I love this museum. While it is a little older than the dupage museum, there's so much for kids to do. My boys stayed here for about 4 hours on the first visit and this has become a monthly affair. Staff are so friendly. Various areas that were of interest to my 4 year old Twins. read more

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Very nice place for kids. My daughter's aged 4 years and 6 months came here on a Friday afternoon. Lots and lots and lots of children, which is understandable, but at some point you have to reach a limit. My 4 year old loved everything and didn't want to leave. The cashier, VAmparano, was not the friendliest, but she wasn't rude, maybe she was tired of all the kids. The young lady who stamped our hands, she was smiling from ear to ear from the moment we walked in the museum. If you show your WIC card or EBT you get a discount, it cost is $6 total. I believe children 12 months and younger are free. We will definitely be back read more

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Took my daughter here for her 7th birthday and having visited two others in the past, I have to say this was one of the most interactive of all of them. So many opportunities to have her mind active and thinking, playing, trying new things and pretending that she was an adult. read more

Children's Museum - Children's Museums Near Me - Oak Lawn, Illinois

I took my daughter to the children's museum today. It was there reopening day since the rise of COVID. I just wanted to take this time out to recognize the staff, and owner for there INCREDIBLE customer service and hard work to keep everyone safe during these times. Literally the staff was working non-stop to sanitize and to assist with questions. I was truly impressed! The owner greeted my daughter and I when we first came in with such a warm welcome and throughout our time there he was walking around and talking to everyone! He was so nice and friendly. My daughter will be two next month and she absolutely loved this museum. So much fun stuff to keep the little ones so busy and entertained. My daughter did not want to leave. Lol We will be back for sure! read more

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We were looking for something fun to do for our 2-year-old and decided to make the trek out here. Parking is in the garage across from the plaza where the museum is located, and at least for now you can park anywhere during the weekend. I believe it was $9 per ticket, and they do charge for adults, so the total bill can seem a little pricey considering only the child is playing. However, our son had a solid 90 minutes of fun. There's not too much downstairs, but the upstairs has a ton of stuff to explore. This place is suitable for toddlers, and a nice escape from screens. We had a great time here, and the workers were very friendly. read more

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It's ok. They use to have better exhibits. There's no discount for children with special needs, like other children museums

Truly a hidden gem on the Southside....located 15 minutes outside the City. My son loved every moment of his time in the museum and didn't want to leave. We will definitely return. Oh and the ice cream shop two stores down was AMAZING TOO! Everything in one spot...we loved it! read more

Zero rating was not an option, the people that work there should be fired immediately! We had a party there, the employees were so rude and manager was no better! I can't even begin to tell you, all the problems that we had and we spent big money. The museum itself is absolutely adorable, and the people that donated & created that museum, I'm sure they would be sooo disappointed to know, the people that are employed are absolutely awful, rude & totally unprofessional. It was such a hot day, I asked if they could put my cake in the refrigerator, they said absolutely NOT, but they would put it in the refrigerator for $10 a minute. That is only one example of the disgusting behavior, they showed us. read more

Great museum for young kids. I have two toddlers, ages 2 and 4 who both love it. I would however say that some of the toys look a bit old and outdated. Maybe time for an upgrade here and there but then again the kids didn't seam to mind. read more

