Chicago Children's Museum, Chicago

Our 2.5 year old daughter enjoyed this much more than our 6.5 year old son. There was much to do for the little ones--a great alternative on a very rainy day. Relative to other museums, the price was reasonable. Liked the fact you could leave the museum and return later as long as you kept your wristband. A big plus!!!

The children's play center is not a "museum". The exhibits are weak, nor is the facility even clean. It was expensive for all family members. I would NOT RECOMMEND this "play center" to anyone who is truly interested in educating their child. Their are other, more suitable, less expensive "real museums" in the area to attend (Museum of Science and Industry, Art Institute, Shedd, Field Museum, Harold Washington Public Library, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago History Museum, Contemporary Museum of Modern Art, Swedish Museum - to name a few).

Chicago is full of world class museums. The Children's Museum is not one of them. Don't waste your time or money....go to the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum, the Art Institute, the Planeterium, etc. or any number of amazing attractions the city has to offer.

My child is nine and I found that most of the exhibits were geared toward children a lot younger. He really enjoyed the giant chess set, but we were in and out in about half an hour. Great for kids 6 or 7 and younger.

A place that your child can grow with. Such a fantastic hands on experience for the little ones. An awesome bargain price. We go about three times a year. With each visit my child discovers more.

(Our kids are 6, 4, 2, and infant) Since we are members of an affiliate museum in our hometown, we only had to pay for one admission to the museum (2 adults and 2 kids were free, but we paid $8 for the 3rd kid.) The exhibits were very kid friendly and engaging. We had to drag our kids to the next spot several times since we wanted to see as much as possible before we had to go. Many of the areas are somewhat contained, so it was possible to let the kids wander a lot in each area without fearing that they'd get lost. If you have a crawler, there are confined spaces for your little one to get down and play while your older ones explore many of the areas. Must see: the bug area - this had the neatest computer program I'd ever seen with a simulation of colored beads falling and catching on your shadow and a simulation of butterflies flying around and landing on your shadow. Next time, we will allow more time to see everything. We only spent about 3 hours this time and the kids would have enjoyed more. The only sticker shock for us was at the Navy Pier parking garage - at $22 it was pretty steep, but it was very convenient and avoided walking in the cold.