worth the experience other than that.

Everyone needs to check out Door 19. It s their 21+ open bar events. They re always so much fun.

It's okay even though I didn't like it very much. It is quite dark inside, many exhibition areas closed x maintenance or something like that.
The price is quite high considering that you can only see it and the children's area is not as varied.
For me this site is to visit it 1 time x every 5 years. I expected more.

Great quick museum! 1hr 30min! Came for the mythical creature exhibit,highly recommended!!!

Nice place to take the kids during the week. Staff is very friendly and helpful. The little hands on lessons are great for the kids and they keep them interested. Not as big as I remembered when I was a kid but there is a lot of interesting things to learn about. Watching the employees work on fossils while give giving information about the procedure was nice pretty cool.

The museum itself was phenomenal!! Today's event ( Minecraft) we will make sure to be there early early next year.. No complaints

I felt a little silly going there as an adult couple when every other adult had children, but that quickly went away when I was standing at the foot of the two-story high leg bone of an ultrasaurus. There's so much to look at and learn about, there was an animal show, and there is an area where you can see and pet live animals and insects. It really is a great place to get lost for a few hours, if you're the curious type. Now I want to bring my kids back here next time.

Parking was difficult for an evening event, it was crammed and we couldn't enjoy the exhibits. I would try again during a time that isn't high traffic. However, as busy as it was the museum put out various floor fames for little ones to play and the staff was incredibly friendly so it encouraged us to want to come back and try again.

Great for children! Super brutal I even had the opportunity to touch a real rabbit and play among butterflies.

Fun place to hang out on the weekend with the kids.

When you give your 4 almost 5 year old the option of or superheroes, he'll take dinosaurs. He ran through the Museum with a smile from ear to ear until we had to leave. Thank you!

Awesome place to bring kids, parking can be difficult that's really the only downside.

Some exhibits were definitely showing their age, but the newer ones and refurbished ones show how much potential this little museum has in bringing it back to splendor.

My son fell in love with the dinosaurs and the green screen.

One of my all time favorite museums.......ever! Great place for kids of all ages and fully grown humans as well.

This place was a lot of fun for my 3 year old. The dinosaur exhibit was very cool and kept her engaged for more than 1 hour. There was also an interesting green room that inserts you into videos of wild animals, which was fun. Overall, there are sufficient activites and exhibits to keep the kids engaged for a few hours.

I recommend upgrading to the yearly pass because it's likely you and your kids will want to visit at least one more time in a year.

Fun place for family to learn about dinosaurs, fossils, science and history.

It's good, but I could have more exhibitions, good for the kids.

Such a great spot for kids up to age 11/12 maybe?! They have Dino bones, fossils, live butterflies, and so much more

Born and raised in Temple Hospital North Broad st of Philadelphia Pennsylvania , growing up in North Philly the first time ever visiting the Dinosaur Museum it was awesome , Loved it ... Next Marvel Museum .

The best place for family .The kids big and teens will love it the Dino's move and make noise it's fun.

We took the kids on Sunday, got there at 10:45. The line to enter went smoothly(purchased tickets online-$2 discount). We ate a some snacks from the cafe. Very good service...food pretty "normal", for a museum... No frills. The museum itself, was clean, and very amusing. Interactive exhibits were great for the kids. My youngest is obsessed with dinosaur bones, and they had more than most museums. Didn't make it to the show's, but I'm sure they were good. It took about 2 hours to get through, moving pretty fast. It is also very handicap accessible. Great 1st museum for my kids, now they want to go to them all. **Also close(walking distance) to other Philadelphia museums.**

Very nice place for a family visit
Lots to see. Went there for my daughters science fair. Gift shop is a bit pricey. There is a decent cafeteria on site as well. The security is a little jumpy though. A female security guard dressed as a man and looking just as ridiculous as Charlie Chaplin decided to shadow me. This went on for the entire science fair. I ignored her completely and it seemed to frustrate her that I didnt acknowledge her presence. One of those " I see you and I'm watching you so dont steal anything or I'll have to grab you type of things". Well, I didnt steal anything and I'm glad there wasnt a confrontation , but the next time you decide to "shadow" someone you may bite off more than you can chew. Finally, at least go to the gym so you can at least look intimidating.

Just wow! Dinos exhibit was my 11 year olds favorite, and if your looking for T-rex bones, they greet you at the door! Along with polar bear and brown bear standing taxidermy. The dioramas are really a work of art and need to be seen in person! Only a few levels, but everything is done very well. Found out the hard way that the "outside in" area is a zoo! Seriously, don't take your child on this floor unless there are a very few people in the museum. It is a crowded free for all. All kids running wild and parents just standing around. Cool stuff for the kids to do, but it's like a park shoved into a 12x16 room.

Dinos after Dark was a fun event especially if you are bringing a child.

The people that work here are awesome, but the place is quite small and a bit dated.

I took the kids for school choice week everyone had a great time. Arrived on a Tuesday at around 11:30am hardly a crowd. Will return very soon kids loved the live shows and all the great exhibits.

Dinosaurs were really cool. There isn't a ton much else to look at except for taxidermy of various animals throughout the world. Gift shop is nice and customer service was great.

Fun for the kids, but exibits seem to rarely change, not something you can go to often

Our entire family, from age 1 to 56, enjoyed the day here. So much to see and do! From digging up bones, and finding shark teeth fossils, to watching a live animal show!

Pros and cons. Loved the atmosphere on the top level where the children are able to playin the sandbox,pet turtles, and read book. The staff were happy and eager to show you the animals and teach the children fun facts. As you go to the second level where your able to sweep of what looks like hanster bedding to find fossils the staff (woman) was very rude and short with the children. Seems as if she hated her job and the kids that participated in this activity. Such a mood killer for a fun day out. Then lastly the cafes food was just flat out awful. I wasn't expecting anything great but atleast okay, especially since they up charge it so much . My girls spit the food right out of their mouths and i was right along with them. If your planning a trip here learn from my mistakes and PACK A LUNCH! Overall experience was okay not worth the money. We plan on going to the Franklin institute next.

Its a great place! Incredibly family friendly, tons to learn, lots of hands on stuff. I mean who doesnt love dinosaurs? Make sure you absolutely get the tickets for the butterflies, but remember its HOT in there, so a locker for coats and jackets might be worth it. If you have young kids be prepared to spend ALL DAY in the hands on floor, but it is absolutely worth it.

A few of the exhibits for under construction while we were there. The staff working on the exhibits make sure to stop and talk to my son. They filled him in on everything they were doing and you could see his mind racing. He loved it.

Part of Drexel University these days. Still a quality museum to visit if you like science.

The newer exhibits are great. Love the dinosaurs. Other parts could use some updating but overall very informative

Nice small museum. Was disappointed that so many displays were closed, but still had a good time. Great dinosaur room.

Great place for children and everyone interested in the natural world. I was amazed by the dinosaur exhibits dating back to bones found over 150 yrs ago. The butterfly garden could use a major upgrade, to be more like the one in Gainesville, FL.

The 3rd floor classrooms is wonderful to get kids hooked on to Science at a young age.

Kind of boring. Kids will have an average time. Not very interactive

Great class for my third graders. They all loved it

Very neat dinosaur and diorama exhibits. Lots of kids screaming during my time there