PHOTO RECAP: ChiIL Out At The Opening the Vaults: Wonders of the 1893 World’s Fair #ad #spon

If 1893 could see us now, snapping photos of their world's fair exhibits & watching videos about them on our smartphones, let alone talking on something so small and wireless, it would truly seem like magic.   You can have the best of both worlds, by exploring a seldom seen slice of history via modern technology right now at The Field Museum!



Our family checked out the fabulous new exhibit at Chicago’s Field Museum called Opening the Vaults: Wonders of the 1893 World’s Fair yesterday and the kids had so much fun they barely realized how much they were actually learning.   Before we went, we downloaded the new, free Field Museum app for Android (also iphones).   Click here to download it for yourself.  

Make a high tech or old school plan with a smart phone or a smart map. 

*ChiIL Tip:   Bring headphones so you can check out the cool videos on the Opening the Vaults: Wonders of the 1893 World’s Fair App Tour.  Log on to Field Museum WiFi once you get there for the best reception.   We were there the day after Thanksgiving with a capacity crowd and still had a strong, fast signal.   Uber impressive.





We dug this interactive exhibit that takes you back to 1893 to show you what visitors to the World’s Fair -- one of the greatest events in Chicago’s history -- saw 120 years ago.   This is the Chicago of my great grandparents and it's so cool to have this time machine of an exhibit to take us back.   The fair was a HUGE deal back in the day.  It would cost over 1.2 BILLION to do something of that magnitude today!   Thankfully, we're left with the legacy of The Field Museum and others due to the World's Fair.

We followed most of the tour on the app but one of my favorites was the sweet video and back story on the blown glass sea cucumber made by the father & son duo.  In 120 years since, people have never been able to figure out how they did it, or come close to recreating it!

*ChiIL Tip:   Play with the app ahead of time and make it into a treasure hunt for the kids to keep them engaged during Opening the Vaults: Wonders of the 1893 World’s Fair App Tour. We live right in the city of Chicago and Field Museum has long been one of our family favs.   In fact, the stellar museums here are one of the big benefits of raising savvy urban kids. What will visitors see? More than 200 artifacts and specimens from every corner of the Fair’s grounds—from the Midway villages to a nautical exhibit moored in Fair’s pond. Some highlights include: Fair memorabilia, such as one of the financial ledgers and tickets Peruvian mummies, and 3D printed replicas of figurines found inside one of the mummy bundles Instruments from the gamelan played at the Javanese village on the Fair’s Midway Large-scale murals and atmospheric projections that will take visitors into the Fair’s grounds Two digital interactives allowing visitors to explore and engage with the earliest Museum’s collections through new technologies *ChiIL Tip:   PEOPLE from other cultures were put on EXHIBIT which sparked a great family discussion on human rights/pc museum practices/zoo animals/& multiculturalism still going on today! Why an exhibition about the World’s Fair at The Field Museum? The Field Museum was founded to commemorate the Fair The Museum’s original collections are formed by objects that were all displayed at the Fair The Field Museum has the single largest collection of items displayed at the Fair The Field Museum is the legacy of the Fair: scientists conduct ground-breaking research on the ever-growing collections, and exhibitions display objects from its vaults for the public to see Check out ChiIL Mama's slide show below for our full photo recaps.

We dug the CGI shows mixing live, modern day actors in period piece costumes and still photos from 1893.

Didja Know?

*ChiIL Tip:   Leave plenty of time for kids to explore the hands on elements.   My tweens (10 & 12) loved the interactive music section the most, but also spent lots of time exploring the technology used to examine a mummy unobtrusively.   

What is this exhibition about?

Wonders of the 1893 World’s Fair takes visitors back to 1893, to the World’s Columbian Exposition—one of the greatest events in the history of Chicago and the U.S. The exhibition will show today’s Museum visitors what visitors to the Fair saw 120 years ago.

Exit through the gift shop for unique gifts for the holidays and beyond.  

We'll be reviewing this AWESOME Chicago 4D Cityscape puzzle at ChiIL Mama. It's available at the museum or at The Chicago Architecture Foundation (where we got our review copy).   They're running special architecture tours in conjunction with the Worlds Fair exhibit (another great gift idea)!

I couldn't put this one down!   It adds an extra layer of intrigue to this exhibit, interweaving architecture history and the macabre real story of a serial killer stalking the grounds of the World's Fair.

This one's high on my must read list.

*ChiIL Tip:   We highly recommend checking out the Underground Adventure, Creatures of Light:  Nature's Bioluminescence & Titans of the Ice Age movie when you need a bit of a sit down break.

Shrink ray down to the size of a penny and explore the insect world!

Make a fun souvenir at the entirely old school Mold-A-Rama and/or the squashed penny machine.   Both are inexpensive memory makers for your budding collectors.

Whether you live in or near Chi-Town or are thinking of paying us a visit, The Field Museum is a MUST SEE.

I was selected for this opportunity by Clever Girls Collective, however all content and opinions expressed here are my own.

