Best Things To Do in Chicago with Kids this Spring

Is it officially spring yet? No one knows for sure if the last snow of the season is officially behind us in Chicago, but we do know that plenty of fun events await as kids approach spring break and the end of the school year. Flower shows are back in full force with Chicago Botanic Gardens showing off its orchids, Garfield Park Conservatory offering up playful plant-themed knock-knock jokes, and Lincoln Park Conservatory standing tall with its pillars of spring. Dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals are another popular theme of Chicago's spring events, with the Field Museum giving kids a chance to Doze with the Dinos, Kid Works Children's Museum hosting a weeklong Dino Works event, and Brookfield Zoo following up its Dinos Everywhere show with an animatronic Ice Age Giants exhibit. And plays and music based on books and fairy tales ignite the minds of kids throughout the city: Chicago Symphony Orchestra presents Jack and the Beanstalk; Chicago Children's Theater is putting on Carmela Full of Wishes based on a recent picture book, and Chicago Kids Theatre acts out modern versions of Rapunzel and the The Ugly Duckling.
We've got ideas for Pi Day, Easter, and Mother's Day. If it's cold over spring break, check out our list of winter day trips near Chicago. If it's warm, you can try out some of our favorite summer day trips. Or skip going out of town together and take a staycation in Chicago with some of our top tourist attractions (who knows, you might catch us there doing a review).
Hope springs eternal that this will be a great year to have kids in Chicago, so get out there and enjoy it!
Family-Friendly Spring Events in Chicago
Things To Do All Spring in Chicago
Places featured in this article:
Humboldt Park
DuPage County Fairgrounds
Trailside Museum of Natural History
Various locations
Brookfield Zoo
Chicago Children's Theatre
Merchandise Mart
Fronternac Drive
Grant Park
Whistler Woods
Lilacia Park
Wonder Works, a Children's Museum
Morton Arboretum
Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago
Cantigny Park
Andersonville
Armitage and Sheffield
Belmont and Sheffield
18th and Ashland
Wrigley Field
Brookfield Zoo
Morton Arboretum
Garfield Park Conservatory
Water Tower Place
Millennium Park, Jay Pritzker Pavilion & Great Lawn
Willis Tower
Field Museum
Smart Museum of Art
Chicago Sports Museum
McCormick Bridgehouse and Chicago River Museum
National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture
Chicago Cultural Center
The Oriental Institute Museum
Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art
Garfield Park Conservatory
Watertower Place
Learning Express Glen Ellyn
Anderson's Bookshop Naperville
Anderson's Bookshop LaGrange
Yorktown Center
Northbrook Court
Woodfield Mall
Wildwood Nature Center
Knoch Knolls Nature Center
Fullersburg Woods Nature Center
Oak Park Public Library
Elmhurst Public Library
Morton Arboretum
Fullersburg Woods
Cantigny Park
Waterfall Glen
Knoch Knolls Park
Herrick Lake Forest Preserve
Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center
Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
North Branch Trail (south trailhead)
Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park
North Park Village Nature Center
Building Blocks Toy Store
Bad Apple
Mrs. Murphy's Irish Bistro
Kitsch'n On Roscoe
Orange on Roscoe
Village Tap
Orange Garden
Dinkel's Bakery
Cookie Spin
Lou Malnati's
Roscoe Village Bikes
North Center Town Square
Windy City Ninjas
Waveland Bowl
Timber Lanes
Lincoln-Belmont Library Branch
RoscoeBooks
Fellger Park
ClimbZone
Brookfield Zoo
Milwaukee County Zoo
Racine Zoological Gardens
Potowatomi Zoo
Miller Park Zoo
Wndr Museum
Greek Islands
BomboBar
Little Goat
The Fig Tree
Tiny Tapp & Cafe
Chicago Brewhouse
Island Party Hut Tiki Bar and Grill
The Northman
Porter Kitchen & Deck
Beat Kitchen on the Riverwalk
River Roast
City Winery on the Riverwalk
Lawrence's Fish & Shrimp
South Branch Tavern & Grill
320 RiverBar
Potawatomi Zoo
Geneva National Resort & Club
Brookfield Zoo
Morton Arboretum
Water Tower Place
Garfield Park Conservatory
Sophia's House of Pancakes
Wrigley Field