I always love visiting children’s play spaces with my kids, so I was excited to check out Tiny Town in Lancaster, PA with my daughter.
Tiny Town opened to the public in 2017 is located northeast of downtown Lancaster in a revitalizing industrial part of the city. In fact, the building that Tiny Town is located in was once a warehouse, and it still contains some of cool architecture from its past life.
Inside, you’ll find 11 different play structures that allow kids to imaginatively play in several unique and fun environments, most based around the types of stores and businesses that you’d find in a downtown area.
Right off the bat, I really liked that Tiny Town was located in just one large room.
Having gone to many other children’s museums and play spaces in the past, this is definitely not the norm, and I often couldn’t relax at all as I had to follow my kids from room to room. However, since Tiny Town is all in one big room, I found I was able to sit down and relax a bit more here.
Speaking of which, probably half the space at Tiny Town is taken up by tables and chairs. That means adults have plenty of room to spread out and take a rest while their kids play. I even saw some parents working on computers as their kids played.
As for the play houses, I found them to be very well done. Each of the 11 sections is its own building, and these are large enough for several kids to play in them, and even for adults to go into.
Spaces here range from neighborhood staples like a grocery store, hospital, and beauty salon, to more whimsical things like a castle and a theater stage.
One of my favorite things at Tiny Town was the Bubble Party, which occurs three times a day and lasts for several minutes.
During this event, music is pumped through the speakers and bubbles rain down from a bubble machine on the ceiling. It really is a super fun time, though I think it could have been a little longer to make sure kids really had time to enjoy it.
One thing that really impressed me during my visit was that there was a worker constantly cleaning, picking up toys, and making sure the place stayed clean and neat. I’ve seen this happen at other children’s museums, but usually there are still toys everywhere that don’t get picked up until later in the day. However, at Tiny Town, it seemed like everything pretty much stayed in its place throughout our visit.
For those planning to stay for a few hours, it’s worth noting that Tiny Town does have a small selection of food and drinks that you can purchase during your visit. While I didn’t personally buy anything, I did look at the prices and found them reasonable for the setting.
Overall, my daughter, who was seven when we visited, and I had a really fun time at Tiny Town in Lancaster, PA. However, I think this space is more geared toward younger kids, even compared to some of the other children’s museums I’ve visited around PA.
That being said, if your child is still into pretend play, they are sure to have a great time at Tiny Town, but those leaving that phase might get bored quickly since that’s the primary focus here.
Just something worth noting.
At the end of the day, though, Tiny Town really is a very well done spot, and a great place to visit if you’re looking for somewhere for your kids to play in Lancaster County.
One final thing worth noting: Tickets for Tiny Town can be purchased for either a three-hour window or for all-day play. Three hour windows start on the hour and not three hours from when you enter, so make sure to plan ahead and consider getting tickets ahead of time so they don’t sell out for your time slot.
Looking for more places to visit nearby? Check out the Turkey Hill Experience, Dutch Wonderland, and the best things to do with kids in Philly.
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