Chicago Activities

We spent two days in Chicago in July of 2025. Our kids were 13, 11 & 6 at the time.

The Field Museum

This was a pretty cool place. It had so much to see and do. We got basic tickets and it took hours. There was even more to do if we had wanted to pay extra. The biggest hits with our family were all of the dinosaur skeletons, the Egyptian area (it was like being in a pyramid kind of!) and the gems/rocks. We got to touch a meteorite. 

The Museum of Science + Industry

Most of this was more aimed at children. But there were some highlights we all enjoyed. There was a whole section devoted to space. Think rocket ships and such. Then there was a science area. We could stand in a vortex when we were there. They also had the Tesla coils hanging up high. There was a count down and every so often you could see and hear them go off. It was quite loud. If you have any one who isn’t a fan of loud noises, just keep an eye on the count down and move to a different area before they go off. We got the basic tickets. That was frustrating. They had so many things that cost extra that we had to say no to. It would have cost a fortune to do them all. 

The Harry Potter Store

This was a store selling Harry Potter themed things. We got some fun souvenirs while there. It would have been nice to buy some bottles of butterbeer or get chocolates to take home; but it was summer (hot & they would have melted) and we needed public transportation to get there. So carrying glass bottles the rest of the day would have been a lot. Perhaps if we had planned it at a time when we could have gone right back to our hotel that would have been better. 

The Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures

This was by donation for entry & was cooler than I thought it would be. It had a huge statue of King Tut, tons of stone carvings & sculptures and papers with ancient writings. There was something called a water clock I’d never heard of too. It didn’t take long and it wasn’t huge; but it was interesting and a low cost activity. Plus the University of Chicago campus was pretty and had some interesting buildings to look at. Some even had gargoyles that we saw. We were able to find a parking garage about a 10 minute walk away.

Parks

With young kids we did find two parks to go to during our two day stay. They were both nice and within walking distance of where we stayed or where we were going. The was one across the street from the Museum of Science + Industry.