Fun Chicago Sunday at Kohl's Children's Museum

Ranking: Value - 4 out of 5; Dad Fun Factor - 4 out of 5; Kid Fun Factor - 4 out of 5

It was a fun day today. Not very nice out, with a little drizzle and cool breezes. Pretty much perfect for a day at the Children's Museum. I've previously posted that the best deal on children's museums around Chicago is to join the Rockford museum and use it's reciprocal agreements to go to the other Chicagoland museums. That holds true here. I have to admit I love the Kohl's museum. It's just neat. I found this blog elsewhere from someone who visited this weekend as well and he touches all of the stuff I like (Mark Czerniec). We especially like the fact it's all one floor. You enter next to the gift shop (they all have one next to the entrance), flash them the membership card, and buzz into the main corridor that links all of the various sections. We arrived around 2:30 pm and realized right away the place was silly with birthday parties. Normally that would mean we would be crowded out. Instead, it was pretty comfortable. The numerous party rooms were all packed but that's not my concern.

We usually split up at this point. I'll take either little man and follow him around. Mom takes the other and does the same. Today I ended up with the older little man and we made a b-line for the interior decorating (painting, wallpapering, and flooring) section. He especially loves the ability to re-brick the exterior of the simulated house. We puttered around the water area had a quick lesson on sailing. They have a ton of water flying around a small room resulting in thrilled kids and pretty unhappy moms. Love it. I saw this one mom with an expensive jacket interacting with her daughter like she was covered in raw sewage. I simply dive and and expect to get wet.

Jack next eye-balled the exterior gardens which are worth a special note. It was pretty cold out so we went out to spend 5 minutes pretending to fly the over sized model airplane. I couldn't help but notice that people were starring out the windows at us like we were freaks. Hey, get over it. It's all about the kids man. We, of course, retreated almost immediately. The thing about the outside is that it's really cool. They have many, many sculptures to climb, a neat tunnel to scamper through, and ample space for a pic-nic. None of that was applicable today.

We spent about 2 hours roaming the exhibits today. We spent at least 20 minutes at the television stage. Here Jack put on a great show while watching himself on the t.v. monitor. It's as close to being a real Wiggle he's going to be this week.

We finished the day at the cafe. It is an overpriced eatery that has only one real attraction: make your own pretzel. You read that right. For a not-so-modest $6 you can build your own pretzel with a strong of dough, food coloring, chocolate chips, marshmallows, and cinnamon sugar. YUM! The last time we came it wasn't very popular but this time it was pretty busy. Kids were all into it and I was one of them. I also ate a pretty good Herb and Cream Cheese pretzel while we waited for the kid-made specials to cook.

We really like this Children's Museum. It's not the newest in town but it sure looks like it. They keep it in great shape and very fresh. There are many more corporate sponsorships than I like but my boys don't know any real estate companies anyway so their consumer dollar isn't being influenced and I can handle myself. The bathrooms are numerous and pretty nice. I found no hand towels after washing my hands and the trash was over flowing. Small complaints. The staff is really into the kids or they are pretty good fakers. Either way, it's a plus. I you have crumby day to kill or it's colder than you like outside, come spend the day at the Kohl's Children Museum. It's definitely worth it.