Baby, it’s cold outside. But when the weather outside is frightful, your kids don’t need to be frozen out of fun.
After the coldest December in decades, and then a record-breaking January, moms and dads may get the chills over how to entertain the kids on another day of canceled school or a weekend of freezing temperatures. If cabin fever in your house has hit its limit, don’t despair. Instead, check out these indoor hot spots that take the chill out of winter.
We all love when our kids get creative. Art projects and wacky science experiments sound like fun until you’re the one scraping the glitter glue, paint and play dough off your furniture!
No need to deal with that bothersome detail at this Glenview oasis for the preschool to early elementary crowd. A riot of colors, pipes and gadgets make it look like something out of a Willy Wonka movie. Your child is handed a smock and told to have at it. Roll a paint-covered ball over a table or create art using inventive bubble machines. My daughter’s absolute favorite? The soundproof glass-enclosed room where she got to bang on huge drums that splattered paint on the walls.
The day I visited with my 5-year-old, they were making bath bubbles to take home in the science lab, and a chocolate treat in the cooking area. They change the hands-on activities every two weeks and every month they change the themes at the arts and crafts tables.
Cost: $10/child, $5 for additional cooking & science activities
Ages: best for ages 1-9
The Glen Tower Center
2050 Tower Drive, Glenview
847-730-5275
Moms and Dads will love the free coffee and tea at this Evanston cafe. Kids will love open play in a bright play space, along with fun art and music classes.
As the name suggests, this is a cozy cafe for moms and dads to meet up with their babies and toddlers. Check the website calendar for weekly events and classes, including a new moms meet up on Friday mornings.
Cost: $12/child, adults free; includes free play and one art or music class. Check the calendar for the weekly schedule of classes and events.
Ages: best for preschool crowd
602 Davis St., Evanston
847-859-2312
This North Shore favorite is a perfect place for kids to beat the winter boredom blues! Kids can make music, play cashier at the grocery store or dress up and be a vet. They can put on a smock and get wet at the water station, or roll up their sleeves and build a house. Don’t miss their Japan and Nature exhibit, which runs through July and “will bring a taste of Asian culture to the Chicagoland area.”
Cost: $9.50 for adults & children
Ages: best for ages 1-7
2100 Patriot Blvd., Glenview
847-832-6600
Named Chicagoland’s “Best Rainy Day Activity Site” by Chicago magazine, this massive Skokie structure is a mecca for make-believe. Described as an indoor playground, it’s really more like a children’s museum. There’s a fun costume dress-up area and an engineering station loaded with magnets and other activities.
If you, like me, fondly remember Lite Brite, you’ll be glowing as your kids design their own art on the Lite Brite Wall. Kids can also scale a climbing wall instead of driving you up the wall at home, and you’ll enjoy the break as they roam through two-and-a-half stories of tubes and tunnels.
Cost: $3 for Skokie kids, $5 for non-residents
Ages: Infant seats at the water table, along with baby and toddler areas, make the Exploritorium great for infants through 8 years old.
4701 Oakton St., Skokie
847-674-1500, ext. 2700
In this digital age, there’s something truly charming about the simple, yet imaginative, LEGO brick. Let your kids get creative with more than 3 million of them—plus LEGO themed rides and a 4D movie theater—at this indoor attraction next to the Woodfield Mall.
Cost: Adults $19, $15 for kids 3-12, free for kids 2 and under
Ages: best for ages 3-10
The Streets of Woodfield (next to Woodfield Mall)
601 N. Martingale Road, Schaumburg
847-592-9700
Located in an industrial warehouse area in Niles, this place lives up to its name! Kids of all ages (including their middle-aged parents) will be flying high at this fun indoor trampoline park. Instead of letting your kids bounce off the walls at home, let them flip across rows of trampolines, jump off them into piles of foam, or play trampoline dodgeball. A hip pulsating soundtrack sets the party atmosphere, while a designated area for toddlers ensures little tykes don’t get trampled.
Cost: $11/hour
Ages: toddlers to teens
6424 W. Howard St., Niles
847-801-5867
Is your teen giving you the cold shoulder about hanging with the family? Instead of crying foul, let them be bowled over by this awesome entertainment center in Northbrook. Forget what you remember about bowling alleys. This is a modern facility, with strikingly hip decor. Friday and Saturday nights there’s live music, Sunday there’s a “bowling brunch” and Tuesday is $5 burger night.
Cost: $5/person/game Sunday-Thursday; $7/person/game on Friday and Saturday; $4 for rental shoes
Ages: fun for kids 7+
1150 Willow Rd., Northbrook
847-480-2323
Reluctant teens will gladly embrace this boredom buster on a winter afternoon. Combine bumper cars with field hockey and you have hours of laughs and zany scoring. Want to give it a whirl? There’s WhirlyBall in Vernon Hills and in Chicago’s Lincoln Park.
Cost: $15 /person for every 30 minutes, need a minimum of 4 people to play
Ages: must be at least 12 to play
285 Center Drive, Vernon Hills
847-918-0800
1880 W. Fullerton, Chicago
773-486-7777
