Free Family Attractions in Chicago
Chicago is a great destination for a family vacation, with beautiful Lake Michigan scenery and loads of family-friendly activities. You can keep the expenses down by checking out some of these free Chicago attractions. A vacation doesn’t have to take place on a Caribbean island to be fun!
Located on busy Michigan Avenue next to the Art Institute, Millenium Park has several activities that families can experience for free. Bring the kids’ bathing suits and towels and have them splash about in the ankle-deep wading pool between two walls showing videos of huge faces. Every ten minutes or so the faces pucker their lips and water shoots out of the wall, followed by water falling from the top of the wall. Kids love it. In summer bring a blanket or lawn chairs and a picnic dinner or snacks and enjoy the free performances and the park’s Pritzker Pavilion outdoor theater. The more serious music lovers sit near the front, families with noisy kids hang out in the back.
While most of Millennium Park’s offerings are best enjoyed in summer, they also have free ice skating in winter, and the giant metallic sculpture called Cloud Gate, but better known as “The Bean” due to its shape, where visitors can take photos of their own reflections.
Several of Chicago’s most popular museums offer free admission nights. Some offer them only in the offer season, but others have them year round. For example, families can enjoy all the activities at The Chicago Children’s Museum on Navy Pier for free every Thursday evening between 5 and 8. If there’s a museum you’d like to see, call or check their website to learn if they have a free admission night.
Chicago is home to several Lake Michigan beaches where families can sunbathe, play Frisbee and splash about. Oak Street Beach is located at Oak Street and Lake Shore Drive, just steps from the popular Magnificent Mile shopping district. North Avenue Beach is another popular downtown option, located at North Avenue and Lake Shore Drive.
Located by the lakeshore in picturesque Lincoln Park, the Lincoln Park Zoo offers an impressive variety of animals considering it’s free. They’ve got the exotics that everyone loves like giraffes, lions, monkeys, as well as bears, bats, jaguars and even cows and sheep at their Farm in the Zoo.
Visit The Traveling Mum blog for more family travel tips, or Lake Michigan Towns for planning a Lake Michigan vacation.
