Chicago Children’s Museum

Three floors of fun for kids and their families!

There are so many ways to play at Chicago Children’s Museum at Navy Pier! Dig for bones on a dinosaur expedition. Scale a three-story schooner, from cargo hold to crow’s nest. Make a big splash in a squirting, pumping water playground (raincoats provided!). Tinker with real tools and materials in the ultimate DIY maker-space. Dress up as a firefighter, drive the truck and put out a “fire.” Paint, print, sew, sketch and sculpt in an authentic art studio. Construct a skyscraper, fish in a river, shop in a grocery store and much more. Chicago Children’s Museum is three floors of fun for kids and their families!

Chicago Children’s Museum offers a rotating calendar of programs in the Art Studio, Great Hall, Pritzker Playspace, and Tinkering Lab. Please visit program locations for session times and free passes. Space is limited. Free passes are available 1 hour before the workshop starts at each workshop location.

Special hours

Special Programming

Spring Break Weeks of Play | March 22-April 6
The museum will be open daily with extended hours! Playful by Nature: Join us to celebrate the wonders of the natural world. Experience live animal encounters with Lucca’s BioHub, Dave DiNaso’s Traveling Word of Reptiles, and Scales & Tales Traveling Petting Zoo. Engage your senses with The Insect Asylum’s Touch Lab. Participate in art-making inspired by living things that flutter and fly! Explore items from nature such as a turtle shell, seashells, and a rabbit pelt. Full schedule here.

Zoom Room
Start your engines and get ready to race! This thrilling, motion-filled installation allows both children and caregivers to experience the excitement of sending toy cars through colossal, multilevel racecourses with race jumps, long runs, loops, dips, and super spirals for endless ways to play. Using die cast cars and custom-made tracks, children will get a crash course in racing, and a souped-up understanding of the physics behind things that go vrrrroooooooom.  LEARN MORE

Art Studio

Workshop Times
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday: 10:30 am, 11:30 am, 12:30 pm
Friday, Saturday, Sunday: 10:30 am, 11:30 am, 12:30 pm, 1:30 pm, 2:30 pm, 3:30 pm

Together Portraits | Now-May 5 | All Ages
What does a “Together Portrait” mean to you? Use multi-media including paint sticks, pens, and collage materials to create your own “together portrait” TOGETHER with us!