Smith Memorial Playground & Playhouse

Another cool place for kids to go and play. Best off all it’s free, but definitely try to give a donation (the inside of the house with the toys can use a little upgrade).
My kids loved the huge outdoor wooden slide that they had. You use a potato sack to ride down.
The outdoors has multiple play area with swings, slides, rope climbing apparatuses, etc. This would be another place to visit again if and when we visit Philly again.

In a really lovely setting. The outdoor play area is great and really fun. Indoor area is fun and cozy – love the old building.
Please make some sort of donation (even if not the recommended amount).
It’s free but anything helps them out I am sure. Wish we had this where we lived!

We love it here! There is so much to do for the kids, and the big wooden slide is fun for adults too. :)

My daughters favorite place. She can’t wait for it to get warmer out to go back and it’s FREE.

Amazing playground and love that it’s pay what you wish. It’s a special place that my kids will always remember. Love the slide with potato sacks most especially

A beautiful playground indeed. Today was my first time visiting this park, with my little girl of course and we couldn’t have been more pleased.
The first thing we noticed was a huge house. Didn’t realize all the fun that lied behind the house :-). Once we gave our donation, we walked down a path where children were everywhere. Children of all ages. There was a model playhouse with a fenced in backyard, an enormous slide, an amazing feature that was spinning over 15 kids at a time, and an array of swings displayed too. To the right, we saw more spinning feature, a web of things to climb, a smaller slide set and so many other features in between. There were so many options of fun for the children that as an adult I was tempted to run and play too!
Around 5pm we went into the house, where 3 levels existed. There were life-​size dollhouses, wooden blocks, toy bridges, puppets, children’s furniture, bikes and trucks, a large choo choo train and so much more to keep the children happy and full of fun, laughter and smiles.
The establishment was very clean outdoors and in. Bathrooms were bright and clean as well. Overall a great experience because its all about the children

HUGE mansion and outdoor playground. Vintage looking potato sack slide! And FREE!!! (Bad side: Look out for the occasional ghetto mom dropping F bombs.)

It’s every kids dream to play at a playground like this. The playground equipment varies enough for a child who feels timid and wants to stick with traditional swings to an adventurous child who is willing to push physical boundaries on the spider web.

This place is absolutely amazing for children 2−8…plus its free (suggested donation). the staff is very nice and all of the toys and equipment are in excellent shape. the potato sack slide is awesome!!!

This is the biggest and cleanest playground I have seen for kids in Philly. The big slide is fun for the adults or kids. The playhouse is great if kids want to play with toys. You do have to be careful because there are some kids who run around without their parents and might bump into you or your kids. Sometimes the slide gets really busy and some people would even try to cut in line. As long as you are careful and pay attention to your surroundings, everything should be good.

This place is amazing. If you haven’t been here, you’re truly missing out. You can bring kids of all ages here, even your little babies. As long as they can sit up, there is something for them to do here. Even adults can have fun — it’s just got so much great stuff to play with.
The playhouse can get a little crazy because there is so little supervision. Parents are supposed to be watching their kids, but you know how that goes with some people… Just keep an eye on your little ones and make sure they don’t get trampled.
Wish they had some outside water fun area (sprayground). But I suppose you can’t have everything.

There are many great things about this place. Free. Nice staff. Lots of options for play. I like that Bc it’s free and in faimount park, it draws families of every color and nationality. I’ve only been in winter so want to go back to the playground. Basically this place is great but my son has gotten sick every time we’ve gone (but he’s that kind of kid. He will get sick after a kids museum) so that’s my kid but there are many like him and, moms, if you know your kid gets sick easy, this might not be the optimal place to play even with everything great about it. I agree with some other reviewers that it does seem dirty to a degree and just in need of lots of Lysol and some fresh paint or something. And a good good mopping. But I’m sure keeping up with a huge house FULL of kids and toys is not easy– let’s face it, one kid in my house is hard to keep clean after!

Smith playground is a long standing free play space in philadelphia Fairmont park. It is gated off and staffed, and very clean. It’s an awesome place to take the kiddos when it’s nice. If you’ve got younger children (5 and under) you can play all year around in te play house. Which has 3 floors and a few rooms where you can do anything from riding bikes on the pretend road to reading books, and everything in between. It’s a great place to go.
The only downfall is that it can get extremely crowded and although there are staff, many people –much like at a normal park– pay no attention to the rules or their children for that matter .
But what can you do?
Try the epic wooden slide or have a birthday party here. Or just come to play like we do. It’s awesome.

