Arts and crafts at Chicago's Children's Museum, Navy Pier

Learning how to work with clay in the Children Museum's classroom last week.

We still enjoy the Chicago Children's Museum at Navy Pier after nearly 10 years of visits.  With four kids now from 9 1/2 yrs old to 15 months we utilize a lot of the family friendly institutions and public parks around the city.  We've asked grandparents, aunts and uncles to think about museum memberships for gifts rather than "plastic stuff".  The Children's Museum and surrounding area offers us a lot of bang for the buck.

The water feature is a hit and allows for some outdoor fun along with the museum.

We can usually get some guests in on our passes and bring our kids' friends to keep everyone busy.  Navy Pier has been going through a lot of renovations and the public park with water feature is a great activity to run the kids tired.  The Streeterville neighborhood at Navy Pier offers a lot of great places to eat along with Olive Park and Ohio Street Beach more outdoor fun.

After the museum we often stop at Ohio Street Beach right near the pier.