Your baby’s first year is quite a rollercoaster. While nice old ladies will remind you “it goes so fast,” some days you’re just dragging by on three hours’ sleep, wondering how long til your colicky little monster will gain the neck strength to support his own head. But it’s also a great time to introduce your baby to the world and all kinds of new experiences. If you’re lucky enough to be raising your little one in Philly, there are no shortage of adventures to be had. So pack that diaper bag, load up the stroller, and get out there! Here are 40 things you should do in Philly before your baby hits that first milestone of a birthday.
1. Enjoy a Storyplay with Miss Pam at Baby Wordplay’s Little Theater (or visit their new Fairmount Theater location). Even the youngest babies will be entertained with the interactive songs, stories and puppets.
2. Ride the carousel and play in the playground at Franklin Square.
3. Start their art appreciation early. The Philadelphia Museum of Art holds monthly stroller tours (the second Wednesday of the month at 11am). When they’re a little older, look out for Baby Bird Playdates and other kid-friendly art programming at the museum. Kids are free at this art museum, so don’t worry if your baby ends up sleeping through the whole thing!
4. Brave the CityKids Consignment sale—clothes and toys as far as the eye can see! No need to pay full price for that Exersaucer your kid will only use for a couple months.
5. If your newborn is sleepy and portable, take advantage of that and enjoy some meals out while he naps in the stroller. Trust us, do this before you have to worry about babysitters (or whether a restaurant has highchairs and patient patrons) all the time!
6. Enjoy some Mommy & Me yoga at Mama’s Wellness Joint. Your pre-crawler will perfect her savasana at the top of your mat while you get in a gentle restorative practice (the teacher will even ask what post-partum concerns you want to work on in class). Once your baby is crawling, you can move up to the Mama’s Movin’ class with the toddlers, which is its own kind of fun!
7. …Or you can kick your post-partum fitness into high gear with a Stroller Strides class around the city.
8. Make Nest your home away from home. From the time your baby is six weeks old, Nest offers a schedule of classes, from music and gym to enrichment. Their “Hatchlings” playgroup for newborns is a great way to meet new moms and discuss common concerns. Not to mention their amazing play space downstairs (including a Pre Walker Zone), which will save your life on bad weather days. You can even plan baby’s 1st birthday there!
9. Take in a kids’ concert at the Kimmel Center. As part of the PNC Grow Up Great initiative, the Kimmel Center hosts a free monthly concert for little ones exploring jazz, Broadway and more.
10. Visit the Academy of Natural Sciences, especially the third floor. Once your baby is crawling and exploring, the Outside In room upstairs, which is geared especially for toddlers, provides a world of discovery (a giant eagle nest, a tree trunk tunnel, and a sandbox, to name a few attractions). Plus, the museum is free for kids under three!
11. Take in a Phillies game while it’s free and the baby is sleepy and wearable. Don’t forget to get a First Game Certificate to commemorate the day!
12. Cool off at one of the city’s fabulous spraygrounds (don’t forget a swim diaper!). Our personal favorites include Dilworth Park for some grandeur in the shadow of City Hall, Seger Park for a more modest playground/sprinkler visit, and Sister Cities Park for an all-out water adventure.
13. Speaking of Sister Cities Park, not only do they have a regular sprayground, but also a wading pond with boats to sail and rocks to climb! When the weather gets cold, the pond converts into an Imagination Playground for kids to build with giant foam blocks. The park is also host to other family programming throughout the year including summer story times.
14. Check out your Philadelphia Free Library branch for story times and other family events. Or just drop by and spend some time in the children’s room. Some branches have a dedicated section with toys, games, drawing and cozy seating.
15. Take a picture in the giant chair at Spruce Street Harbor Park and start a yearly tradition. Stay for a whole day of summertime fun!
16. Let your baby have their first swim at one of Philly’s 70 public pools.
17. …Or start swim lessons early at the Christian Street Y in Graduate Hospital or Sweat Fitness in Center City.
18. Find your support system. Whether it’s a Hall-Mercer playgroup, Minnow Lane in Fishtown, Ali’s Wagon in Fairmount or Lilypad in South Philly (just to name a few!) so many great parenting resources exist throughout the city to help new parents find their way (and their “village”).
19. Hit up one of Philly’s many fabulous playgrounds! Whether it’s your local park, or the legendary Smith Memorial Playground, your little one will probably be delighted with just a simple bucket swing and tot lot. Here’s a rundown of our favorite spots.
20. Join the MOMs Club for meet ups, Newborn Lunches and Mom’s Nights Out.
21. Visit the Please Touch Museum. It’s free for babies under the age of one, so get in while the getting’s good! Even for the littlest of visitors, there is plenty to do. New crawlers and walkers will have whole worlds to explore, and even non-mobile guests can enjoy story times and other attractions.
