Navy Pier and Chicago Children's Museum Review

On Thursday, X-man and I drove up to Chicago with MacTroll. MacTroll had a business meeting at the Omni Hotel off Michigan Avenue, but we stayed at the Conrad Hilton on Rush Street. The Conrad backs into the Mall at Grand and Michigan Avenues, which houses a Nordstrom's and a lot of little stores including the Sanrio (Hello Kitty store) and the Lego Store.

MacTroll ran off at 11:45 a.m. to prep for his 1 p.m. meeting. X-man and I took off on foot to walk the 1 mile from our hotel to Navy Pier to go to the Chicago Children's Museum. 

It was a really, really easy walk, and I am LOVING our new stroller. He was 2 lbs away from outgrowing the umbrella stroller weight and the material was starting to tear (it was a hand-me down to begin with) under his weight. There was no way he'd ride comfortably in it while all bundled up for 20-degree weather. 

Anyway, everything was open at Navy Pier, including the ferris wheel and swing rides, but NO ONE was there. At the bottom of this review you'll see a small toddler train ride where X-man was the only rider. There were several school groups at the museum when we arrived, so we explored the pier first. The ferris wheel was open but X-man wasn't interested. 

The museum costs $9 a person, but we used our ACM membership and got in free. It's a pretty large museum with exhibits that are friendly for kids ages 6 months to 12 years. Xander loved the building section. There were two building areas. We picked the one that didn't need museum staff. 

It had two carts of building supplies (real nuts, bolts, washers and socket wrenches). Parents could then choose building lumber from a large selection and help build things with their kids. X-man and I were there for maybe 30 minutes of our 2-hour stay. We built half of a house, but then X-man's need to go somewhere else kicked in, so I've given you photos of some of the others that were built when we got there. The building area for older kids allowed them to build a sky scraper out of different plastic pieces and add it to a large skyline they constructed to display the works. 

Most children's museums have climbing areas for big kids. Chicago's is a little fancier in that it has a complete vertical climb that no parent could fit in. Therefore, they recommend it for kids ages five and up, but if you think your younger kid can do it, they're welcome to try with parental consent. X-man just took the stairs.

Our first stop upstairs was the dino dig. X-man got to use a brush and uncover dino bones in recycled rubber. It was a huge exhibit. And like I said earlier, this is a great time of year to go because no one was there. 

Then went into the little town area for toddlers. It's the place with the obligatory CTA bus, the market, the post office and the kitchen play area -- all of that imaginative stuff for toddlers. This one, instead of having a mechanic shop, had a gas station. X-man fueled the same car for 40 minutes. The kids before us had kind of ripped up the market. So while he pumped, I cleaned up after the other kids, so more kids could enjoy the shopping experience. 

Also in the toddler area was a baby zone. It had a GIANT sign that the area was just for kids who were not really walking. It was awesome. It had a 2 foot high soft wall for babies to pull themselves up on, mirrors and lots of fun, short tunnels for babies to crawl through. There were little pull doors in the floor for them to explore and open and see pictures. There were other baby areas like this around the most popular exhibits (like the water table).

From 2-4 p.m. on Thursday they had a special program for toddlers and pre-schoolers called "Taking Care." You walk into a mini set up of a house where there are babies to care for, stuffed dogs to care for and meals to fix. X-man took right to washing every baby in the place. He brushed their teeth and combed their hair. These were anatomically correct dolls, which was awesome because I asked if his doll was a little girl or a little boy -- X-man stalled and then I asked, "Does the baby have a penis?" 

He looked. "No!" 

"That's right, it's a girl. She doesn't have a penis. She has a vagina." He nodded and then handed her to me, so I could dry her and diaper her. Then he pushed her in the pram, read her a story, fed her a bottle and put her to bed with hugs and kisses. He did all of this with no prompting... apparently he's an awesome caretaker.

Overall, I think we had a great time. Two hours was enough time for X-man (he fell asleep in the stroller on the walk back to the hotel) but the truth is that you needed MORE time to actually do everything in the museum. So, if you have older kids who don't nap, you could probably be there for 4 hours or so. The location of the museum is also awesome because it backs into the extensive food court at Navy Pier (Food of every kind and a McDonald's). Although there are big talks about moving it to Grant Park.

There are free shuttles from various places that will take you to Navy Pier if you're not up for the walk. We walked by a "free shuttle" pick up spot every other block down Illinois Avenue on our way to the museum. We saw the shuttle twice on our way there and on our walk back (so every 10-15 minutes they go by). I know they have free shuttle pick ups like this for other attractions like the Museum campus (Adler Planetarium, Natural Science Museum and Shedd Aquarium) from Union Station. But they don't have one to go to the Museum of Science and Industry.

Overall, I'd rank this children's museum number 2 on my list because it offers more interesting and well-maintained exhibits, even for the higher price, than most of the others we've visited. Plus, it gets big points for the ease of getting there from anywhere in the city, having easy access to kid-friendly food and indoor/outdoor stuff to do at the location and for being friendly for kids of all ages, particularly the little ones.

1. Betty Brinn Children's Museum in Milwaukee, WI.

2. Chicago Children's Museum.

3. Children's Discovery Museum in Bloomington, IL.

4. Discovery Center Museum in Rockford, IL.

5. Children's Museum of Illinois in Decatur.

6. Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia, PA

7. Orpheum Children's Science Museum in Champaign, IL.

8. Exploration Station in Bourbonnais, IL.