Chicago Children's Museum

Lonely Planet review

The target audience of this attraction will love the place. Designed to challenge the imaginations of toddlers through to 10-year-olds, the colorful and lively museum near the main entrance to Navy Pier gives its wee visitors enough hands-on exhibits to keep them climbing and creating for hours.

Among the favorite exhibits, Dinosaur Expedition explores the world of paleontology. The game show 'Face to Face' teaches the young ones how not to grow up to be jerks by cautioning against prejudice and discrimination. Designing your own flight of fancy is the goal at the build-your-own-airplane Inventing Lab. And Waterways lets kids get wet just when they've finally dried out from the Navy Pier fountains. Hint: come in the afternoon to avoid the crowds.

The museum is planning a move to larger, specially built digs in a few years; the proposed site is in Grant Park, though at press time nearby condo owners were pressuring Mayor Daley to veto it.