Parents used to have to drag their children to go shopping, but today the opposite is often true. Now children try to persuade any adult who will listen to them to take them to the shopping mall, because that`s often where the action is.
”A lot of non-retail activity is going on in shopping centers, and child entertainment is high on that list,” says Don Pendley, a spokesman for the International Council of Shopping Centers, ”so kids are now bringing their parents to the malls because of the number of child-oriented activities there.”
For children, going to the mall doesn`t mean shopping. It`s a chance to do some arts and crafts projects, watch a juggler or a magician, trail after a stiltwalker, shake hands with a costumed cartoon character or, in the spring, get a glimpse of the Easter Bunny. Says Deborah Borsum, who supplies children`s entertainment to a variety of neighborhood malls, ”These are community-oriented centers that are close to people`s homes, and people do look to them as a place to spend the day.” While each mall has its own makeup of shops, Borsum says, ”Shopping centers may have their own personalities, but children are that one uniting force. It really doesn`t matter what kind of economic structure you`re coming from. All parents are looking for nice things to do with their kids.”
The bottom line in scheduling children`s activities in shopping centers is, in part of course, the bottom line. ”Children`s events get the moms and dads out,” says Borsum, ”and the merchants sure benefit from having them spend their dollars in their shopping center.”
But because malls have become more than just a place to spend money-they`re a place to hang out, go for a walk, meet friends, have something to eat, spend the day-museums are now taking their show-and-tell to shopping centers too. The Chicago Children`s Museum regularly packs up materials and carries them to malls to let children make masks or musical instruments, design their own gift-wrap or create decorative headgear like Crazy Caps and Sizzling Sun Visors.
The Kohl Children`s Museum plans a monthly performance and hands-on activity for the Kids Club at Northbrook Court. Attendance for the program has doubled since it began four months ago; the most recent one brought out about 150 children and an equal number of parents. Says Fran Donovan, Kohl`s program director: ”The program has become a real social event. We overhear moms setting up arrangements to meet with their friends to come back to the next program together.” Taking the museum to the mall is beneficial for Kohl as well. ”This is a way for us to reach people who may not come to the museum,” says Donovan.
That same idea motivated the Chicago Academy of Sciences to unleash a horde of prehistoric monsters in suburban malls. The traveling exhibit called ”Dinosaurs and Monsters of the Deep” displays 12 robotic creatures including a 9-foot-tall allosaurus and a 40-foot-long elasmosaurus that looks like the so-called Loch Ness monster. The exhibit also includes games and hands-on activities for children. They can sit in a cast of a dinosaur footprint to get an idea of their gigantic size, feel fossil teeth and bones and discover the tools that paleontologists use to uncover the past.
The mall experience can be less intimidating than a visit to a museum. Barbara Ceiga, the museum`s volunteer coordinator, says the exhibit`s interpreters are constantly busy answering people`s questions. ”People communicate much more in malls than in a museum, which is quiet,” she says.
”The mall is intrinsically friendly and people open right up.”
This is the third year that the Chicago Academy of Sciences has taken an exhibit into Chicagoland shopping malls. It`s a natural move, says Academy president Paul Heltne. ”In the old days you would find museums and academies built around the city square, and the Chicago Academy of Sciences was originally at Van Buren Street and Wabash Avenue before the Chicago Fire,” he explains. ”It was right down there in the heart of the hustle and bustle and hurly-burly of the city, but nowadays the hustle and bustle, at least in the suburban areas, is in the major malls so we like to go where the people are.” Here is a sampling of activities and events designed for children in various Chicagoland shopping centers. They are all free unless otherwise noted.
Chicago Ridge Mall, 95th Street and Ridgeland Avenue, Chicago Ridge;
708-499-0840: Easter Bunny, April 4-18.
