The Chicago Children's Museum offers endless opportunities for children to engage in play. They can explore a schooner, hide in a treehouse, construct a towering skyscraper, experiment with essential tools, fish in a river, create art to take home, and much more. Play is a powerful tool that promotes learning, creativity, and development. The museum is dedicated to creating a community where play and learning intersect and enhancing children's lives through these experiences. The Chicago Children's Museum has grown significantly over the last thirty years. Once located in just a few hallways of the Chicago Cultural Center, it now provides arts programs, STEM experiments, imaginative play, and other activities to more than 11 million children, parents, and caregivers.
The Rink in Chicago is an excellent destination for roller skating enthusiasts. The facility consists of three floors, each offering a distinct skating experience. The primary skating rink accommodates skaters of all skill levels, while the practice rink is ideal for beginners. A smaller third floor is also dedicated to dancing, providing a unique and exciting alternative to traditional roller skating. Overall, The Rink is a must-visit location for anyone who loves roller skating. The Rink offers skating classes for all ages, making it an ideal spot for family recreation and aerobic exercise. Along with skating, guests can also enjoy other recreational activities, such as the play pool. The venue also hosts private skating parties for various groups, or you can celebrate your birthday during public sessions. The Rink boasts the best skating floor in Chicago, made of beautiful hardwood maple, ensuring you have a great time while skating or celebrating. With a 45-year legacy, The Rink is the perfect choice for a fun-filled day out.
Hawthorne Race Course is a venue that offers both live racing and simulcasting. It is a thoroughbred horse racetrack with a one-mile dirt oval and a seven-furlong turf oval. The homestretch on the main track is 1,320 feet long, making it one of the longest in the country. Founded in 1891, Hawthorne Race Course is the oldest sporting venue in Illinois for horse racing, considered America's original sport. The business is family-owned and operated, now in its 4th generation, and has been hosting racing events on the City's border for over a century. The track is famously known as "Chicago's hometown track." Hawthorne is also the only race course in the nation that hosts both Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing. Additionally, they have the largest network of off-track betting bars in Illinois and offer two PointsBet Sportsbooks and a sportsbook at the track.
Navy Pier, built in 1916, was the largest in the world at that time. It served as a docking area for passenger excursion steamers and cargo ships. During both World Wars, Navy Pier was utilized for military purposes such as housing, training, and more. In its non-military role, the pier had many attractions, including a streetcar line, theater, emergency room, picnicking areas, dance hall, auditorium, children's playground, and more. Navy Pier, which sits on the lakefront, occupies approximately 50 acres of land, with sprawling parks, gardens, and sculptures on the lawns. The attraction also has several shops and restaurants. Navy Pier offers a variety of activities, including boat parades, air shows, sightseeing tours, festivals, and fireworks, making it the most popular tourist attraction in Chicago.