Activities for Kids

6 Local Children’s Museums You Haven’t Visited Yet

Lesser-known children's museums hide out of sight but are well worth discovering. Read about our favorite secret places for hands-on play. We promise you haven't played them out ... yet.

By Taryn Bickley February 19, 2014

If you’ve already conquered Chicago Children’s Museum and Kohl Children’s Museum, then it’s time to find kiddie fun further afield. Head to lesser-known children’s museums that hide just out of sight but are well worth discovering. Click through our gallery for the 411 on secret places for imaginative play, interactive games and engaging exhibits. We promise you haven’t played them out … yet.

Skokie Exploritorium – Skokie

Part of the Skokie Park District, the Exploritorium rivals any big-city museum or playground with its colorful experience. Water play, dress-up, tubes, tunnels, trains, music and motion are all fundamental components to the museum’s offerings. Special installations like “Lite Brite” (a large lighted board that kids can interact with) and a stocked sound gym give kids the chance to jam. Little tots can splash at the water table, which includes fishing nets, mini boats, floating toys and a waterfall, while their older sibs can burn off steam at the climbing wall or huge, tunnel-fed slide.

4701 Oakton St., Skokie (847-674-1500 or skokieparks.org). Open Mon.-Wed. & Fri., 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sat., 9 a.m-1 p.m. Resident kids and adults, $3, Non-resident kids and adults, $5.

Have you visited any of these museums? Let us know about it in the Comments section below.

— Taryn Bickley