Here at ChiIL Mama we LOVE our city museums. They're world class! Come check 'em out for FREE during certain dates in June if you're an Illinois resident.
Adler Planetarium: June 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12
Field Museum of Natural History: June 4, 5, 9
Museum of Science & Industry: June 1 - 6
Shedd Aquarium: June 2, 3, 9, 10, 16, 17
*Valid Illinois identification required. Special exhibits are extra. Thanks to our friends over at The Local Tourist for originally compiling the dates for ease of use.
I have to admit I'm still a bit peeved about the whole free day deal. The museums all used to have 1 free day EVERY week--year round, for residents. But they discovered a sneaky way to do an end run around the mandatory free day clause and cram most of them into the bleak winter months in a big clump. Gahhhhh! Nonetheless... it's nice out now, and free is free. So, get out there and binge on Chicago's finest museums from today through the 17th!
ChiIL out with ChiIL Mama for the coolest happenings all summer long.
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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 Museumcalled 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.
I had the pleasure of previewingThe Field Museum's Gold Exhibitwhich will open to the public today and will run October 22-March 6th. I was especially taken with the impressive melding of science, poetry, ancient culture, and modern ceremony. We'll continue to post gold nuggets of information throughout the run of this intriguing exhibit. Come learn about the tears of the sun, the seahorse nugget, and how a thin veneer of gold protects astronauts from heat and light.
This exhibit combines history, mystery, poetry and science, all centered around that magical mineral, gold. Kids can even step on a scale and find out what "worth your weight in gold" literally means. Where else can you see real Oscars, Emmys, Grammys, Olympic Gold Medals, and The White Sox World Series Trophy in one room?!
At the preview, a lucky class of 5th graders from St. Paul-Our Lady of Vilna school in Pilsen, were able to enter with the press. They were suitably impressed with the exhibit. Adults and older kids will find plenty to fascinate. Check out their web site for details about this golden opportunity.
It sounds like a dragon's treasure trove, but it's just ChiIL Mama's wacky work week...
Today, I had the pleasure of previewing The Field Museum's Gold Exhibit which will open this Friday and will run October 22-March 6th. Where else can you see real Oscars, Emmys, Grammys, Olympic Gold Medals, and The White Sox World Series Trophy in one room?! We were even treated to lovely, golden harp music for the opening, without any attendant beanstalks or pesky giants.
This exhibit combines history, mystery, poetry and science, all centered around that magical mineral, gold. Kids can even step on a scale and find out what "worth your weight in gold" literally means.
The first people in the door were a lucky class of 5th graders from St. Paul-Our Lady of Vilna school in Pilsen, who have been studying gold. The Field Museum gave them all heavy, "gold" medals, and chocolate gold coins, and the kids were suitably impressed with the exhibit. It was quite fascinating, and we'll have a full feature up soon.
Tomorrow I'm going from gold to green, with a sneak peek at a new green Jewel that's opening on Southport in Lakeview. We'll also show you how to save some gold with Jewel's penny for a pot promotion. We made a great stir fry with their professional quality cookware the other day and have a fun photo shoot to share.
We want you to be part of the celebration when our 27th Annual Chicago International Children's Film Festival kicks off with an evening of family fun, fantastic food, and film, hosted by WTTW's Geoffrey Baer!
Come join us as we strap on our dancing shoes and pump up the volume with Radio Disney's Road Crew, then finish off the evening with some of the very best short films and feature previews from this year's Festival.
When?
Friday, October 22
6:00 p.m. Reception
7:15 p.m. Opening Remarks
7:45 p.m. Film Presentation
Where?
Thorne Auditorium
375 E. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL
(corner of Chicago & Lake Shore Drive)
Parking:
Available at garages around the auditorium
Films Screened: Log Jam: "KFG No. 5" (Hungary) 2 min. Ormie (Canada) 4 min. One Shoe Blues (USA) 5 min. Mobile (Germany) 7 min. El Tux (USA) 7 min. The Little Boy and the Beast (Germany) 7 min. The Lost Thing (Australia) 15 min.
Plus trailers from some of the Festival's feature films! Running Time: 60 minutes
Great Children's Films from all over the world are screening at Facets Multimedia and a number of other venues over the next two weekends for the public and for school groups during the week. Check their web site HERE for show times, locations, prices and age guidelines. We'll be volunteering at the box office this Saturday and next Sunday, so say hey on your way in or out. Reservations and early arrival highly recommended. These shows tend to sell out!
We want you to be part of the celebration when our 27th Annual 