Things to Do

Looking for things to do with your child. Here is a short list of some places around town. Follow the links to learn more.

• Museums & Zoos
• Children's Theaters
• Indoor Activities
• Summer Fun
• Winter Fun
• Activity Guides

Museums & Zoos

• Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
  Nature Museum, Lincoln Park
• Shedd Aquarium 
  Largest indoor aquarium in the world. Chicago.
• Museum of Science and Industry
  The largest science museum in the Western Hemisphere, enjoy live science experiences, tour a World War II sub, catch a big-screen film and more!
• Field Museum
  An array of products relating to natural history and exhibits at the museum in Chicago.
• Art Institute of Chicago
  The World-renowned Art Institute of Chicago contains more than 300000 works of art.
• Brookfield Zoo
  Near Chicago. 216 acres includes a children's zoo, butterfly garden, and innovative family play zoo.
• Chicago Children's Museum (Navy Pier)
• Botanic Garden (Highland Park)
  With 26 spectacular gardens on 385 acres, the Garden is a place of ever-changing beauty that you can stroll through daily.
• Lincoln Park Zoo
  One of the nation's oldest zoos housing 1200 animals representing 230 species. Includes children's zoo, carousel and paddle boats.
• The Morton Arboretum (Lisle)
  The wonderful Children's Garden is a 4-acre wonderland with ten fun gardens filled with things to do and see.
• The Grove (Glenview)
  The Grove is 123 acres of ecologically diverse prairie grove land preserved and maintained by the Glenview Park District.
• Kohl Children's Museum (Glenview)
  A hands-on learning laboratory for children ages birth to 8.
• Wagner Farm
  Wagner Farm is now an 18.6 acre farm owned and operated by the Glenview Park District.

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Children's Theaters

• Emerald City Children's Theater (Lincoln Park)
• Lincolnshire Marriott Children's Theater
• Northbrook Theatre
• Northwestern Pick Staiger Concert Hall - Children's Concert Series
  A series of hour-long concerts ideal for children ages three to eight and their families.
• Ravinia (Highland Park)
  Outdoor music theater. Children's concert series on Saturday afternoons.

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Indoor Activities

• Color Me Mine (Glenview)
  Paint your own pottery studio.
• Little Village Playplace (Arlington Heights)
  A child-size village that imitates the activities of village life and features child-friendly props for interactive play.
• Exploritorium (Skokie)
• Go Bananas (Arlington Heights)
  Small indoor amusement park.
• Glenview Ice Skating Rink
• CoCoKey Indoor Waterpark (Arlington Heights)
• Keylime Indoor Waterpark (Gurnee)
• Splash Landings indoor pool (Glenview)

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Summer Fun

• Pirate's Cove (Elk Grove Village)
  Park is designed to stimulate and encourage the creative exploration and imagination of children between the ages of two and nine.
• Tours of Wrigley Field
• Winnetka Beaches
• Schaumburg Flyers Baseball Games
  Kid friendly park. Only $5 for bleacher/lawn seats.
• Kiddieland
  Chicagoland's oldest amusement park and has the reputation of being one of the finest traditional parks in the country.
• Lamb's Farm
  The Farmyard features a petting area with sheep and goats. Other attractions include mini-golf, a mini-train ride, cow bounce house and an Old World carousel.

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Winter Fun

• Great list of nearby sledding hills

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Activity Guides

• Oaklee's Guide
  Great listing of activities and coupons too.
• goCityKids
  Listing of activities and resources in the city and suburbs.
• Chicago Parent
  Events and resource listing.