1800 Clybourn, 1800 N. Clybourn Ave., 312-951-1855: 11 a.m. Saturdays September-May, Good Day Saturday children`s program-Folksongs by Catherine Hall, Saturday; ”Old Songs and New People” by Mark Dvorak, Feb. 29; ”Two of Us,” musical performance with Dave Fletcher and Carl Johansen, March 7;
”Magical Nonsense with Professor Gadget” performed by Ray Zussman, March 14; ”I Took a Bath in a Washing Machine,” performed by Jim Gill, March 21;
Folk Songs performed by Carol Weston, March 28. Barbara`s Bookstore in 1800 Clybourn holds story hours at 12:15 p.m. every Saturday.
Fox Valley Center, Illinois Highway 59, 3 miles south of the East-West Tollway (I-88), Aurora; 708-573-1300: Saturday-Sunday, ”Design for Children,” model train exhibit, storytellers, photo opportunities with Madeline, Popeye and Olive Oyl, craft activities; Rin Tin Tin at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. both days; Gerbert Puppet Show 10 a.m., noon, 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. Saturday and noon and 3 p.m. Sunday; Vivaldi Strings Suzuki Violinists 2 p.m. Sunday; ”Dinosaurs and Monsters of the Deep,” March 13-22; Easter Bunny, April 4-18.
Harper Court, between 52nd and 53rd Streets at Harper Ave.; 312-363-8282: open mike for children who are welcome to sing, tell a story, play an instrument or show off any other talent, 6-8 p.m. Feb. 29; storytelling-kids can listen to professional storytellers and then tell a story of their own, 11 a.m.-noon March 7; events are hosted by Foxworx Studio Theatre, which has its home in the Harper Court Cultural Center.
Hawthorn Center, Town Line Road and Milwaukee Avenue, Vernon Hills;
708-362-2600: Easter Bunny, April 4-18.
Lincolnwood Town Center, Touhy Avenue and McCormick Boulevard;
708-674-9220: Easter Bunny, April 4-18.
Louis Joliet Mall, Interstate Highway 55 and U.S. Highway 30, Joliet;
815-439-1000: ”Dinosaurs and Monsters of the Deep,” March 27-April 5; Easter Bunny, April 4-18.
North Pier, 435 E. Illinois St., 312-836-4300: Spring Fashion Show featuring children`s clothes, toys and bikes from North Pier shops, 1-2 p.m. April 11 (auditions for non-paid child models will be held for boys and girls ages 4-12 from 1 to 4 p.m. April 5); Easter Bunny and entertainment, noon-3 p.m. April 18.
Northbrook Court, Lake Cook Road between Skokie Boulevard and Waukegan Road, Northbrook; 708-498-1770: ”Kids Club” program presented by Northbrook Court and the Kohl Children`s Museum includes a performance and a hands-on craft activity, 11 a.m. first Thursday of each month. Free Kids Club card entitles members to discounts or specials at participating stores in Northbrook Court.
Old Orchard Shopping Center, Old Orchard Road and Skokie Boulevard, Skokie; 708-673-6800: Easter Bunny, April 11-12 and 17-18; Children`s Festival, puppet shows, storytelling, magician, stiltwalker, clowns, face-painting and rides on the miniature Choo Choo Express (festival is free except for train tickets, which are 50 cents with proceeds donated to the Special Olympics), 11 a.m.-5 p.m. July 17, 18, 19.
Orland Square, U.S. Highway 45 and 151st Street, Orland Park;
708-349-1646: ”Dinosaurs and Monsters of the Deep,” through Sunday; Easter Bunny, April 4-18.
Southlake Mall, at Interstate Highway 65 and U.S. Highway 30, Merrillville, Ind.; for information, call the Chicago Children`s Museum, 312-527-1000: Mask Making activities conducted by the Chicago Children`s Museum, noon-4 p.m. March 29.
Stratford Square, Army Trail Road and Gary Avenue, Bloomingdale;
708-351-9400: ”Dinosaurs and Monsters of the Deep,” Feb. 28-March 8;
”Designed for Children,” activities and entertainment and cartoon characters, April 4-5; Easter Bunny, April 4-18.
