Like Santa’s workshop, toys ran down a conveyor belt. We fed $5 into a slot, named our Gravitron Top “Bob” and selected “green” for its color. Mechanical arms assembled pieces, plastic packaged it, and “Bob” dropped into our 7-year-old’s hands. “ToyMaker 3000” enchanted our kids, as did the surrounding skiing, race car, and motor cycle video games, a small part of the 400,000 square feet of exhibit space at Chicago’s Museum of Industry which now features “Christmas Around the World” and “Holidays of Light.”
In what the kids called “the most amazing museum, ever,” we traveled down a mine shaft and rode a work train in a coal mine, climbed the walls at Fast Forward, and went aboard a German submarine, the U505, captured by allied soldiers in World War II. We watched model trains, observed modern aircraft and the kids worked with magnets, water, balls and other cool things in the Idea Factory.
Kids who love the Museum of Science and Industry might also find Chicago’s Field Museum fascinating. Especially, if they love dinosaurs. It’s amazing to see Sue, the largest, most complete, best-preserved T-rex ever found. She’s enormous, and it’s humbling to imagine the world populated with creatures of such magnificent size.
The Field Museum focuses on the world’s changing populations. The kids pushed buttons, watched movies, and walked through displays that showed evolution from a single cell to all the variety of species. Along the way we checked out collections of birds, bones, insects and Bushman, a stuffed gorilla from the Lincoln Park Zoo who brought joy during the depression and sadness when he died in 1951.
“Inside Ancient Egypt” we explored temples, mystical cats, genuine jewels, and actual mummies. In the “Ancient Americas” we saw weapons, pottery and other artifacts and learned about society’s interdependence on the military, economy, and shared beliefs.
While those concepts might have been over the kids’ heads, everything in “Underground Adventure” was definitely over their heads -- and they loved it. We had to “transmogrify” and shrink to a half-inch and then travel through the soil where grass roots hovered above us, ants created tunnels around us, and centipedes and wolf spiders threatened us. It was a blast.
And at Adler Planetarium we blasted off to more fun. We arrived just in time for the 12:45 showing of “Fly Me to the Moon.” We followed a red line to get to the theater and relaxed as flies flew to the moon in stunning 3D.
The film finished quickly, but we’d been given magnifying glasses to find flies throughout the planetarium and our search led to the kids comparing their weight and ages on different planets, trying to keep objects in orbit, and controlling lunar vehicles.
The Adler Planetarium and the Field Museum share Chicago’s Museum Campus with Shedd’s Aquarium. We cheered the dolphin show at the theater but loved it even more from picnic tables below where we enjoyed refreshments and an underwater view. “It was awesome,” my nine-year-old said. “Even though you couldn’t see the jump, you could see the race that they did.”
And you could see over 32,600 animals throughout the Shedd “from whales to snails.” The kids especially enjoyed the Caribbean Reef, giant crabs, and sharks, but I loved the building itself. Built in 1929, it featured an art deco style highlighted with bronze, marble and tile.
We visited yet another architectural treasure in Chicago—The Art Institute. Currently the museum is undergoing extensive renovations, but it will soon have a free hands-on children’s area. But on our visit, the kids enjoyed the Touch Gallery’s interactive exhibits and especially loved the nearby Thorne Miniature Rooms. The boys all picked favorites of the tiny intricate rooms with detailed period furnishings —a church, castle, a Victorian living room with an outdoor garden, and a mansion with a grand staircase. Meanwhile, my daughter picked all of those, and about 30 others, as her favorite.
But my favorites belonged to the Galleries of American Art. My eleven-year-old encouraged me to listen to the audio tour and I heard words that enhanced my view of Ivan Albright’s artwork, including his picture of Dorian Gray painted for the MGM classic and Edward Hopper’s instantly recognizable Nighthawks.
We took in more night views when we visited the John Hancock Observatory. North America’s fastest elevator sped us to the 94th floor in 39 seconds and we watched the sun set over Lake Erie and city lights sparkle for 80 miles. Headsets gave us a guided tour of the sights and directions to go out on the Midwest’s highest open-air observation deck where sirens blared, cars honked, and rushing wind chilled us. We hurried back inside where the kids enjoyed interactive activities, like washing windows, and I watched lights flash and the Ferris Wheel spin at Navy Pier.
Unfortunately, rain cancelled our trip to Navy Pier, one of Chicago’s many free attractions, but we did make it to Lincoln Park Zoo, also free. Beautiful gardens, swan boats on the pond and giraffes, zebras, and animals are everywhere. While the exhibits generally can’t compete with our Cincinnati Zoo, the kids thought the Regenstein Center for African Apes outdid our primate exhibits. And the apes might have agreed too. Among bamboo, waterfalls, and heated logs, gorillas lounged in hammocks and swung among vines while chimpanzees kept busy using sticks to grab snacks from termite holes.
We grabbed more appetizing snacks at Millennium Park where families ice skate in the winter and watch projected changing faces at the Crown Fountain. But we mainly watched ourselves mirrored in Cloud Gate. This 110-ton sculpture of polished stainless steel is a ton of fun. People everywhere make faces, contortions, and snap pictures. We posed and the kids pretended they were falling, climbing, and walking up a wall.
We did a lot of walking in Chicago, but we mostly rode buses and subways all over the city. We bought day passes at the grocery and grew pretty savvy about descending into the tunnels, inserting our cards in the turnstiles, waiting for the trains, keeping steady when the crowds kept us from seats, and rounding up the family when we hopped off at our stop.
I spent most of our trip counting to five, making sure we had all of our kids all of the time, but I was able to relax in our suite at the Best Western River North. I loved its spacious living room with dining area and sleeper sofa, two bedrooms-- one with two double beds and the master with a king size, and especially its views of the city skyline.
The kids were thrilled with the pool, but my husband and I considered Best Western’s best asset its free parking.
And there’s nothing free about another of Chicago’s best assets—the shopping. Chicago’s Magnificent Mile features endless stores, and I shopped with my daughter-- gazing at Macy’s, browsing through bookstores and of course stopping in the American Girl Place. Meanwhile, my husband took the boys to see sports memorabilia and The Lego Store where they admired Lego creations, posed with Lego people, bought a Lego castle and built their Wish List for Santa.
Barbara Littner David is a local writer and mother of five.
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