Best Museums & Educational Spots for Kids
Explore the best best museums & educational spots for kids options for kids and families in Chicago
Color Factory Chicago
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Museum of Illusions Chicago
Interactive showcase of visual trickery. Immersive rooms with optical illusions & holograms designed to deceive the eye, popular for photos.
Medieval Torture Museum
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Mindworks: The Science of Thinking
Visit this great place for kids and families!
American Writers Museum
High-tech exhibits on poets & novelists. Modern literary center with immersive displays on famed writers like Emily Dickinson & Jack Kerouac.
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
Visit this great place for kids and families!
The Richard H. Driehaus Museum
Restored Gilded Age mansion. Restored 19th-century mansion with notable Gilded Age architectural features & antiques.
Sloomoo Institute - Chicago
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Chicago Sports Museum
Team memorabilia & interactive exhibits. Interactive exhibits, artifacts & memorabilia help tell the story of the city's rich sports history.
Museum Of Contemporary Art Chicago
Post-1945 visual art. Downtown museum showcasing post-World War II paintings, sculptures, photos, videos & performances.
Field Museum
State-of-the-art science museum. State-of-the-art museum of science & invention, with the world's largest Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Chicago Children's Museum
Hands-on experiences for children. Family museum on Navy Pier with lots of interactive exhibits, including many for young kids.
Shedd Aquarium
Aquatic creatures from around the world. State-of-the-art indoor aquarium, famous for its variety of habitats & views of Lake Michigan.
The Museum Campus
Lakefront park with famed institutions. 57-acre grounds with the Adler Planetarium, Shedd Aquarium & Field Museum, plus dining & lake beach.
Adler Planetarium
Museum with high-tech exhibits & shows. Interactive exhibits & high-tech sky shows entertain stargazers, lakefront views are a bonus.
Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
Environment-focused kid-friendly museum. Environmental museum with outdoor walkways for observing local wildlife & kid-friendly exhibits.
DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center
Exhibits covering art, culture & history. Museum housing exhibits & artifacts that highlight African-American history, culture & art.
Griffin Museum of Science and Industry
Interactive educational museum. Sprawling, hands-on museum full of informative, child-friendly scientific & industrial exhibits.
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.
Children's Museum in Oak Lawn
Interactive indoor education & play. Hands-on play & learning for kids through various interactive rooms, exhibits & performances.
Graue Mill & Museum
Historic Underground Railroad gristmill. Historic Salt Creek waterwheel gristmill & Underground Railroad stop with tours & a shop.
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.
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.
Cleve Carney Museum of Art
Showcase for significant modern artists. Exhibition space named for a major Chicago collector, showing modern art by international talents.
The Morton Arboretum
Sprawling garden & nature preserve. Diverse 1,700-acre nature preserve with a maze garden & tram plus picnicking, hiking & biking.
Billy Graham Museum
Evangelical history & ministry museum. Museum dedicated to American evangelical history, particularly the ministry of Billy Graham.
Jurica-Suchy Nature Museum
Visit this great place for kids and families!
First Division Museum at Cantigny
Exhibits on the First Infantry Division. Interactive exhibits & displays presenting the military history of the First Infantry Division.
Cantigny
Park with gardens, golf, dining & more. 500 acres of gardens, golf, camping & picnic grounds, plus 2 museums, eateries & a bandshell.
DuPage Children's Museum
Hands-on play & learning exhibits. Play & education center for young children, with many fun & experimental activities, plus a cafe.
Sock Monkey Museum
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Lederman Science Center
Visit this great place for kids and families!
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.
Batavia Depot Museum
Museum of local cultural history. Museum displaying exhibits covering famous locals, industry & cultural history.
Aurora Regional Fire Museum
Historic displays in an old fire station. Artifacts, engines, memorabilia & interactive displays in an 1894 Victorian fire station.
Jurassic Gardens
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Russell Military Museum
Museum displaying many military vehicles. Jeeps, planes, tanks & rare military vehicles are on view indoors & outdoors at an 8-acre site.
Boundless Adventures - Kenosha Zipline & Aerial Park
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Dinosaur Discovery Museum
Dinosaur skeletons, specimens & exhibits. This museum focusing on the link between dinosaurs & birds features many educational displays.
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
Exhibits focusing on local soldiers. Museum spotlighting Civil War soldiers from the upper Midwest region through relics & exhibits.
Kenosha History Center
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Kenosha (Southport) Light Station
Restored 1860s lighthouse with exhibits. Restored 1860s lighthouse & keeper's residence, now a museum with local fishing & shipping exhibits.
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