Officially Licensed Building Toys by K’NEX Will Allow Kids to Build & Play in the Plants vs. ZombiesTM World #PvZ2android

K’NEX® Brands And PopCap Games, A Division of Electronic Arts, Announce New Licensing Relationship

ChiIL Mama is elated to be working with both PopCap Games and K'NEX. I've been a PopCap Blogger for years and I've had a long running relationship with Plants Vs. Zombies and their many other awesome games.   We got to attend a Plants Vs. Zombies party last Sunday to celebrate the release of their new Android App hosted by Little Tech Girl, Kris Cain.  

This year we've also been chosen to review numerous new K'NEX kits for the holidays with Toys R Us Moms!   Squeee!!!!    So check back with ChiIL Mama like we vote in Chi, IL... early and often for loads of fun toy & game reviews, giveaways and more.

We'll be reviewing the following & more:

ChiIL Out with the hottest band in the land... KISS & roadies too!!   We can't wait to build this one and do a video review for our readers.   Get up. And get your grandma outta here (and over to Toys R Us to buy you a set, if you're lucky!)   Now the next generation of rock tots can combine retro fun with building & role play creativity.  

My husband was a member of the KISS army as a kid and I remember their distinctive face makeup was THE most popular design at all the fairs & carnivals that featured face painting.   Ah... the 70's.   There may be a few big "kids" with this kit on their wish list, too.  

Yay!   The Beatles have become a staple of our culture and a favorite for all generations.   Take your own magical mystery tour with The Beatles Yellow Submarine.

We'll have a full video & photo filled feature on each of these in the very near future.

On that note, we love it when our friends play well together.   They're not out yet (fall 2014 release expected), but something fun is coming...   We put this out on Facebook/Twitter when they first announced in August.   But we're pretty stoked about it, so we'll give you the heads up here in a blog feature as well.

Worlds Collide Alert:

Plants vs. ZombiesTM fans will soon be able to build and play with characters from their favorite game with new licensed building toys by K’NEX®. PopCap Games (a division of Electronic Arts), creator of the popular gaming franchise and K’NEX, the only U.S. construction toy company focused on Building Worlds Kids Love®, are pleased to announce their new agreement to create a line of building toys based on the Plants vs. Zombies games.

The relationship combines the award-winning K’NEX building system with your favorite Plants vs. Zombies characters, bringing them from the

digital screen to the construction aisle for the first time.

With over 30 Game of the Year awards, Plants vs.

Zombies is a global brand that is popular across the U.S., Europe and Asia, and appeals to male and female audiences ages 4 through 104.

“Plants vs. Zombies Building Sets from K’NEX will bring these exciting characters to life in a new way,” said Michael Araten, President of K’NEX Brands. “Children of all ages will have the opportunity to build the Plants vs. Zombies neighborhood they love right in their own homes. Just like in the game, the builder will meet, greet and defeat legions of fun-dead zombies with a powerful army of plants! I can’t wait to see how fans will take their digital game skills and use them in the real world!”

K’NEX will provide a sneak peek of the new Plants vs. Zombies building sets at NY Toy Fair in February 2014, and the K’NEX Plants vs. Zombies product line will become widely available in the Fall of 2014. Sets will include popular characters from Plants vs. Zombies such as Sunflower, Wall-nut, Peashooter, Zombie, Mummy Zombie, Pirate Zombie and other popular elements from the game. Designed for children ages 5+, the building sets will bring the fun of the games to life and expand its appeal through a rewarding, age-appropriate K’NEX building experience.

About K’NEX Brands

Founded in 1992, K’NEX Brands, the world’s most innovative construction toy company, was established to make and sell what has become one of the world’s leading integrated construction systems for children and is America’s STEM building solution. Winner of over 250 international awards and recognitions, K’NEX, America’s building toy company, is focused on Building Worlds Kids Love and encourages youngsters to “imagine, build and play.” From the living room to the classroom, K’NEX has building toys specially designed for every age group and skill level. The K’NEX family of brands includes K’NEX Building Sets, K’NEX Thrill Rides, K’NEX Education, Lincoln Logs®, Tinkertoy®, NASCAR®, Angry BirdsTM, Mario Kart WiiTM, Mario Kart 7TM, Super MarioTM, PacManTM and more. Since 1992, The Rodon Group, a subsidiary of K'NEX Brands, L.P., has manufactured over 31 billion parts for the K'NEX building toy system. Join us as we help build the leaders of tomorrow. For more information, please visit www.knex.com or www.rodongroup.com.

About PopCap

PopCap Games is the leading global developer, publisher and operator of casual video games: fun, easy-to-learn, captivating games that appeal to all ages across PC, mobile, social and other platforms. Based in Seattle, Washington, PopCap was founded in 2000, was acquired by Electronic Arts in 2011, and has a worldwide staff of more than 400 people in Seattle, San Francisco, and Shanghai.

PopCap and Plants vs. Zombies are trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc.