Your guide to 68 things to do with kids in Chicago, including "Unicorn" Spinosaurus Discovered and After the Age of Dinosaurs, and more — updated weekly…
6 kids activities and family events are listed in Chicago right now, including 2 free things to do.
Updated August 2026
Where to take kids in Chicago — the Museum Campus, the free zoo and lakefront, what works at each age, and how to get around on the L with a stroller.
The Museum Campus is the city's anchor family day: the Field Museum with Sue the T. rex, the Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planetarium sit on one lakefront point with the skyline behind them, connected to the Loop by bus and a short walk from Roosevelt station. Further south, the Museum of Science and Industry in Hyde Park is the largest science museum in the western hemisphere — the U-505 submarine, the coal mine and the Idea Factory need most of a day on their own.
North of the river, Lincoln Park Zoo is free every day of the year and sits beside the free Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum grounds, the Lincoln Park Conservatory and a lakefront beach. Navy Pier has the Chicago Children's Museum, the Centennial Wheel and free fireworks on summer Wednesdays and Saturdays. Millennium Park's Bean, Crown Fountain and Maggie Daley Park climbing structures make a free afternoon downtown. Start with the top 10 attractions for kids in Chicago.
Chicago's free list is one of the best in the country. Lincoln Park Zoo and the Garfield Park and Lincoln Park Conservatories are free year round. Millennium Park is free including the Crown Fountain wading in summer, and Maggie Daley Park's play garden, skating ribbon paths and climbing walls cost nothing to look at and little to use. The 18-mile Lakefront Trail and the city beaches — North Avenue, Oak Street, Montrose, 57th Street — are free, as is the Riverwalk downtown. Illinois residents get free-admission days at the Field Museum, Shedd, Adler and the Museum of Science and Industry; check the current calendar before paying full price.
For programmed free sessions, see free events for kids in Chicago — library story times, park district programs and museum free days.
The winter here is long, so indoor depth matters more than in most cities. The Museum of Science and Industry and the Field Museum each hold a full day; the Shedd Aquarium, the Adler Planetarium, the Chicago Children's Museum at Navy Pier and the free Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum butterfly haven are all fully undercover. Add the Art Institute's Thorne Miniature Rooms, which reliably surprise children, the Skydeck at Willis Tower and 360 Chicago's tilt. For movement indoors there is Maggie Daley Park's climbing walls, trampoline parks in the suburbs, and skating at the McCormick Tribune Ice Rink in Millennium Park from November.
Filter to museum events for kids in Chicago for indoor activity with a fixed start time.
Toddlers (0–4): Lincoln Park Zoo's Farm-in-the-Zoo, the Chicago Children's Museum, the Lincoln Park Conservatory, the Crown Fountain in summer and library story times. Two hours near a warm café is the right shape from November to March.
Ages 5–8: Sue at the Field Museum, the Shedd's beluga whales, the Museum of Science and Industry's train model and baby chick hatchery, and the Navy Pier wheel. Activities for children aged 6–11 shows what is on for this bracket now.
Ages 9–12: the U-505 submarine, the Adler planetarium shows, the Willis Tower Skydeck ledge, the Chicago Architecture Center river cruise and a Cubs or Sox game. This age also gets the most from outdoor activities around the city — Lakefront Trail bike rides, Montrose Beach and kayaking on the river.
The CTA is the sensible way to do a family day: children under seven ride free with a paying adult, and Ventra day passes cover unlimited L and bus trips, which beats downtown parking at $30 or more. The Red Line runs the length of the city and the Blue Line reaches O'Hare, but not every L station has an elevator — check accessibility before committing with a stroller, and use buses, which are all step-free, along Michigan Avenue and the lakefront. The Museum Campus is a 15-minute walk from Roosevelt or a short ride on the #146. Winter wind off the lake is the real planning factor: dress for ten degrees colder than the forecast and build the day around indoor anchors from December to March.