Learning and Fun in Family-Friendly Illinois (continued)

10) The Art Institute of Chicago – Sure, it’s internationally-known and has acres of beautiful fine art, but the Institute is quite accessible to families. Drop into the Kraft Education Center Arts Studio for hands-on creative fun, then grab a free stroller in the museum lobby and head out to explore or perhaps draw in the galleries. The Mini-Masters program and Story Time introduces art to kids as young as three, and the Lions Trail Family Tour audio tour has 32 art-related stops for ages 5-10. Don’t miss paintings like American Gothic and Nighthawks, the Impressionists gallery with Monet’s Stacks of Wheat and Marc Chagall’s gorgeous stained-glass windows. Best bet: the tiny Thorne Miniature Rooms – dollhouse-like recreations of 68 period interiors like a Tudor Great Room, a Shaker living room and a traditional Japanese interior with tiny tatami mats.

11) Midway Village Museum – A small Victorian village (from the turn of the last century) keeps the past alive in Rockford, with costumed interpreters in a blacksmith shop, one-room schoolhouse, general store, fire station and other period buildings. The Museum also works to preserve other eras in the town, including an exhibit on the Rockford Peaches women’s baseball team, made famous in the movie A League of Their Own. The calendar is packed with seasonal festivals that honor area history; the annual Sock Monkey Madness event teaches about Rockford’s sock knitting industry.

12) Museum of Science and Industry – After 75 years of operation, there are a lot of Illinois residents who have fond memories of childhood explorations inside the Chicago museum’s giant human heart, or yelling “Dive! Dive” inside the U-505 German submarine, or taking a simulated ride down a mineshaft for a coal mine visit. Newer interactive fun include space exploration, a genetics lab with cloned mice and baby chicks in a hatchery, immersion into Networld for Internet exploration and plenty of Science Live! Demonstrations (slime science, anyone?)

13) Lewis and Clark Historic Site – They launched westward from here at the mouth of the River Dubois; the “point of departure” for Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s historic journey across the Continent. At the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center near Hartford, walk through a complete replica of the explorer’s keelboat; it dominates 14,000 square feet of artifacts and interactive exhibits about Camp River Dubois, where the men prepared for their journey. The expedition’s arrival at camp in December and departure in May are celebrated with annual Dec/May reenactments, and there’s a special Kid’s Day in June.

14) Celebrate music in Chicago – Four annual festivals celebrate the city’s musical diversity. The Chicago Blues Festival in June fills downtown Grant Park for four days of free music on multiple stages; the smaller stages and many daytime performances are kid-friendly. “Blues in the Schools” also brings musicians in to teach area students blues history and music.   The Labor Day weekend Chicago Jazz Festival has a Children’s Tent, with music for young people and hands-on fun with jazz instruments. Since 1904, the Chicago Symphony and many pop artists have played in the Ravinia Festival in north Chicago (the Steans Institute at Ravinia features Young Artist concerts) and the October Country Music Festival features a Kid’s Corral.