National Constitution Center552

The National Constitution Center, winner of our 2009 Parents' Picks Award for Best Day Camp in Philadelphia, gives history the full multi-media treatment. Kids may enter feeling like they know it all, but they leave with a whole new appreciation for this country's lofty goals.

The exhibit experience is designed to take visitors through important events in our nation's history and explain how the United States Constitution is as important today as it was when it was first signed in 1787.

The tour begins with a multi-media presentation, Freedom Rising, featuring a live actor, film, and video projection. From the theater, the audience is released into the DeVos Hall's American Experience, which hosts interactive family-oriented exhibits that show the significant role the Constitution has played throughout history. Interactive opportunities include voting for your all-time favorite President, taking the Presidential Oath of Office, taking the seat of a Supreme Court Justice, and honoring the service people who have fought for and defended the Constitution. Children and their families can also visit Signers' Hall and touch 42 life-size - and lifelike - bronze statues of the signers and dissenters of the Constitution.

Kids with a bone to pick (who made ketchup a vegetable?) are encouraged to take an active role as a citizen by emailing elected officials and watching up-to-the-minute constitutional issues unfold.

The Constitution Center offers a variety of field trip experiences for school groups that incorporate original artifacts, documents, and interactive multimedia experiences, and are designed to increase students' understanding of America's past and enhance their ability to shape its future. Field trip topics include Pass the Citizenship Test, Headed for the White House, and We, the Jury.

The center also offers Adventure Summer Camp, a hands-on, camp for six- to 13-year-olds who want to engage with award-winning art and civic education teachers at the National Constitution Center. The camp is designed to encourage creativity and citizenship using the arts as a medium of expression.

Birthday parties at the Constitution Center are available in six different themes: Colonial Kids, Pirates of the Constitution, History Detectives, Patriot Party, Presidential Party, or First Ladies Tea Party. The events, held on Saturdays or Sundays, include museum admission for guests, tours of the main exhibition, scavenger hunts, themed activities, and more. Details about parties and reservations are available by calling 215.409.6730.