Let's see...my kids get to come here to play with sand, water, paint, play food, costumes and every other thing that they love to play with while MY house stays clean...yup, that is a 5 star review. Throw in the fact that they learn while they play, nap for an hour (or two) after they get home and we get to bring in our own lunch from home? Yup, most definitely a 5 star review! My kids are 7, 3 and 1 and there is something here to keep them all occupied. Is the place huge? No, it's big enough to offer a ton of different activities but not too big to where you have to worry about losing your kids. There are two floors which offer different types of activities. The upstairs has a lot more "pretend" play exhibits like an adorable campground tree house with slides, a pretend grocery store, pretend cafe with real kitchen equipment, a stage with tons of costumes, a place where kids can play vet, even a pretend mini ambulance kids can go inside. There is also a gated little area in the middle with a mini playground and lots of soft toys and blocks that make it a perfect area for small toddlers. I know there are some exhibits where you can dress up like a fireman, build stuff with tools etc...but I have 3 girls...they tend not to play with those too much so unfortunately can't recall all of the "manly" exhibits. They do exist though! The downstairs has a giant watertable complete with cute little raincoats so they don't get wet, a sandtable with all types of little toys and gadgets that will keep your kids occupied for longer then you want to stand in one spot, and lots of different little areas where kids can experiment with everything from putting scarves in a giant wind tunnel tube to launching golfballs down a giant slide. They have all sorts of posters up which explain a scientific lesson behind each of the little experiments...but I will have to wait until my one year old is a little less well, crazy, to actually be able to stop and read about those with the kids. They certainly have fun doing all the little experiments anyways. I really love the layout on both floors because my oldest is all about making arts and crafts in the art studio, while my youngest is all about pushing the grocery carts around in the grocery store and my middle child...well she runs around like a madwoman and spends about 2 minutes in every exhibit. I don't feel overwhelmed trying to keep track of my older 2 while i'm busy being like white on rice with my one-year-old, it's a safe environment for them to play and explore in. For $7 each in admission, free parking and the ability to bring your own lunch..it's definitely a good value. They have very reasonably priced memberships too...$95 for your entire household for a year or $125 gets you admission for your whole family and a caretaker, plus 50% off at other children's museums. Highly recommend! read more

Children's Museum - My kids loved the water table - Children's Museums Near Me - Oak Lawn, Illinois

I was a fan of this Children's Museum. My friend and I took her daughter who is just over 1 to the museum. Children under 1 are free and we asked if we could get her in for free since she was just one month over 1 and it seemed ridiculous to pay $8 for her. It didn't upset me so much they said no (she WAS over 1), it upset me how they said it. The lady at the front desk was kind of rude and being at a Children's Museum you would think they would hire peppy, happy people to work there. Oh well, it was the only down side of our trip. There are tons of things to do at the museum without being overwhelming. I went with a one year old so her experiences were kind of limited. She absolutely loved the golf balls you can send down a huge slide. Plus she loved the huge slide she could go down. She also enjoyed playing the water. They even provided little smocks for them so they don't get wet. What a great idea! They had an ambulance and police car. She enjoyed making the lights go on both of them. What is really neat, is the person in the cop car and press a button and what they say is transmitted into the ambulance. So, whoever is in the ambulance upstairs can have a conversation with the person downstairs in the cop car. There is also a shopping center, a puppet theater, and a little vet area. All ways for kids to explore their imagination. They had a area that seemed designed for just tots. Young children were there and they had toys younger children typically would play with. This is nice because many of the activities were geared toward older kids or there were a bunch of older kids running around, so the toddler couldn't really enjoy it as much or it caused a dangerous situation. The tots area where just for tots, so they could run around without needing to worry about being run over by an older child. This museum truly caters to everyone! read more

Children's Museum - Cool play area for the tots - Children's Museums Near Me - Oak Lawn, Illinois

An adventure for smaller children! The play-based education model allows children to explore so much and learn at the same time. From building and baking to crafting and crawling, and diving deep into outer space and one's imagination, we enjoyed nearly two hours of play, and could have stayed longer pre-pandemic. Well worth a membership if you have non-teenage children. Depending on personality, I don't know if this would be as enjoyable for a child over age 10. And as a (grand)parent, if you need read more

Nice and clean. I went during the day around 11am. There was only 2 other families there. My daughter was 11 months at the time. The play area for the infants is upstairs. It was clean and all toys were put away. I love the baby chick I will be back when my daughter start walking. read more

Need to fix all the broken exhibits.. all the assessor use are pretty much gone and no updates at all looking very used and abused from original read more

I took my niece to this museum. She loved it! They have a lot of interactive exhibits for the kids. You can spend all day there! We will return again. read more

This place was amazing my son lovvvveeeeed it and for $9 it was great! I'll def come back.

I live here at least once a week. We have had a membership since our son Isaac has been 1 yr old. He's now 2 and 1/2 and we owe allot of the learning to this place and the ever changing scenery that Isaac loves here. Great times and allot of diversity make for great learning environment for kids of all ethnicities and backgrounds. read more

Children's Museum - Children's Museums Near Me - Oak Lawn, Illinois

I have been here few times but never encountered anything like this. It was 9:30 in a morning just when they opened I had my membership pess about to be scanned when my son started to walk towards the balls only few steps away from me. He was right away stopped by a employee Tim who said he won't let him in because my son isnt watched.i told him I'm right here. And he would t let him in. I said it's ok he can go and he said no. I asked to speak w his menager Jessica who told me kids can't come in without being supervised although I was right there. It was rediculous and very unprofessional. Really crazy!!!! I felt as they ganged up on me and made me feel crazy. We will not be back. I wish they were other parents there. read more

We had the opportunity to visit this museum while visiting my friend Laura, a fellow Yelper and her little one. It is fairly new, and the exhibits were in great condition and clean. Though this location is small, I would have to say that I really enjoyed and preferred that. It is not crowded, and it is not as overwhelming as some of the others. We were able to truly experience, explore and learn without feeling too rushed. read more

Great place. Two floors of fun for kids 8-ish and under. They even let you (adults or kids) bring snacks and eat in a little cafe section by the windows. I'd recommend the membership. It's worth it, especially in the winter, if you're close enough to let the kids come here to burn off some steam. And the membership gives you up to four free passes at certain other kids' museums, including the giant Chicago Children's Museum at Navy Pier. Unfortunately the cool little campfire section which my kids LOVED is apparently being turned into a 9/11 memorial with World Trade Center beams-turned-artwork? I don't know, it's fantastic to spread education and 'never forget' but I can't help but feel a bit dismayed that a perfectly good piece of the museum is being replaced by something that isn't really going to excite or stimulate kids. And there's already WTC artwork right outside at the Metra station. read more

My little guy had the time of his life! All summer I have wanted to visit and we finally got the chance. I really liked how they have a little closed in area for the toddlers. If not for this I probably wouldn't have been that happy with this place as much. It was very crowded with a lot of big kids. It would be nice if they had a time frame for maybe the 3 and under little ones. That way they can rip and run, and the parents won't get worried about them getting trampled by a 8 year old. Overall, the museum is nice with plenty to see and do. The staff was helpful and friendly. read more

I really enjoy visiting this museum so much so that I had my son's birthday there. They have increased some of the activities to include a builder's section (they actually get to nail and screw things in a piece of wood--with parent supervision of course), indoor playground, and more. Children can pretend to me a surgeon, veterinarian, go supermarket shopping, play in water, play in sand, climb a tree house, go camping, play dress up and act on a stage and so much much more. Usually my son will play in two to three sections for almost two hours and then we will go home. It will be make his day and he gets home tired (yeah!). Most of his the kids at this birthday party passed out in their car or at home so that tells you how involved they get at this museum. And like Amaliya said, it's super clean and new. It's worth coming to visit. read more

Super cute little kid's museum, and a great way to entertain your kid for a few hours. I would say this place is perfect for children no older than 6, 7 tops. There are two levels to this place. The first has a tiny little gift area with lots of Melissa & Doug stuff and next to that are assorted "courses" for golf balls. There are also two little play stations, one for water and one for sand. Upstairs is a lot of fun. Our favorite was the little grocery store where the kids could play fill up their cart and check out. There are a few different play stations, like an adorable camping area with sleeping bags and a play fire, a large collection of wooden train set, and blocks for building among others. There was also a cute little play animal hospital and an area for art projects. The highlight for us though was the large fiberglass cow that squirted milk (water) when you squeezed her udder. We also noticed a little girl from a school group drinking out of the udder. Eww. I don't know what the price was since we had library passes, but this place was totally cute enough to go back again! read more

well maintained, lots of activities, plenty of available attendants. didn't give 5 stars because i've been to bigger and more engaging children's museums; but this is definitely great read more

Perfect place to go with kids ages 6 and under. They even have a little area on the 2nd floor (right smack dab in the middle) for crawlers and infants. The first floor was small, but lots of cool golf ball tracks and a water station. The 2nd floor had a market, sandwich shop, dress up theatre, wood building station, an arts area, and a few other things. my kids loved it. Other than parents yelling at their kids, it was a solid 3 hours with a 3 and 1 year old. I've been to better ones (Rockford and Indianapolis) and I've been to worse ones (Frankfort and Naperville). read more

This is LEAPS and BOUNDS better than the old children's museum Oak Lawn had. It is AMAZING for lack of a better word. I went with my nephew, sister, cousin and her child. Both kids were 2 and FULL of energy and this place had soo much for them to enjoy. The activities are great for kids 1-10 (and adults who like to relive their childhood). It was clean and well organized. A few of the MANY activities... *water table *sand table *ball maze type things *art area * veterinarian area * Dr. office *building station where you can use hammer, nails, ect to make stuff (note: this area is not always open but requires staff) *blocks *camping area *Musical tree house *Dress up theater *Grocery store *restaurant *cow milking station *Small toddler play area That enough to keep your kids entertained?? They also have an area where you can go have snacks!! read more

For as crowded as this museum was, I am shocked there aren't more reviews! I, by no means, claim to be an avid fan of children's museums, but I was perfectly satisfied by this one! We visited my cousin and her two very energetic boys and they took us to the Oak Lawn museum. I think it is safe to say that the along with my 4 and 2 year old cousins, my husband and I, both in our late 20s, had a blast! I thoroughly enjoyed exploring, learning and watching the kids play. The museum is plenty large enough to have a ton to do, but not so huge that you will lose your child the second you turn around (it might take 3-4 seconds for that to happen). From the water room where you can learn how water pressure moves an object and splash to your heart's content to a mini Potbelly sandwich store, there are activities to entertain the youngest kids to the oldest, or adults who are kids at heart. Its well worth the drive from the city, and the mall that you pass driving in also offers stores and restaurants with a variety of options. read more

We love the Children's Museum! The kids get to have fun exploring in a clean and safe environment. They have a water station where the kids can "fish", a sand station, arts and crafts, a mini grocery store, and lots more! We're so happy to have a great place like this so close to home. Great for kids of all ages! read more

Children's Museum - Play area for the extra tiny little ones - Children's Museums Near Me - Oak Lawn, Illinois

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Thank you to the staff for helping me celebrate my sons 5th birthday. All the kids had a blast! You'll have some returning families :)

I went to the children's museum with my two children (one with special needs) and they rejected my groupon. I could not comply with their specifications because they had no Wi Fi. I traveled a few blocks to the library and returned with my credit card info and order number (I have done this in the past using groupons) and they rejected me and my children again. I like to support non profits and this is the first time I have ever offered a non profit money and they rejected it. While my wife struggled with my special needs child and my other young child during the ordeal the workers guarded the entrance (as if we might physically force our way through) instead of assisting my wife with the children. read more

Pretty cool place to come and let the kiddies play and explore. Plenty of stuff for kids to do. Water table, water painting, shopping, sand table, they even have a puppet show/costume area and they have little police, firefighter, etc clothing for them to wear and pretend in the cars and tons more. There is a snack area on the second floor and tiny area in the corner for people to sit in and watch their kids. Most kids were well behaved. Bathroom - Use the first floor as there is about 3 or 4 stalls and it's clean. Second floor is single use, but smells like poop....don't say I didn't warn you. Parking was a bit confusing at first. We thought were suppose to park out front, but you drive through to the other side to the parking garage and parking is on the roof. read more

I love this place, we purchased a membership today after a couple visits. $125 for (all family) child and their parents, an additional caregiver. They have a thing going on with the Frankfort Children's Museum, so right now admission there is free with a membership, too. The other ACM children's museums have a 50% off admission price. There are other perks like 10% off museum merchandise, party rentals, etc. With myself, my son, mom and aunt, we would have paid $30 for admission. Just over 4 visits pays for the membership, and I know we'll definitely be spending lots of time there now that it's winter time! The only annoying aspect is the parking. The spots are 30 minute spots so you have to park on the 5th floor of the tower across the street(free). Other than that, not one bad word to say! The staff are lovely, friendly. They have so many cool little exhibits. It does get crowded, but I've never felt like we were tripping over each other. We don't have too much in the way of things like this in the midway area. Before, we used to go up north to the indoor play places. Too much traveling and way too crowded! I love this little spot. read more

This place is just OK. They have a lot of fun things for kids to do but cleanliness and sanitizing does not seem like a priority. Pretty pricey too. The employees were very blah - not one of them made an effort to be friendly at all. read more

My son loves going to the Children's Museum. It's really nice having a place nearby to bring my son to play and learn. Two negatives are the price that adults have to pay and that it gets really crowded when there are school groups/field trips. read more

Took my daughter here and she had a great time. The staff working there looked really unhappy and bothered except for maybe 2. When I was paying my way in, the woman didn't even really make eye contact with me. You could tell she was ready to go. I understand working around children can be a headache but I got there at 10:30, they open at 9:30 they should've been a bit more energetic. The reviews I read are accurate, the toys are outdated and appeared to be old. The paint was fading BUT who cares the kids still play with them and have fun. I went on Wednesday morning and it wasn't busy at all which was perfect for me, the place isn't that big to have crowds of people walking around. This place is old, I would recommend this place for children ages 1-4 years old. It's just a place for children to come and play... which is perfect for me. If you want more of an "experience" for your children I'd recommend DuPage Children's Museum or Chicago Children's Museum. The kids will have a good time regardless of how old or new the equipment is, but there are some children who care and pay attention to how new things are... if you have one of those kids I wouldn't recommend this place. I'll take my daughter here just so she can play and interact with other children. They have a sitting areas for arts and crafts, snack time, and just seats for the parents to sit and watch their kids play which was great because I'm pregnant and need to sit down, a lot of the parents were standing the whole time. I'll definitely visit again, I mean I live right down the street so why not? Plus I have a military I.D. The only thing that matters to me is that my child was in a safe environment and had a lot of fun, which she did. If she's happy then I'm happy. read more

What a wonderful Childrens museum they have in Oak Lawn. A place you can spend quality time with your children while playing and learning at the same time. They have many things to keep the kids occupied. They even have a section for 9-11 read more

My children love coming here! We come a few times a month since there's so much to do to keep my boys busy! Water tables, slides, sandboxes, a grocery store, a stage for acting, a fire engine and ambulance, books galore! Such a great place for all kids to laugh and play! read more

Great place for children to learn through playing. Fun and exciting place. My grandchildren love the museum. read more

Children's Museum - Even my youngest grandson LOVES The Children's Museum in Oak Lawn!!! - Children's Museums Near Me - Oak Lawn, Illinois

It was ok for a 7year old. I think this might be the last time as there weren't that many things geared towards his age. It was somewhat outdated in some areas too. Not well taken care of it seems. I had issues with the front desk staff being unprofessional. Will we go back ? Probably not. Would we recommend to others? No. There are better museums out there for example the Dupage children's museum. read more

We are so happy that the Children's Museum opened in their new location!! It is great and much needed in the area. They have always provided a wonderful learning environment but their old space was so tiny it was hard to spend any time there. This new location is perfect. The first floor has lots of interactive, educational activities that the kids can do by themselves or with their parents. The second floor is more playtime with a vets office, play grocery store, dress up dance studio, painting room, a small "camping" area, and even a little tree house with all kinds of musical instruments. We really like take our daughter here and interacting with her as she explores. read more