Cantigny Park
1S151 Winfield Road, Wheaton; 630-668-5161, cantigny.org
The 500-acre park with formal gardens, picnic spots and campgrounds also has two history-rich museums. Taking a tour of the Robert R. McCormick Museum, you can get a look at the life and work of the onetime Chicago Tribune editor and publisher. The historic country home was originally a farmhouse, built in 1896 by McCormick’s maternal grandfather, Joseph Medill. McCormick remodeled the home, adding two large wings and a brick facade. When he died in 1955, he left the home and his entire Cantigny estate to be enjoyed as a public park.
Chicago Children’s Museum
Navy Pier, 700 E. Grand Ave.; 312-527-1000, chicagochildrensmuseum.org
This haven for children at Navy Pier is filled with blocks, mechanical waterfalls, foam-rubber flying machines, paints, clay and more. In “Play It Safe,” children learn about safety in the house, yard and cars inside a 1,300-square-foot Chicago-style bungalow. Engineering-related exhibits include the “Inventing Lab,” where children design flying machines out of foam rubber, then put them on a vertical conveyor belt that carries them to the ceiling and surrenders them to gravity. In “Waterways,” children can borrow raincoats to help build a dam on an imitation waterfall, examine the workings of a waterwheel and fit pipes over jets of water. For children who prefer the natural world, there are several animal exhibits. The museum also has a re-created dinosaur expedition site and has a small aquarium with Lake Michigan fish. The centerpiece of the museum is the “Climbing Schooner,” a three-story replica of an 1850s sailing ship.
Ongoing: “BIG Backyard”: The interactive exhibit combines technology and art where children can create towering flowers, large insects, giant toadstools, a wall mural of the city skyline and other whimsical sights and sounds that change with the seasons.
Chicago History Museum
1601 N. Clark St.; 312-642-4600, chicagohs.org
The museum features 16,000 square feet of galleries, including a children’s gallery, costume gallery and more than 1,000 artifacts and documents. Lectures, tours, panel discussions, a concert series and holiday parties also are part of the museum’s programs. Permanent exhibits include “Sensing Chicago,” a children’s exhibit that allows kids to use their five senses to explore Chicago’s past. Children can smell the Great Chicago Fire, hear a South Side jazz band and touch objects from the early days.
Ongoing: “Chicago: Crossroads of America”: The exhibition chronicles the city’s cultural history. Multimedia presentations, interactive galleries and more include the first “L” car and locomotive operated in Chicago, a replica of a jazz club and fashions that would have been displayed in Marshall Field’s windows.
Garfield Park Conservatory
300 N. Central Park Ave.; 773-638-1766, garfieldconservatory.org
Opened in 1908, and nestled in the northern section of Garfield Park, the conservatory features exotic plants, flowers, cacti, trees and other flora from several regions in 41/2 acres of indoor landscaping. The conservatory, designed by landscape architect Jens Jensen, is one of the world’s largest gardens under glass. Fountains and small waterfalls make for a pleasant and serene indoor environment. Due to severe damage from the June 30 hailstorm, some of the conservatory’s rooms and outside gardens are not accessible to the public.
Ongoing: Guided tours: Learn historical facts and more about the collection of plants and trees at the conservatory from a guide. $12, adults only (self-guided tours also available).
Jane Addams Hull-House Museum
800 S. Halsted St.; 312-413-5353, uic.edu/jaddams/hull
Named for social reformer Jane Addams, the museum is on the original site of the historic Hull-House settlement, an early model for urban reform in cities throughout the United States.
Ongoing: “Re-Defining Democracy: Jane Addams and the Hull-House Settlement”: A look into life of residents of the Hull home includes a scale model of the settlement as it was in 1913, highlighting the work of Chicago architects Irving Pond and Allen Pond; a multimedia display of programs for children at Hull-House; and personal artifacts of Jane Addams, including her Nobel Peace Prize, family photos, childhood drawings and personal diary.
Submit information to ctc-ent-events@tribune.com
