Family Programming and Events
Upcoming Family Programs Spring 2025
Adler Planetarium
Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago
Ryan Learning Center
Thursdays – Mondays 11:00am-3:00pm
Free, family-friendly activities are always on offer in the Ryan Learning Center Art Exchange.
Create your own one-of-a-kind museum tour using the award-winning digital interactive, JourneyMaker. Find books, blocks, and other resources to spark your curiosity. Art Exchange activities are designed with children in mind and are open to all visitors to the museum.
Family Day
Saturday, May 17, 11:00am–3:00pm
Family Day welcomes family and friends to the museum for creative making, performance, and play. All
activities in the Ryan Learning Center are free for all, and registration is not required.
Drop In Programs
Family Studio
Saturday, March 15 and April 19, 11:00am–3:00pm
Drop by the Ryan Learning Center, Studio A on select Saturdays for free workshops created just for families. Inspired by our latest exhibitions, Family Studio is hosted in collaboration with Chicago teaching artists.
The Artist’s Studio
Thursdays–Mondays, 11:00am–3:00pm
Take part in a free studio project inspired by a work of art in the museum’s collection or a special
exhibition. Designed by museum educators and artists, these activities are accessible to children but just as satisfying to adults.
Chicago History Museum
Chicago History Museum
Programming
Explore the city with our expert guides, delve into our exhibitions through thematic programs, or discover Chicago history through family-friendly activities.
Upcoming Events
Commemorative Day | President’s Day
Monday, February 17th, 10:00am-2:00pm. Included with General Admission.
FREE for IL Residents.
This Presidents’ Day, get more civically engaged through family-friendly activities! Write a letter to the new President of the United States to tell them what matters to you. Participate in arts-based activities and create a piece that reflects your social and political interests!
Commemorative Day | Black History Month
Saturday, February 22nd, 10:00am-2:00pm. Included with General Admission.
Celebrate Black History Month at CHM as we look at the ways art has been a vehicle for social change in Chicago’s African American community. Enjoy hands–on arts activities, music, and speakers!
Click below for events calendar.
DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center
Field Museum
The Field Museum
Crown Family PlayLab
Monday – Sunday 10:00am-3:30pm
Designed for children between two and six years old, the Crown Family PlayLab is an interactive, hands-on space that makes learning an adventure. Early learners are invited to explore world cultures through music, experience everyday life in a recreated pueblo, create artwork in a Discovery Studio, or play paleontologist with dinosaur bones—and that’s just the beginning. With so many opportunities for discovery, this exhibition presents a new adventure every time you visit.
PlayLab PlayDate Series
The Crown Family PlayLab offers families with 2-6 year olds a weekly PlayLab PlayDate on Wednesdays. PlayLab PlayDates are free, drop-in activities featuring storytime sessions, music and movement circles, science experiments and more.
PlayLab PlayDates are free to museum guests, don’t require pre-registration, and take place on IL Resident Free Days
Upcoming PlayDates
PlayLab PlayDate: Black History Month Storytime
Wednesday, February 26th 11:00am-12:00pm
For this week’s PlayLab PlayDate, families with 2-6 year olds are invited to a free, drop-in storytime session hosted by the Chicago Public Library (CPL). Black History Month is celebrated throughout the February. To honor this important month, readers from CPL will shared stories honoring Black identities, communities, history and culture. Join us for a fun-filled PlayDate with stories, songs and more!
PlayLab PlayDate: Storytime with a Paleontologist
For this week’s PlayLab PlayDate, families with 2-6 year olds are invited to a free, drop-in storytime session with Dr. Jingmai O’Connor, a punk-rock paleontologist and the Field Museum’s Associate Curator of Fossil Reptiles— aka the dinosaur expert. Stop by the PlayLab for an interactive read aloud session and dinosaur fossil exploration celebrating Women’s History Month!
Wednesday, March 5th 11:00am-12:00pm
PlayLab PlayDate: Clover Craft and Scavenger Hunt
Wednesday, March 12th 11:00am-12:00pm
For this week’s PlayLab PlayDate, families with 2-6 year olds are invited to a free, drop-in scavenger hunt and craft celebrating the curious world of clovers. Learn all about the three, sometimes four, leaved plants by completing our clover craft + scavenger hunt.
Upcoming Events
Dozin’ with the Dinos
Multiple Dates, 5:30pm-9:00am
See the Field Museum in a whole new light! Families and groups with kids ages 6 to 12 can spend the night at the museum during Dozin’ with the Dinos.
Stay up late with scientists as the Field Museum comes to life in games, challenges, and stories throughout the night. Will you dissect owl pellets and identify animal tracks to become the next great wildlife detective? Or, will you embark on a paleontologist’s expedition to uncover and identify fossils? Take on these adventures and more with one of the Field Museum’s dinosaurs as your guide. Then, grab your flashlight and explore the halls as the lights go out. This is a night at the museum you won’t forget!
Museum of Contemporary Art
National Museum of Mexican Art
National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture
Griffin Museum of Science and Industry
Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
Daily Programming
Free Daily programming included with admission. Click the Events Calendar button below for more information.
Upcoming Events
Low Sensory Morning
Wednesday, March 12th 9:00am-12:00pm, FREE
Join us for a low sensory morning event for guests to explore our exhibits and experiences in a relaxed and accepting environment with their family members and companions. Exclusive access for registrants 9-10am. Tickets include museum admission for the day. Exhibits and experiences modified to be low sensory until noon.
Let’s Play!
Saturday, March 8th 10:00am-12:00pm
Experience special pop-up experiences for young children throughout the museum along with our partners at The Alliance for Early Childhood and Park West Cooperative Nursery School. This event is included with admission.
Epiphytes Workshop
Tuesday, March 11, 6:00- 7:30pm
Learn about epiphytic plants, and a new way of displaying plants in your home with our manager of horticulture, Seth! Guests will get to take home their mounted plant. All materials and tools will be provided.
Conservation Celebration
Saturday, March 29, 1:00-4:00pm
Meet some of our resident biologists and explore science in this hands-on celebration of their work! Guests of all ages will be able to participate in activities that simulate the conservation work that our scientists do out in the field.
Other events coming up this spring – registration and more information can be found on our website closer to the dates. Click below for events calendar.
Shedd Aquarium
Shedd Aquarium
Daily Programming
Free Daily programming included with admission. Click the Program Calendar button below for more information.
Animal Spotlight
Times vary throughout the day
Animal Spotlights introduce you to select animals that call Shedd home. Stop by the Abbott Oceanarium and join us as our animal care experts highlight amazing animal adaptations.
Upcoming Events
Calm Waters
Sunday, February 23rd / Sunday, April 6th 2025 9:00am-11:00am
Calm Waters is an exclusive event for guests with disabilities and Veterans to explore Shedd Aquarium’s exhibits and experiences in a comfortable and accepting environment. Modifications for this event will include limited capacity and streamlined entry with advance registration.
Modifications for Calm Waters Include:
- Limited capacity and streamlined entry with advance registration
- A low-sensory animal spotlight with American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation
- An animal encounter opportunity
- Complimentary 4D Experiences during the event
Family members and companions are welcome.
Shedd Aquarium Action Days
Multiple Dates and Sites
Looking to make a difference in your own backyard? Shedd Aquarium Action Days provide hands-on opportunities to restore and protect nearby beaches, waterways and forest preserves. Litter cleanups, river planting and coastal and woodland habitat restoration ensure that our natural spaces are thriving while also safeguarding the wildlife that call them home.