Benjamin Franklin Museum

The Benjamin Franklin Museum turns a large historical life into five clear themes that children can explore one room at a time. Located underground in Franklin Court, the museum uses artifacts, videos, computer animation, touchscreens, and mechanical interactives to examine Franklin as a printer, scientist, politician, diplomat, family man, and public thinker. The National Park Service describes the exhibits as designed for all ages.

Families do not have to depend only on reading. Children can search for small squirrel figures hidden throughout the exhibits, inspired by the pet squirrels Franklin knew as skuggs. Tactile objects appear in the galleries, and the rooms offer different ways to approach ideas such as curiosity, ambition, duty, rebellion, and persuasion.

Older children can connect those themes to Franklin's inventions, political choices, and changing views, while younger visitors can focus on screens, moving parts, objects, and the squirrel hunt.

The museum is open daily from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Tickets are available only at the door and must be purchased on the day of the visit. Admission is $7.

50 for adults, $5 for children ages 6 to 17, and free for children age 5 and younger. A family with two adults and two school-age children would pay $25. Federal recreation passes, including Every Kid Outdoors and America the Beautiful passes, do not cover this interpretive fee.

Admission is free for everyone on January 17 and October 6.

Allow at least one hour, which is the National Park Service's own planning recommendation. The visit is indoors and works well in rain or uncomfortable temperatures. The museum is fully accessible for visitors with mobility impairments, with an elevator and accessible restrooms on the lower level.

A family restroom is also listed, but the official page does not confirm nursing or diaper-changing equipment. A stroller policy is not published.

Arrival can be confusing because the public entrance is inside Franklin Court. Enter the courtyard from Market Street or Chestnut Street between 3rd and 4th Streets. If you also want to visit the Franklin Court Printing Office, check its separate schedule because it does not follow the museum's operating hours.