Smith House
33rd St & Oxford St.
Philadelphia, Pa 19121
215-765-4325
New, extended winter hours for the Playground begin in October. We are excited to provide opportunities for outdoor play at Smith through December.
October 1 – December 31
Playground
Friday – Sunday, 10am – 4pm
Playhouse
Tuesday – Sunday, 10am – 4pm
Big Kid Playground
Today the Philly summer heat hit 100° and I was hanging out at Smith House in West Philadelphia. I heard it was awesome so I had to check it out. Smith House is specially designed for the under 10 crowd. Right away I hit the big kid playground. Now this has a lot of the same stuff as Franklin Square but a ton more space, fewer kids and parking!
Wooden Slide
Then I notice this crazy barn like struct to my left. Do you k now what it was? A giant wooden slide. So of course I grabbed a potato sack raced up the winding ramp and showed that slide who is boss. And no matter what anyone says it was my mom screaming not me. I don’t blame her…the slide is really, really fast.
Tot Lot
On to the TOT LOT. This is a happening scene for the under 5 crowd. Let me tell you this is packed with killer stuff. You have a pirate ship, a fire truck, a train and ton of little houses to run in and out of. This section is all about sliding, climbing and crawling.
The Tot Lot has everything!
Show me the Ropes!
I am working on my fear of heights when it comes to climbing rope so I did not try them on this visit but they look awesome. Unlike Sesame Place these climbing ropes are lower to the ground and much less intimidating.
Insider’s Opinon
I wanted to stay outside but I was working so I went inside to check out Smith House. There are three different floors and each one does not really have a lot going on. It is kinda boring actually. I did like the playhouse with the play kitchen but nothing really wowed me. The basement is filled with toy bikes and is okay but again nothing to write grandmom about.
Overall this place rocks. There are a million things to do outside and each one better then the next!
Smith House is apart of the “West Philadelphia Kid Trifecta” (Philadelphia Zoo, Please Touch Museum, Smith House). This is a place is for 10 year olds and under. The Tot Lot is just for 5 year olds and so is the mansion. The mansion is beautiful. Click here to learn more about the history of Smith House. The staff always puts alerts on the home page. If they are closed for an event or closing early for weather they are great at keeping the home page updated.
- There is no air conditioning. You should not go on a hot day b/c it is just too hot in that house to enjoy anything.
- I didn’t love the “secret location.” It is deep in the hear of no-where West Philly. West Philly is not a great area which you will see right away.
- The other thing worth mentioning is that the inside of Smith House is really minimalistic and empty. Which is weird to me because this was never a residence. It was built specifically to be a play place for kids. Smith House is all about the outside.
Playground
(for children 10 and under)
CLOSED MONDAYS
New, extended winter hours for the Playground begin in October.
October 1 – December 31
Playground
Friday – Sunday, 10am – 4pm
Playhouse
Tuesday – Sunday, 10am – 4pm
Summer Hours
Tuesday – Sunday
10am – 6pm (April – October)
10am – 6pm (Saturdays and Sundays ONLY; last weekend of June – last weekend of August)
Smith House is 100% free. No fumbling for memberships and ID’s. Just walk right in and play. There is a donation box at the gate with a suggested donation of $5.00. I am pretty sure when you are done playing you will gladly made a donation!
Listen to me if you want to get their stress and curse free! Mapquest is not the way to go and the directions they have on the website are still confusing.
From 76 (Schuylkill) East or West
- Take the Girard Avenue/Zoo exit. Exit 342.
- When you get off the off ramp stay to the right.
- At the light you make a right onto Girard. (The zoo will be on your left)
- Drive over the bridge and turn left at the end of the Bridge onto 33rd Street. There will be an old white mansion where you turn left.
- Drive over another bridge. The area will start to look really, really bad. Keep driving you are fine and almost there.
- Proceed to the next traffic light and make a left (33rd and Oxford). You are turning left at the driving range.
- Drive 1/3 mile into the woods and turn left into Smith’s circular drive. Please note that the first “entrance” you come to is actually an exit. Drive past that and you will see the entrance.