My kids love it! It’s close to Fairmount park. Parking can be a little bit challenging on the weekend. It is free but donation is accepted. My 4 and 1.5 years old had so much fun. The outdoor park build to suit little and big kids. We definitely will go back.

What an amazing and unique playground! We were lucky enough to find this place on their first day open in the spring season. Kids spun themselves around silly. Great way for parents and kids to enjoy a couple of hours on a beautiful day.

On one hand I am completely skeeved out by the inside toys here, because lets face it– children are gross and put everything in their mouths…
But on the other hand, whatever– it builds up their immune system.
I just bring my hand spray (organic, because I’m crunchy like that), and get over it.
My son has a good time here, but I think it’s more fun for him to run around outside– Playing with toys indoors is what we do at home.
I think that there are some structured craft days and story times so I’d love to check this out.
The playgrounds are great, well maintained and such a fun place for kids of all ages to get outdoors and play.
Always excited to go there!

My review is for the playhouse only. The playground wasn’t open during weekdays in October so please make sure you check their website before you head out.
Yes, it was free but the floors and toys were dirty. A lot of toys were broken or missing pieces. The wooden train was cute and that’s about it but again it was dirty and dusty. I was so hesitated to let my son to crawl on the train and floors but since we were there I just let him had fun then changed and washed him right we’re back to hotel.
I don’t know why, we just didn’t like the basement; we went back up right a way.

This place was awesome!!!
Great place to take ur family on a nice day.
Easy to get to and plenty of parking. The slide was the best part, we are definitely coming back. 5 Stars

I came here on Sunday with my husband and son and we had a nice time despite the humid weather. The outdoor play area was a lot of fun; I think I loved the outdoor slide more than him! I agree with another reviewer; the indoor toys have seen a lot of love. It would be great to see some new donations added for the children. Next time that we come back, I would love to put my son on the indoor train. I love that the mansion is tucked away from busy roads and how well the property is maintained. Looking forward to another visit :)

I went here as a kid, and it was very fun to take my kid here recently as well. The outdoor spaces are amazing, and of course the wooden slide is hours of fun on it’s own…
The indoor spaces are in need of some love, hence the four stars. The toys aren’t in great shape (Little People play sets have no little people, etc) and it’d be great to see some donations of new toys especially bikes and trucks for the basement transportation room. Maybe a portion of an old small airplane even? I LOVE the library that’s been added upstairs, and my daughter loved the two big trains…
What’s so amazing about this place is that it’s FREE to the public. ANd my daughter could have easily spent all day here.
Quick tip– use the bathrooms INSIDE instead of using the bathrooms that are accessible from the playground. Those are in DESPERATE need of updating.

Best park in North Philly, bar none. One of the best in the City too. Highly recommended. Great for kids of all ages. Free, too! Lots of great things, toys, and activities. Fun!

Tons of stuff to do for the kids. Seems that the park is segmented into different sections for all ages and abilities.

I loved this place as a kid and my kids love it 40yrs later. This is a Philadelphia institution — a gem. This playground is likely known across continents as well as generations. The outdoor equipment was updated and is pretty sophisticated. Indoors it has toys, a kids driving area (trikes and pedal cars w/​a real traffic light). It has a huge two story wooden slide accommodating children, adults, adults with children. Not be missed by the 3 to 8.
A well established place for young childrens parties, rivaling the franklin institute, academy of natural sciences, and zoo.

This is like the mother of all playgrounds. I don’t even think anything of this sort existed when I was a kid. It was stimulus times 10 for my daughter. She did not want to leave!
We were there for a birthday party, so we started at the top of the hill where they have benches and an inside area.
On the top level inside, there is a kitchen, bridge, and a few other large toys for toddlers to explore. Downstairs they have tricycles and other mobile bike like toys for the young ones.
The real fun is down in the playground. They have numerous levels for kids of varying ages. They also have things I don’t see anywhere else. The sea-​saw was not your standard, but one that you didn’t just sit on, but more sat in. They had a spinning thing that kids could go insider and enjoy. There was the front car of a train. There were tire swings and one that was like a tire, but metal and no hole.
There were many more cool things, some I don’t even know how to explain. But the last thing we did before leaving was hit up the super big slide. Using a potato sack, you slide down and it is so much fun!
It does not cost anything, but there is a suggested donation. If you are strapped, no one will say anything. But if you have a few bucks, it’s nice to support the park.