Fun Stuff with Family in Chicago
based on 3 votes
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Explore locations featured in this Traveler List:
Chicago, Schaumburg
- Category: Recent trip
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Traveler type: Culture, Sightseeing, Shopping, Never been before
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Appeals to: Couples/romantics, Honeymooners, Singles, Families with small children, Families with teenagers, Large groups, Seniors, Students, Budget travelers
- Seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
- Tags: Chicago, family, museums, educational, free
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Amazing collection of. . . .well, everything. From dinosaurs to Egyptian artifacts to stunning gems to giant mechanized ants, this place has everything. We spent two full days there and still only saw about two thirds of the museum. The Underground Adventure is worth the extra admission price if you like bugs and stuff. If not, skip it and spend more time looking at the stuff included in admission. There is more than enough to occupy a visitor for a day or two. Also, we got in free because we have another science museum membership.
Get your name written in heiroglyphics for a buck on a machine in the basement. Visit the museum store for some amazing stuff to take home. For lunch, the little cafe on the main floor beats the fare at McDonald's downstairs, and for about $7 per person.
Parking is $15 in the Soldier Field garage next door -- all day is the only price option, but it's still cheaper than the $19 garage at Navy Pier. The Field Museum is on the museum campus along with the Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planetarium, and the soldier's memorial statue.
Be prepared for a great day at this museum, but also for a brusque reception from the staff. In contrast with other places we visited, everyone at The Field Museum except the attendant in the Underground Adventure exhibit and one other guy (who I think was a docent volunteer) was bordering on rude.
Still a more than worthwhile way to spend some time!
CAVEAT: Don't buy the "shopping guides" and newspapers people are selling on the street in front of the museum. These things are only free brochures that are given away at locations all over town, and it's not likely the money they ask for ($2 each) is really going to charity. |
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2. Chicago Children's Museum
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Wow, this place was great! Build a chair or a playhouse in the construction area using real tools. Climb up a ship three stories high. Dig up some dinosaur bones in the archaeology area.
Shop in an African market or play music and learn about sound waves in the Blue Man Group area. In the My Big Backyard area, you'll discover hidden treasures everywhere. Our favorites were the compliment sticky notes you can leave for your child, and the computer screen where you can add your own face to a flying insect and travel around Chicago sites.
In the inventor's lab, build and fly a foam airplane from 80 feet up, use a computer to map out solutions to a problem or build an alarm clock to wake up teddy. The area features inventions from actual kids in and around Chicago.
Play giant chess or bowling; get soaked while learning about dams, locks and ancient tools in the water area; try on new personas and career choices in the safety area, where you can learn about doctors, medics, police and firefighters. Cool art in several areas; interesting facts posted in the restrooms; located in a mall. Enter on the stairs or through the elevator in the museum store. |
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Awesome place for dinner, and a fun experience if a little pricy.
It's definitely a theme restaurant, though. We didn't wait too long -- maybe 15 minutes ona Wednesday night -- and we were kept entertained by the animatronic alligator and stuff in the store. The enormous fish tanks are awesome!
There is lots of fun stuff to see in the restaurant, but we went on kids night and there was a charming balloon artist but no characters. The scenery is good and the staff is awesome, but the food is a little expensive and not out of the ordinary. We got a pizza and a sampler platter with ribs, chicken and shrimp. The food was sort of institutional as far as taste went, and it was probably $35 for those two things. However, it was more than enough for three people to share. The volcano dessert was good (and huge!) and delivered with song by the wait staff.
We would return, but only once per trip, if that.
We stayed near Midway, and this location was about a mile closer and a few minutes less driving to get to than the downtown Chicago location. Located in a mall, so there was free parking right outside. |
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4. Chicago Double Decker Bus Tours
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We wavered about taking this tour because of the price -- it was $25 per adult and $10 per kid. But then we discovered that price was for the hop on/hop off ticket with which you can ride all day and get on and off at about a dozen sites around the downtown area.
For $5 less per adult, you get an actual tour that is about two hours long.
The company has trolleys, open top buses and double-deckers. We recommend the double-deckers because you have a driver and a tour guide. You seem to get more information when your guide isn't driving. We took the tour on a Saturday and it wasn;t crowded. We easily got seats on the top deck.
We traveled all around the downtown and learned the backstories of mobsters, television personalities, celebrity homes, and of course, the Chicago Fire and the story of the name, "Second City." We are history buffs and pretty well read, but still we learned lots of stuff we had never heard before. Well worth the money, and the bus dropped us off right in front of our next location. |
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5. IKEA's play area for kids -- blow off some steam in a safe environment
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Fun store for browsing. We visited twice, left with a doormat and a jar of Swedish lingonberry jam. But the best part was the kids' area, and was really the only reason for the second visit. We wanted to let our daughter get some exercise and playtime.
The play area is functional, because kids would rather run around and have fun than look at three floors of furniture, cookware and lamps. But this one was well designed and interesting, as well as free. Our daughter loved it and didn't want to leave. If you don't want to shop, the store has a restaurant where you can sit and get coffee or a meal -- including things like Swedish meatballs and preserved fish. An adventure, to be sure. |
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