Ideas for evening activities with kids

I searched the forum and couldn%26#39;t find anything. We are going June 27-July 2. My kids are 6 and 10, well travelled and well behaved. We went last year near the same time and stayed at the Palmer house. We had lots to do during the day (Love the Taste) but had trouble filling in the evenings. I will be bidding on priceline and hope to get the Hyatt. What are some good thing to do in the evening? Last year we spent one night at the Navy Pier. The kids would like to go to a kid friendly club to listen to music. Is there such a thing??

Ideas for evening activities with kids

You didn%26#39;t mention what kind of music but Jazz Showcase welcomes well behaved children, and the sunday afternoon set is kind of ';family oriented'; where kids are free. Chicago Symphony Orchestra Youth has concerts and if you wanted to just go to a regular Chicago Symphony Orchestra--children are welcome here too. Also, here is a link for alot of other kid oriented activities--some music oriented, some not. www.chicagotraveler.com/kids-things-to-do.htm

Ideas for evening activities with kids

The Children%26#39;s Museum and Art Institute are open Thursday evenings, but this doesn%26#39;t seem to work with your dates.

The music at the Taste goes on til about 9:00. There are free concerts, usually Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, in Millennium Park%26#39;s Pritzker pavillion, which would be close to your hotel. Check the Cultural Center and the Mayor%26#39;s Office of Special Events for more family friendly festivals and organized events.

http://www.explorechicago.org

Just taking a walk out for an ice cream cone, or a walk along the river would be fun. Something that always worked for my kids at that age was an early dinner followed by an hour in the swimming pool. Puts them right to sleep!

Mary Poppins will still be going on if you think they%26#39;d enjoy that!

Blondie will be performing at Lincoln Park Zoo on the 27th! You%26#39;ll just be getting in that day...but the LP Zoo concerts are family friendly!

Fun spot - http://www.comedysportzchicago.com/

http://www.chicagokids.com/places/

FYI, I think Blondie performed in 2008 at the Zoo. This year the 27th is a Saturday.

ahhh... I shouldn%26#39;t have assumed LP updated their concert site! Didn%26#39;t even occur to me to check the year! Regardless, there may be someone different that weekend and it%26#39;s family friendly!

So glad you are visiting us again!

I%26#39;m going to post a few options for your. I hope that you don%26#39;t mind that I mention a few which might have a target audience a little younger than your children or for stays different than yours for others who just read these posts.

Kid-friendly activities:

1) Navy Pier%26#39;s offerings:

Cirque Shanghai will be performing again this year.

The Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, winner of the 2008 Regional Theatre Tony award, gives offerings specifically geared towards a younger audience. They will be performing Aladdin. Also to note: There will be a theatrical spectacle performed on the waters of Lake Michigan August 21-22, off the east end of Navy Pier. See their website for further details of these productions.

You have the various cruises from which to choose.

The Chicago Children%26#39;s Museum is located there (for the time being).

Navy Pier has special exhibits and activities throughout the course of the summer geared towards families.

And there is live music at various points throughout the day, including the areas around open-air Bud Light stage (the Beer Garden) in the evening.

2) Theatre (live and movie):

The Emerald City Theatre Company is one of the premier children%26#39;s theatre troupes in the city.

Redmoon Theatre specializes in large-scale, spectacle-type productions which includes machinery, puppetry, live actors, and a lot of imagination. They will be hosting the 2009 Chicago Children%26#39;s Humanities Festival at the end of this month.

The Lookingglass Theatre Company gives performances at the Water Tower Water Works on N. Michigan Avenue. This year they are performing ';The Arabian Nights'; beginning May 20.

You may have heard about ';Public Enemies';, the new Johnny Depp movie (Michael Mann, director) of John Dillinger coming out this summer. Portions of it were shot at historic Biograph Theatre on N. Lincoln (as well as other locations around town) - behind which, of course, is where Mr. Dillinger met his maker - after attending the movies! The Victory Gardens Theater, recipient of the Regional Tony Theatre Award, owns the theatre - which recently underwent a multi-million dollar renovation - and performs there.

The Chicago Outdoor Film Festival starts July 14 and runs through the end of August.

There is a live-performance theatre venue located at Fullerton and Lake Shore Drive, cleverly called the Theater on the Lake. Each year, they offer reprises of some of the leading city%26#39;s theatre groups productions, including children theatre. Very reasonably priced tickets quickly are sold out.

In the past, several museums have had live music performed during various evenings (Art Institute, Shedd Aquarium, Chicago History Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art, etc.) - although I%26#39;m not sure how these will be affected by the current economy. You could check their various websites to see if anything will be available from whichever institution interests you.

3) Music:

In addition to the above-mentioned, the Old Town School of Folk Music is very family-friendly. In fact, you might consider making a day of it and visiting the Lincoln Square neighborhood. If you wish, you could set up a free Chicago Greeter to show you around the neighborhood during the day and continue into the evening entertainment afterwards.

Of course, the Taste has entertainment stages running throughout the day and into the evening, although I%26#39;d expect a record turnout this year, despite the fact that there will be fewer food kiosks.

Check the City of Chicago%26#39;s website for information on other neighborhood festivals and events happening around town when you are here.

The Jay Pritzker Pavilion has concerts and other entertainment options throughout the summer months.

5) Sports and Outdoor Activities:

Upon occasion, the Cubs and Sox are known to play ball at night.

Bobby%26#39;s Bike Hike has their City Lights at Night tour.

Have fun!

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I have applied for a chicago greeter-the kids wanted one on history. I changed my days up a bit and booked June 26-June 30. We land at 10:20 on the 26 and we don%26#39;t leave until 8:45 at night on the 30th-lots of time to explore. Staying at the Hyatt so we will be very central. We are definelty doing the Lincoln Park Zoo (we%26#39;ve never done this before) The kids want to explore the art gallery too. Oh yes American girl is on the schedule.

Is there much to do in Chinatown?? The kids thought it would be neat-Do they have an open market?

My kids are 6 and 10 but not typical kids- they love history and museums. We%26#39;ve already done the Field museum, Science and the aquarium in the past

';Is there much to do in Chinatown?? The kids thought it would be neat-Do they have an open market?';

Chicago%26#39;s Chinatown is not as big as some other cities but I enjoy going there on a weekend to have dim sum for lunch, poke through the junk shops, grab a couple of egg tarts at one of the many bakeries. It%26#39;s very easy and quick to get there from downtown, 10-15 minutes on the red line el and get off at the Chinatown stop. There%26#39;s not an outside market unless some festival is going on that weekend but plenty of grocery stores with live fish/shellfish and unusual foods and bunches of gift type stores. I would recommend going on a weekend day when Chinatown is bustling with people, I%26#39;ve been there before on a weekday and it was a lot less lively.

';My kids are 6 and 10 but not typical kids- they love history and museums. We%26#39;ve already done the Field museum, Science and the aquarium in the past';

Have you been to the Chicago History Museum? There%26#39;s a lovely Chic Chicago exhibit going on if you or your daughter is interested in fashion, there are displays on most of the important events in Chicago history and I think it%26#39;s a very kid friendly museum. I believe Monday is their free day.

I%26#39;ve been looking around. I changed my travel times friday June 26 to June 30. WE got a club level room at the Hyatt so we are excited about this. I got a greeter for Saterday. I plan to do chicago museum and lincoln zoo on monday (free day for the museum) then move on to the beach.We enjoyed going to the taste during the day as there are lots of things to do in the sports zone and the kids zone-it just gets so busy at night