If you live in the midwest, you understand what we mean when we say that even 50 degrees is a nice day out! Winter seems to drag on, year-after-year, and kids start to get restless in the house as we look for new activities to do. Luckily we live in the Chicagoland area, so there are a lot of resources around us for which to utilize: parks, museums, activity centers and indoor malls galore. Here are two museums that we just love to go, that are open just about everyday of the year, no matter what the weather is.

The Kohl’s Children Museum (Glenview, IL):

This is a great museum for young children, as it has interactive exhibits and programs that encourage children to self play. What’s great about it is that the museum is accessible to to guests with any level of physical, visual, auditory or cognitive abilities. Some of our favorite exhibits were the Whole Foods Market, The Baby Nursery and the Water Works.

The Field Museum (Chicago, IL):

As a Chicago staple, this natural science museum has graced Chicago for over 100 years. It is one of the largest museums in the world. You can an entire day here going through all of the exhibitions. There are exhibits that cater to everyone: Inside Ancient Egypt, The Tsavo Lions, Evolving Planet, Restoring Earth and Sue the T. Rex were amongst our favorites for the day. The museum has a lot of hands on buttons and levers for kids to push to find out more information on that particular subject. Many videos (cartoons, documentaries, commentaries) were being played in the exhibits to keep them interesting and lively.

The world famous “SUE” T-rex is on display at the Field Museum and is the worlds largest and most complete T-rex ever found! She is proudly on display once you walk into the museum, so you can’t miss her. It is by far one of the coolest visitor features.

 If you do get a chance to visit Chicago, please try to visit one of these museums! They are open almost everyday of the year and are boasting with fun facts and knowledge for the whole family. In my opinion, visiting a new city always is justification for going to a museum there. I love learning about new cultures and ways of doing things. It is so important to get your children into the learning mode and to discover the world around them.

There are a ton of other great museums and activities in Chicago to check out, among them: The Art Institute, The Shedd Aquarium, The Adler Planetarium, The Lincoln Park Zoo and the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. Hopefully I will do another blog post on this topic featuring some of these places!

Where do you like to take your family for a day of fun activities and learning?

-Kim