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One commitment we made when we moved back to Chicago was to take advantage of the millions of activities that are part of the benefit of living near a big city.  It’s nice to talk about the world class museums and summer festivals, but unless you actually get out and go you might as well live in Iowa.   Our new house is about 45 minutes away from downtown, but we’ve been determined to make the effort and enjoy the benefits of being so near Chicago. 

A big help in keeping that commitment has been the museums commitment to having free days and kids activities.  Most of the museums have at least one free day a month.  The Museum of Science and Industry was free the whole month of January and the Art Institute was free in February.  Michael had been learning about Claude Monet in Kindergarten so he and I took the train downtown to see the Impressionist collection and see the real Monets.  What a treat for him to get to stand so close to the Monets that he could see the texture of the paint.  We did a kids’ tour and did a children themed program where you get to draw some of the sculptures.  All free.

Surprisingly though, by far the biggest hit has been the Museum of Contemporary Art.  I don’t generally think kid-friendly when I think of modern art, but the MCA puts on such a great program.  One Saturday a month Target sponsors a family day.  Admission is free for families and they set up themed activity stations.  The February day was on Valentine’s Day so there were Valentine’s themed activities.  Yesterday’s activities were based on the artist/futurist Buckminster Fuller so the activities were geometric themed.  And the activities aren’t your typcial color and paint, but are high concept projects like building a geodesic dome, making a map or your heart, or a movement activity that creates dance from shapes and colors.  Every month there’s an art scavenger hunt so the kids get to know the art in the museum.   

It’s so wonderful to visit a museum with hundreds of kids actively engaged, doing art scavenger hunts and loving every minute of it.  They even have a room with snacks (juice boxes and gold fish) for a break.  As we walked out of the MCA yesterday with the portfolios they had made to hold their art, Michael and Jacob wanted to know when the April family day was and wanted to make sure we could go back.  It’s amazing to me that the Museum of Contemporary art has rapidly become one of the favorite places for a 3-year old and a 6-year old.  I’m glad they love it and I have a few more tricks up my sleeve.  Summer is near with weekends filled with the Jazz Fest, Blues Fest and Gospel Music Festival.  All free and a wonderland for children who love music. 

The photos in this post are from last month’s Valentine’s Day trip to the MCA.  Click here for a few more museum themed photos.