22. As the leaves begin to change, take a day trip to a pumpkin patch or go apple picking. Wear your baby, hop on a hay ride, take a million pictures of your adorable little one in the middle of some pumpkins. You’re sure to make some idyllic fall memories.
23. Celebrate your baby’s first Halloween ’til you drop! First, you can dress your baby however you want because they have no opinions yet, so go for it! Second, they can’t eat candy yet, so you get all their trick-or-treating loot! Best of all, no matter what neighborhood you call home, Philly goes all out for Halloween. Countless festivals and costume parties are going on all over town, so you will get plenty of use out of that adorable costume!
24. Shop & Play at Momo’s Treehouse in Old City—aside from their great selection of toys, they have story times, music classes and crafts for when your babies are a little older.
25. Go wild at the Philadelphia Zoo. Wander the outdoor trails and look at the animals in nice weather, or head inside to the Tiny Tot Barn in KidZooU. In the Summer, grab a blanket and enjoy a concert at the zoo’s Rock n Roar series.
26. Check out a drop-in baby music class. While we also love session-long classes, sometimes a drop-in class with a punch card provides the kind of flexibility you need at such an unpredictable age. Our personal favorite for an especially young baby is Rhythm Babies (with locations all around town).
27. Get out there and enjoy a much-deserved drink in one of Philly’s beer gardens. Whether it’s a constant like Frankford Hall, seasonal favorite PHS Pop-Up on South Street, or the roving Parks on Tap series, there are so many options out there to enjoy. You’ve earned it.
28. Plan a day trip down the shore. Splash in the ocean, play in the sand, walk the boards with your stroller, and be home by bedtime.
29. Take a hike or jog with your carrier (or jogging stroller) in Fairmount (Forbidden Drive), Schuylkill River Trail, or Kelly Drive. Find your trail here.
30. Grab a blanket and have a picnic. Philly has so many beautiful parks, and once your baby is on the move, he will not be content to just sit there on a blanket gnawing on his Sophie giraffe while you dine al fresco. It won’t be long before he’ll be running ahead of you with his bucket of chalk to climb the Rittenhouse goat.
31. Get that baby moving! Even before your baby’s first birthday, there’s lots of opportunities to test new skills in a fun gym class. Philly Kids Gym offers both classes and open gym times for explorers as young as four months old. Grow Thru Play approaches their movement classes from the background of physical therapy. This is a great resource for practicing gross motor skills while having the benefit of an expert who can alert you to any concerns that arise in your baby’s development.
32. Get a birds’ eye view of Philly at One Liberty Observation Deck. Babies are free and if you go at an off-peak time, they’ll have room to crawl around while you marvel at your city and snap epic pictures.
33. Catch a movie without hiring a babysitter. In the summertime, outdoor movie screenings pop up all over the city, and if your baby is the kind who will sleep through anything, grab a blanket and enjoy! For colder weather, Bryn Mawr Film Institute is worth the short drive outside the city for its Going Gaga screenings on Wednesdays.
34. One of the few perks of having a baby that never lets you sleep in is that you can hit up all the hot brunch spots that don’t take reservations long before people are lined up around the block. While everyone is sleeping off last night, you’re face-deep in some pancakes and will be out of there before they can even say “mimosa.” See our favorite Philly brunch spots here.
35. Your baby is never too young to do the holidays up Philly style. Whether it’s catching the light show at Macy’s, wandering around Christmas Village, or walking around South Philly looking at the lights, there is so much to do and see.
36. Take in natural beauty at Longwood Gardens or Morris Arboretum. When they’re a little older, they can enjoy the kid-specific activities these treasures offer, but for now just enjoy the change of scenery and take a peaceful stroll amongst the flowers.
37. If peaceful pastoral scenery is not for you, how about a tunnel of sharks? The Adventure Aquarium in Camden is just a drive, ferry, or PATCO away. Even babies will have fun looking at all the interesting creatures and exploring the Playzone.
38. Happy New Year! Keep the party going with Countdown to Noon parties (Nest and Please Touch Museum both have baby bashes), and then bundle up for baby’s first Mummers Parade!
39. Are you new in town? No, but your baby is! Now is the best time to be a tourist in your own town. Hit up the Liberty Bell, the Love Statue and other photo-worthy spots.
40. Download the Mommy Nearest app on your phone! You can find recommendations on-the-go, and travel with baby becomes a breeze.
Photo credits: flickr/Scott Sherrill-Mix, Franklin Square, NEST, Laura Swartz, Kristen Micucci, David Difuntorum, Kristen Micucci, flickr/Scott Sherrill-Mix, Laura Swartz, Visit Philly/G. Widman, Kristen Micucci
