Best Museums & Educational Spots for Kids

Explore the best best museums & educational spots for kids options for kids and families in Arlington Heights

Sock Monkey Museum

Sock Monkey Museum

Visit this great place for kids and families!

Kohl Children's Museum

Kohl Children's Museum

Interactive exhibits for young children. Permanent & rotating exhibits are found at this museum catering to kids from birth to age 8.

Bess Bower Dunn Museum of Lake County

Bess Bower Dunn Museum of Lake County

Interactive exhibits on local history. Museum with interactive exhibits on Lake County history plus changing art & pop-culture displays.

Enchanted Castle Family Entertainment Center

Enchanted Castle Family Entertainment Center

Go-karts, arcade games & casual grub. Busy entertainment center offers go-karts, laser tag, arcade games, animatronic shows & casual grub.

Wonder Works Children's Museum

Wonder Works Children's Museum

Play space & concerts for young kids. 6,400 sq. ft. of play areas & interactive exhibits plus concerts tailored to kids 1 through 6.

Billy Graham Museum

Billy Graham Museum

Evangelical history & ministry museum. Museum dedicated to American evangelical history, particularly the ministry of Billy Graham.

Cleve Carney Museum of Art

Cleve Carney Museum of Art

Showcase for significant modern artists. Exhibition space named for a major Chicago collector, showing modern art by international talents.

Cantigny

Cantigny

Park with gardens, golf, dining & more. 500 acres of gardens, golf, camping & picnic grounds, plus 2 museums, eateries & a bandshell.

First Division Museum at Cantigny

First Division Museum at Cantigny

Exhibits on the First Infantry Division. Interactive exhibits & displays presenting the military history of the First Infantry Division.

Graue Mill & Museum

Graue Mill & Museum

Historic Underground Railroad gristmill. Historic Salt Creek waterwheel gristmill & Underground Railroad stop with tours & a shop.

The Morton Arboretum

The Morton Arboretum

Sprawling garden & nature preserve. Diverse 1,700-acre nature preserve with a maze garden & tram plus picnicking, hiking & biking.

Jurassic Gardens

Jurassic Gardens

Visit this great place for kids and families!

Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum

Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum

Environment-focused kid-friendly museum. Environmental museum with outdoor walkways for observing local wildlife & kid-friendly exhibits.

Sloomoo Institute - Chicago

Sloomoo Institute - Chicago

Visit this great place for kids and families!

Jurica-Suchy Nature Museum

Jurica-Suchy Nature Museum

Visit this great place for kids and families!

Lederman Science Center

Lederman Science Center

Visit this great place for kids and families!

Chicago Sports Museum

Chicago Sports Museum

Team memorabilia & interactive exhibits. Interactive exhibits, artifacts & memorabilia help tell the story of the city's rich sports history.

The Richard H. Driehaus Museum

The Richard H. Driehaus Museum

Restored Gilded Age mansion. Restored 19th-century mansion with notable Gilded Age architectural features & antiques.

Museum Of Contemporary Art Chicago

Museum Of Contemporary Art Chicago

Post-1945 visual art. Downtown museum showcasing post-World War II paintings, sculptures, photos, videos & performances.

DuPage Children's Museum

DuPage Children's Museum

Hands-on play & learning exhibits. Play & education center for young children, with many fun & experimental activities, plus a cafe.

Color Factory Chicago

Color Factory Chicago

Visit this great place for kids and families!

Medieval Torture Museum

Medieval Torture Museum

Visit this great place for kids and families!

American Writers Museum

American Writers Museum

High-tech exhibits on poets & novelists. Modern literary center with immersive displays on famed writers like Emily Dickinson & Jack Kerouac.

Museum of Illusions Chicago

Museum of Illusions Chicago

Interactive showcase of visual trickery. Immersive rooms with optical illusions & holograms designed to deceive the eye, popular for photos.

Mindworks: The Science of Thinking

Mindworks: The Science of Thinking

Visit this great place for kids and families!

Batavia Depot Museum

Batavia Depot Museum

Museum of local cultural history. Museum displaying exhibits covering famous locals, industry & cultural history.

The Art Institute of Chicago

The Art Institute of Chicago

Renowned art museum with global works. Renowned art museum holding nearly 300,000 works from all over the world, spanning many centuries.

Play Street Museum - South Loop

Play Street Museum - South Loop

Visit this great place for kids and families!

Chicago Children's Museum

Chicago Children's Museum

Hands-on experiences for children. Family museum on Navy Pier with lots of interactive exhibits, including many for young kids.

Field Museum

Field Museum

State-of-the-art science museum. State-of-the-art museum of science & invention, with the world's largest Tyrannosaurus Rex.

The Museum Campus

The Museum Campus

Lakefront park with famed institutions. 57-acre grounds with the Adler Planetarium, Shedd Aquarium & Field Museum, plus dining & lake beach.

Shedd Aquarium

Shedd Aquarium

Aquatic creatures from around the world. State-of-the-art indoor aquarium, famous for its variety of habitats & views of Lake Michigan.

Adler Planetarium

Adler Planetarium

Museum with high-tech exhibits & shows. Interactive exhibits & high-tech sky shows entertain stargazers, lakefront views are a bonus.

DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center

DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center

Exhibits covering art, culture & history. Museum housing exhibits & artifacts that highlight African-American history, culture & art.

Children's Museum in Oak Lawn

Children's Museum in Oak Lawn

Interactive indoor education & play. Hands-on play & learning for kids through various interactive rooms, exhibits & performances.

Aurora Regional Fire Museum

Aurora Regional Fire Museum

Historic displays in an old fire station. Artifacts, engines, memorabilia & interactive displays in an 1894 Victorian fire station.

Russell Military Museum

Russell Military Museum

Museum displaying many military vehicles. Jeeps, planes, tanks & rare military vehicles are on view indoors & outdoors at an 8-acre site.

Griffin Museum of Science and Industry

Griffin Museum of Science and Industry

Interactive educational museum. Sprawling, hands-on museum full of informative, child-friendly scientific & industrial exhibits.

Boundless Adventures - Kenosha Zipline & Aerial Park

Boundless Adventures - Kenosha Zipline & Aerial Park

Visit this great place for kids and families!

Dinosaur Discovery Museum

Dinosaur Discovery Museum

Dinosaur skeletons, specimens & exhibits. This museum focusing on the link between dinosaurs & birds features many educational displays.

Kenosha Public Museum

Kenosha Public Museum

Natural science & fine art exhibits. Modern facility with mammoth skeletons & other natural science artifacts, plus a fine art gallery.

Civil War Museum

Civil War Museum

Exhibits focusing on local soldiers. Museum spotlighting Civil War soldiers from the upper Midwest region through relics & exhibits.

Kenosha History Center

Kenosha History Center

Visit this great place for kids and families!

Kenosha (Southport) Light Station

Kenosha (Southport) Light Station

Restored 1860s lighthouse with exhibits. Restored 1860s lighthouse & keeper's residence, now a museum with local fishing & shipping exhibits.

Hawthorn Hollow Nature Sanctuary & Arboretum

Hawthorn Hollow Nature Sanctuary & Arboretum

Visit this great place for kids and families!

Petrifying Springs Park

Petrifying Springs Park

Green space for hikes, picnics & golf. 360-acre park with wooded trails, an 18-hole golf course, picnic areas, playgrounds & ball fields.

Racine Art Museum

Racine Art Museum

Decorative glass, jewelry & woodwork. Contemporary crafts museum with workshops & displays of glassware, furniture & jewelry.

RAM's Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts

RAM's Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts

Visit this great place for kids and families!

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