Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in Philadelphia, PA

Philadelphia is an artist's city. Between the affordable housing, huge amounts of gallery space, and center-of-the-east-coast location, your budding art critic can find plenty to talk about.

While you can certainly tackle "museum row" as it's trying to be known and hit the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Rodin Museum, and the galleries at PAFA--and sure, at some point, you should--there are much more fun options that will really get a discussion going.

One of my favorites is actually just outside the city at the Abington Art Center. They not only have unique gallery exhibitions regularly, they are the site of one of Philadelphia's most unique Sculpture Park. You'll find sculpture dotted throughout their 27-acre park, making it also a great place for kids to run around. (Also, if you have a budding artist, AAC offers great art classes for kids too.)

If you want to see sculpture in the city, there are two great spots--the campus of the University of Pennsylvania (which has some, shall we say, interesting ones) and the newly created Calder Museum, which is conveniently located near Museum Row.

If you want your child to get a sense of excitement about art, I'd recommend checking out Old City's First Friday, where a large group of galleries within a few blocks of each unveil their new exhibitions. I'd start out early in the evening, though--it can get so crowded you can't actually see the art later on. These galleries are all usually open during daylight hours without the crowds, so if you want to wander for an afternoon and really get a chance to discuss the art with your kids, you might want to avoid First Friday altogether.

Another great spot to see art is outside the city in Bucks County, particularly in New Hope and Lambertville (across from New Hope on the Jersey side). If you want to make a day of it, I highly recommend stopping on your way up in Trenton, New Jersey and visiting the amazing Grounds For Sculpture (actually, you could spend the whole day just at Grounds For Sculpture).

Your budding art critic will find plenty to do in the Philadelphia area. Enjoy!