Went to Dacoma daycamp in the 1960s and they taught me to swim, Archery, Arts and crafts, Softball,…read moreBoxing in a roped boxing ring on the campus, how to spot Poison ivy in wooded areas, also had an indoor and outdoor Dining area with picnic tables and bench seating, Offered certified Instructors that taught how to breathe while swimming in outdoor swimming pool, Also offered weekend sleepovers on Friday nights inside the dining room which they relocated the tables and bench seating to make room for the cushioned sleeping lounge bedding that accommodated approx 50 children to be together inside a controlled environment with Fans and adduquit ventilation Lotta memorable experiences I still remember to this very day and the daycamp is still open and located in Northbrook, Illinois it's 2026

The way this camp is managed is like MacGyver surviving in the wilderness. Everything is re-built…read moreby maintenance every year. NOT licensed contractors or verified companies that follow strict building regulations. The owners have done everything privately, undermining any IL regulations that stand in their way. The sicker issue is that you wouldn't have to work here to know all that. I've never been someplace as jury rigged as this. Most of the grounds were originally built by the original owner and his son along with their maintenance crew. Even the pool was built up of PVC pipes along with all the other plumbing. Id like to also mention that it's a known fact in the surrounding neighborhood community that the owner's have cut every corner possible to be as cheap as possible. Even the counselors are a blend of high school students along with undertrained adults who are supposed to take care of your kids. If that wasn't shady enough, they have their own people drive the buses too, not seasoned professional bus drivers. It's all dangerous, unsanitary, and unprofessional. Like seriously, painting over rust doesn't prevent rust either and this place is for kids. I'm sorry for any kid being told they were going to camp and got this instead, and on top of all that, to charge as much as they do to run a literal garbage heap, they could at least buy quality food for the kids. They are eating SISCO! That's prison quality food. The cheapest possible option. Once again the surrounding community knows Decoma and the family that owns it for this. That's why a vast majority of their kids that attend come from completely different neighborhoods, and for the price, your kids could attend an ACTUAL camp in IL or elsewhere and be assured their safety and well being under actual rules and regulations governed by law. You have been seriously warned.

My son Jack has been attending 5 or 6 years now, starting in 2nd grade. Simply put, the camp and…read moreits director Brad are incredible! Its hard to drop him off, I want to get out and participate in the activities.Where to begin...well first off its super well run by a well-trained friendly staff. They help with everything including applying sun screen at beginning of the day. Kids are assigned to a coach with same age kids, and let me tell you these coaches are hand-picked- super nice, love kids and know their sports. You can tell many of them play elite sports themselves. The camp is well programmed with different themes each week- basketball one week, Olympic week the next. Competitive but in good way. Lunch is really good- food kids like to eat like Popeye's chicken, pizza, and Fridays they grill hot dogs and hamburgers for the kids. Pickup and dropoff is fast and easy and location right off the highway- or there is bus pickup from many Northside locations. We moved to Park Ridge but Jack insisted he attend camp regardless (he met his best friend there) so Mom and Dad take turns driving him an hour each way sometimes (so worth it). They have a great photog who sends out super cool videos each week. Field trips to Cubs games and water parks. Its so great we usually sign him up for most of the the summer, and take advantage of the early bird pricing before January 1st each year. We cannot wait for the camp to start this summer, its hard to imagine a summer sports camp as good at this one. Its hard to summarize it all here but if anyone has questions, please call or text me at 773-805-9305 for honest straightforward info.

We've been part of the Hi-Five family for five years now, and this summer marks our second with…read moretheir incredible sports camp--and we couldn't be happier! From the moment you arrive, you feel the energy, the care, and the genuine love for kids that radiates from everyone, especially Danny. He's not just running a camp--he's building a community. Kind, accommodating, and endlessly thoughtful, Danny treats every camper like they're his own. It's rare to find someone so personally invested in making sure every child feels seen, supported, and celebrated. The camp itself is a dream for any sports-loving kid. Whether your child is trying something new or honing their skills, the coaches and staff create a fun, safe, and inclusive environment where confidence and friendships flourish. And for us parents who suffer from a little FOMO during the day--don't worry! The team does an amazing job capturing the magic and posting photos that truly reflect the joy and excitement of camp life. (Okay, maybe we wish there were even more pictures--but that's just because every moment looks so fun!) Hi-Five isn't just a camp--it's a place where kids grow, laugh, and make memories that last. We're so grateful to be part of it and can't wait for many more summers to come!

One of my grand-darlings had her birthday bash here and it was a ton of fun for all involved…read more  There are a bunch of ninja stations for the kiddos to burn up much of their energy before a birthday celebration meal.  They get 2 hours of supervised fun and it is broken up into 80 minutes of ninja stations and then 40 minutes birthday meal time.  My daughter arranged everything and I was just one of several parent/grandparent photographers/observers basically. Maggie was the welcoming receptionist and she provided a gift t-shirt to the birthday girl (part of the BD package) and got everyone signed in and made sure they had all of their waiver forms signed haha.  This place isn't cheap (ballpark $600 for the birthday package per the daughter) but it seems you get what you pay for - a clean and well maintained facility, a staffer to direct the kids' activities and help serve food, plenty of fun ninja activities to choose from, a private room (there are 2 of them) for the birthday meal, and pizza (by Viccino's, a local favorite anyway) and fruit provided from a local vendor, plates and utensils, and most importantly - a big and grand blast of a time for all the kiddo participants and us by-standers as well.  Apparently, you can also bring your own food in, but there is a healthy $25 per entree charge for doing so, and besides it's an additional hassle.  There is a downstairs and upstairs party room and both are nice and spacious.  One of my grand-darlings has been here several times as a birthday party guest, and she has always had a great time.  I didn't pay, but I still can say a big thumbs up for this place!

Had my kids birthday party here - and everyone had an amazing time. This place is great for all…read moreages, which I loved! The staff was phenomenal and went above and beyond with making sure everything went smoothly. HIGHLY recommend this place to host an event!

This was my first time at Taste Buds Kitchen in Bannockburn, IL. This was part of a team building…read moreexercise that my manager put together for a group of eight people. About a week or so before the event, we were given three options to select from for the menu we would be preparing, so we ended up with pasta. Taste Buds Kitchen is located in a mall, so I had some difficulty locating it, but finally saw it. We were split into teams of four and the meal we were prepping was fettuccini, spinach/ricotta ravioli and a marinara sauce. Our instructor was Lauren and she was very nice. There were two ladies assisting her as well, responsible for the clean-up and helping with the prep work. Lauren was great explaining all the steps as well as showing up the prep moves. I love fresh pasta but never thought about making it (and still won't do it at home), but I had no idea how easy it could be with the right tools. Making the dough was fun and interesting, with each of us taking turns kneading the dough in preparation to make the fettuccini and the spinach/ricotta ravioli. Making the fettuccini was such fun and so easy if you have the proper equipment. I really enjoyed putting the dough into the pasta roller to flatten it, then into the cutting attachment to make the pasta. We each got turns going through the process, so I can say that all of us made the pasta and sauce. The spinach/ricotta ravioli and a marinara sauce were also very easy to make. Marinara I have made at home before, but the recipe we used at Taste Buds added a twist by adding shredded carrots for sweetness. Not something I would have thought of, but it really worked. Making the spinach/ricotta ravioli was a hoot. The very first one was a hot mess, but I learned and moved on to make perfect restaurant quality looking ones (IMO). Because we did a morning 2-hour session, tea, water and lemonade were provided for us. What we prepared was delicious and a nice early lunch. Because Lauren and her crew had made dough in advance, there was plenty of pasta for eating and to take home. My only complaint (if there is one) is I would have loved that we had made more of the marinara because it was so good and I would have loved to have taken more home. Overall this was a wonderful experience and the staff was amazing, cleaning up behind us, setting the table, cooking the pasta and ravioli for us. I think this is something I would consider for my direct reports as a team building event.

What a wonderful experience! We did a chocolate summer cooking camp from 9-12. And it was so much…read morefun. They really made it exciting for the kids and we really enjoyed the treats after chocolate camp. We plan on returning next year. Thank you Taste Buds

This is possibly the most expensive day camp in the north shore. I tried to convince my son to just…read morego for half the summer to which he responded "but mom - I don't like banner day camp....i LOVE it." And this is a kid who I would have to force to attend basically all other camps so imo it's money well spent. My son (and many of his friends) seem to think this is so much more fun than any other camp they've attended. There's a lot of bells and whistles like water slides, trampball, a lake, dune buggies and a petting farm for younger kids etc. They also get to choose many of their own activities as they get older and my son absolutely loved spending his days playing basketball and participating in their sports league. For those more adventurous the adventure elective looks pretty fun too! It reminds me a lot of overnight camp, but they come home at the end of the day,which is ideal for those (like my son) who aren't ready to be away from home quite yet. I did think their daily communication paled in comparison to our last camp, but I think a lot depends on your unit leader. They have the unit leader call home every few weeks (or maybe even every week for the littles) to check in, which is amazing. It didn't seem like my unit leader knew my son that well and the call felt more like a formality, but by our last call I felt like she had a good grasp of my sons interests. We also didn't get many pictures, but I was told the other groups got way more so may have just they were getting to a more independent age. And since my son isn't little anymore and I see him daily I don't care too much about the pictures. I will say he absolutely loved his counselor and even received a letter from him in the mail, which he was so excited about. What I mostly care about is the BIG smile when he gets off the bus with so Banner gets 5 stars for that alone!

Working at Banner was the worst experience I've ever had. If you are not an outgoing popular…read moreperson, then don't bother working here. From day one, I felt like an outsider. I have never had issues making friends, but it is so cliquey here. If you don't fit a certain mold, you are essentially shunned. I continued for three summers, mostly because working with the kids was great, and I needed something on my resume, since I was in school to be a teacher. Besides that, management was the worst part of the job. I was pulled aside one day and essentially berated by management (a name that has been mentioned in many other reviews) for no apparent reason. I was told that at my age (I was 22) I should be a part of leadership by now, and that I was so behind my peers. I was then told that I would never be successful as a teacher because I was not a leader and I would get walked all over. When I started crying, I was asked why I was crying, basically insulting me for having emotions. This happened during the third week of camp, and I dreaded each day that followed. This was 15 years ago, and it's something I still think about regularly. It truly made me feel like I was worthless. I'm happy to report, however, that I have been teaching in a great district for the past 11 years, so their words couldn't be less true.

If you're looking for more indoor fun this winter this review is specifically for the treehouse. I…read morewas a bit worried about the crowd factor on a chilly Saturday morning but my twosome had the company of only q few other kids. At first look my daughter said "this is amazing!" And I thought "nice! $3 (per child) well spent." Main attractions for my children included a little playhouse (where they probably spent most of their time) and of course a huge ball pit. They technically don't allow kids under 3 in the ball pit but since there weren't many kids around didn't seem to mind my 2 yr old was there. Then again I understand the age requirement because having to recuse him from the balls over and over again proved to be annoying. Be sure to check their website* for their hours but they are typically open: Mon/Wed/Fri: 9:15-11am Tues/Thurs: 3-5pm Sat: 10am-12pm It's also a very popular and affordable spot for BDAY parties. * http://www.deerfieldparks.org/parks-facilities/jewett-park-community-center/tree-house/

We travel for play parks. For reals, people! Parks can get boring after a while. The same park over…read moreand over and over again. So when a friend put together a play date here, I cried out "Sign me up!" And boy we were not disappointed. The park actually has several sections to it -- two toddler/infant playgrounds that were gated. (We didn't spend any time here so I can't comment.) It has a baseball field and then the big playground, which is where we spent time. As a mom, I appreciated the picnic benches in the shade as well as clean (yes CLEAN) bathrooms. The playground was impressive. There were a huge merry-go-round with ropes you could climb up as well. It was pretty freaking cool! And you don't see those things that often anymore. Which makes me sad and makes me old all at the same time. But the killer was the slide/fort monstrosity that any kid would go ape over. You just gotta check out the photo for yourself. There are two incredibly long curly cue slides. My kids could have run up and slid down all day. But then the structure is made like a fort with a full deck at the top. And it's covered so no one gets sunburned. Kids banded together and before I knew it, there were about ten boys playing pirates. I felt like I was watching a rendition of Lord of the Flies but thankfully everyone survived. This park is worth a little drive to wear out the kids!

Enjoyed a workout at this local Y. Staff was friendly. Locker rooms were available. It did not…read moredisappoint! Thank you!

I am only rating the gym, locker room and customer service…read more 1. Customer service: from day one I have received great service. A warm welcome at the door every time, and always willing to help. I even forgot a hair tie once and a lady in the art room cut me some stretchy material and I made a pony tail holder. That was awesome. 2. Gym: they have a awesome lifting area. I do HITT workouts and there is plenty of room. Only problem I have is: no slam balls, and drinking fountain is no where to be found downstairs (bring water). 3. Locker room: clean, provide blow dryers. Only problem is showers. Takes a while for water to get hot, stalls too small with only a curtain that doesn't really cover you and you run into it when taking a shower which grosses me out. All in all I am happy, and would recommend you checking this gym out.

Can I be a kid again?! Good Times has been all it claims to be and more. This Summer Camp packs…read moreinto the summer more than I could possibly cover myself. Not only do they hit every Chicago hot spot, from MLB games to Navy Pier, The WIllis Tower & Great America but they also hit the best north shore swimming pools & beaches two to three times a week. In addition, my kids get to be crafty, learn new sports and spend a summer making friends that will last for many more summers to come. This has been our first summer but will absolutely not be our last!

My kids, 10 and 12, have gone to this summer camp for years. They really enjoy going to camp, all…read morethe field trips and most of all hanging with their friends. They have had almost all super positive experiences with counselors, only 1 that was so-so in 6 or seven years. The field trips are great. Great America being the high-light - twice this year. Once for rides and once in water park. They also really like the sports aspect. My son talks about the basketball games at the end of the day as much as everything else. I also think the camp directors really care about the kids, and really want them to have a fun summer.