Phipps Conservatory is secretly one of Pittsburgh’s best children’s museums — it just happens to be made of plants. Kids roam the Butterfly Forest in season as wings brush past, dig and plant in the Discovery Garden built for little hands, and press the buttons that animate the miniature scenes of the beloved Garden Railroad in the South Conservatory.
Inside the glasshouse, the hunt never ends: banana trees and cacao pods in the Tropical Forest, carnivorous plants, a room of orchids, fish in the Victoria pond and the kid-scaled wonder of the Rooftop Edible Garden in summer. Phipps’ family programs add storytimes, camps and seasonal make-and-take workshops through the year.
Phipps is at One Schenley Park in Oakland; timed tickets at phipps.conservatory.org. Strollers fit nearly everywhere, and Friday evenings (open late) are a magical family hour.
