December 1 – 4 & 8 – 11
10:00am – 4:00pm
Tour will be offered every half hour. $5 for adults; Smith members & children free!
A special craft activity – making graham cracker holiday houses – will be offered for kids all day on each of the tour days at no charge.

To get inspired, visit Liberty Place to see gingerbread replicas of several Fairmount Park Historic Houses, including Smith. Thank you to Amanda Kaewvichen of Loews Philadelphia Hotel for creating Smith’s Playhouse in gingerbread!

The book sale is open during Smith’s regular hours, 10:00-4:00. On Thursday, December 1, we will be open extra evening hours until 7:00 for shopping and for play after work and school. On Friday, December 2, from 5:00-7:00, you are invited to a wine and cheese reception and another chance to shop. That evening, Heather Hebert from Children’s Book World will talk about this season’s best new books for kids of all ages.

Please RSVP to courtney@smithkidsplayplace.org if you plan to attend the party on Friday.

Dana Barbry-Nuble has been the Education Services Coordinator at Episcopal Community Services’ St. Barnabas Mission for the past 7 years and describes her work as “a labor of love.”  Dana grew up in South Philadelphia, visited Smith weekly as a child, and recalls that, “Smith was the only place in the city with pump swings and I would wait in line for a turn.”  When Dana visited Smith earlier this year, she was wide-eyed and excited at all the updates to the Playground and Playhouse.

Dana says she is thrilled to introduce St Barnabas families to Smith as part of Play for All, a new Smith program designed to make is easy for children living in homeless shelters and other crises to reap the positive benefits of unstructured play.  Dana notes that “it’s important for residents to have options outside of the shelter.”  As an educator, Dana is a firm believer that children learn through interactive play and that the socialization play provides is key to success later in life.

Sixty-one children who reside at St. Barnabas have made trips to play at Smith.  Dana says that after returning to their temporary home, parents always thank Dana for exposing their families to a safe, unique place, where they can forget their concerns of being homeless and “not worry about anything other than having fun with their kids.”

Dana misses the laughter of children in the streets of Philadelphia’s most challenged of neighborhoods, and proudly introduces families to Smith on a regular basis stressing that, “Play does not know race, religion or sexual orientation.  Play is just play when it comes to children.”  After many years of being intimately acquainted with Smith, Dana is eager to share Smith – and these values – to new visitors.

Thanks, Dana, for your help in making Smith’s Play for All project a success!

Important Resources for Play