Ideas for kids outings in Chicago and Great Lakes area

[shelle_02]

Hey ladies I know many of you have kids....I was wondering what do you guys do for fun with them?....Ds goes to Pre-K but on Thursdays he stay home with me because I don't have school...but sometimes I can't think of places to take him I would like to do play date but known of my friends are STAHM ....We do the museums and such but living in the city their has to be more to do TIA.

BTW if anyone would like to get together for playdates let me know

[LindsayErin]

Hey! How have you been?


When it gets nicer, the zoo... Lincoln Park Zoo and Brookfield Zoo.
Shedd Aquarium.

[shelle_02]

Originally Posted by LindsayErin Hey! How have you been? When it gets nicer, the zoo... Lincoln Park Zoo and Brookfield Zoo. Shedd Aquarium.

Hey Im doing good... how are you? Yea I can't wait for it to get warm
lol Im tired of this cold weather...we actually did the Shedd Aquarium 2wks ago but half of it is closed for renovation but parking is $$$ lol

When does df get back?

[Christina]

i loved the children's museum when i was a kid, and the zoo. that's all i can think of off the top of my head!

[BLBnJVB3]

My kids love the Shedd.

We have taken them to the Kohl Children's Museum in Glenview. They have a year long membersip that pays for itself after a family of 4 uses it 4 times.

We just took them to Safari Land in Villa Park. On weekends they have a wristband you can purchase. It lets the kids ride the rollercoaster, max flight, and a few other things twice and then a some other things are unlimited. I can't remember it all right now. There is a card that you use for tokens (a few games you will need tokens but you just swipe the card in a machine they have and it gives you tokens). Depending on how much you pay will depend on how much you get on the card. I think we paid 35 and got 40. We still have 23 on it.

On our way we passed Lego Land. The reviews I read weren't that great but I haven't checked it out yet to see if they were right.

Some theaters do a free movie on certain days at certain time. I believe it only runs during the summer months though. The one that did it up here did it on Wednesdays at 10. I believe it was Regal.

Up here there is Lambs Farm in Libertyville.

There is the Mcdonald's Museum in Des Plaines. I believe it doesn't open til Memorial Day though.

There is the Firezone in Glenview. We haven't taken the kids there yet.

If you want to drive to WI. there is the Jelly Belly Factory. I found a place that gives tours of a cave. I can't for the life of me remeber what it was called. If I remember correctly it was in the southern part of WI west of Madison. I typed into Google Things to Do in WI. and it was on one of the first websites that came up. I'll have to get back on there and see if I can find it. But the website said that it is 50 degrees in the cave year round. There is also the Apple Holler. And the outlet mall on 94 on your right soon after you get into WI. And of course all the cheese places.

When it warms up there are the zoos in Chicago, Racine and Milwaukee. The Navy Pier is nice to walk around. We walked from the Shedd to the Navy Pier in July and that was nice. It took us 1 1/2 hours with 3 kids, 2 in a double stroller and 1 walking. We took a boat tour when we got to the Pier. If you walk the other direction from the Shedd there is a beach we found. It was right beside the Planetarium (sp? I'm sure I just butchered that to heck and back. lol). There was a parking lot right there, too. Wish we had known about it or found it before we paid the 17 for the parking garage. lol

We'll be going back to Chicago to go to the Sears tower.

Like I mentioned earlier you can plug in Things to do in WI. or IL. into Google. I have also found things on Roadside America.com and Trip Advisor.

I would love to do a playdate thing but we're leaving in May. Good Luck. Winter is sooo hard to find things to keep the kids occupied.