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

When I was a child, I had a great toy. Do you all remember this? It was this crazy doll with zippers, buttons, pockets, and in its belly a CLOCK. The hands were soft and moved around so that I could practice telling time.

Now, just to give you some context, I'm 40 (41 this April! Goody.). So that means that the toy I'm talking about was before the digital time era, back when clocks had these crazy things called hands and watches had to be wound. 

The dark ages, I know.

Today teaching my daughter to tell time is a very different prospect. We have digital clocks all over the house; the cable television box has the time, as does the stove and the microwave. We do have a 'traditional' clock in our kitchen so she sees something with hands on it regularly, plus my husband happens to collect antique clocks so the clock in her bedroom has hands.

We haven't really started practicing telling time with our daughter -- she is only two and a half, mostly she's content with "dark" and "not dark." But Philadelphia has several excellent landmarks with clocks that will be excellent for when the time comes to teach her "Look, honey, it's too early to wake mommy up." Here are a few of my favorites.

The clock on the tower of City Hall. Once the tallest thing in Philadelphia (up until the mid-80's, no one built any buildings taller than the tower on City Hall -- about 32 stories tall), this bright yellow clock can be seen for nearly a mile down both Market and Broad Streets. At Broad & Market.

The clock on Independence Hall. This is a given; not only can you give a history lesson, you have a great opportunity to also teach about telling time! At 6th & Chestnut.

The clock in the ground outside of Daffy's. This is a fun one! In the sidewalk outside of this store is a clock with hands embedded right in the ground. Sadly, it doesn't always work, but when it is it would be PERFECT because it's right at kid level! At 17th & Chestnut.

The clock at the Gallery/Market East. This massive clock is visible from far away as well. At 12th & Market.

The digital readout on the PECO building. I know, I know, this one is digital, but it is very fun. The tallest digital clock in Philadelphia! At 20th & Market, but visible for miles around.