Love museums – not the musty, muffled sort but the kind that crackle with excitement? Chicago’s your kind of town. Believe it. First and foremost, there’s the Field Museum, where natural history comes alive. Then there’s the Art Institute of Chicago, one of the Windy City’s signature destinations.
They’re both great, but if you want to really show the kids the town the best place to start is the Chicago Children’s Museum at Navy Pier.
Lots going on just now. Your child can learn:
To tumble, juggle, and balance at Circus Zircus. Too tame? Take a swing at life on the flying trapeze. Too edgy? Create a circus poster. There are lots of costumes in which kids can dress too, including a pair of real clown shoes. Circus Zircus runs through August 12, through the heart of the busy summer season.
Taste a toasted ant at Buggin’ Out. Yes, they’re real, and for consumption on Saturdays only in April. If you just can’t swallow the idea, your child can design a roach broach, a beetle boutonnière or maybe a ladybug barrette. Buggin’ Out bugs out at the end of April.
Dig for a dinosaur as they explore a recreated Saharan expedition. Kids get to dig for bones in an excavation pit, then compare them to those of a T-Rex. There’s a life-sized skeleton of suchomimus (sue-co-MY-mus) to put our place in time into a tad of perspective.
Climb a three-story schooner. Kids love to clamber up and around things. Here’s a safe way for them to work off all that energy, on the Klover Family Climbing Schooner. The staff is there to lend a hand if needed.
Story by Jerry Chandler
