The Wilmette Community Recreation center houses 2 modern playgrounds, a preschool, tennis courts,…read morebaseball fields, state of the art gym facilities for adults and little ones, and a variety of indoor and outdoor extracurricular activities for all ages. The indoor facilities and the outdoor grounds are all very well maintained. The large playground was rebuilt last year and is one of the nicest ones in the North shore area. The small playground (which is part of the preschool) is fully fenced and has a splash pad that operates during the summer months. There is an outdoor walking path that loops around the entire Rec center and an indoor running path at the fitness center. There is also a state of the art gymnastics facility for toddlers to big kids. Overall, this is an excellent recreation center that is very well maintained and has just about everything. The only negative aspect of this center is that the playgrounds can get too crowded when all the kiddos from the preschool, summer camps, and enrichment programs all come out to play. Otherwise, very highly recommended.

One of the best parts about living in Wilmette is coming to this community recreation center run by…read morethe Wilmette Park District. Here they run a variety of activities for children as well as adults and seniors. Almost any activity you can think of including sports, fitness, dance, theater, gymnastic and art are offered here. They are always adding new things that are popular. My son just started a video game design class which is really up his alley. During holidays and throughout the year they put on special events for families to enjoy. They run a very good preschool which is one of the most affordable in the area, but make sure you book it early because it fills up fast. The quarterly book that they send to the residents is huge and nicely laid out with programs. You can register for classes with ease online or there. Not only that, but the staff are all very helpful. If there was ever a time when we were not completely satisfied or were suddenly unable to attend, we were refunded our money and never given a hard time. Anyone can sign up for the activities here, however it is just less expensive if you are a resident. What I love the most is the convenience of everything being in one location, so I'm not running all over the place. I also like how many options there are. We are always trying something new and fun. They put on the cutest theater productions and tickets are not expensive. The rec center has alot to offer so check it out for yourself!

GYMNASTICS BIRTHDAY PARTY My daughter had her 6th birthday…read moreparty here in 2007. It was great! Easy registration. Affordable. Received a phone call from the organizer the week before. They were very helpful and pleasant. They provide you with a big room to store coats, etc. and have food and cake. We had about 20 kids - almost an even number of boys and girls - and they split them up into two groups. The instructors were fun, organized, and somehow kept the kids in two lines doing all the gymnastics the whole time. The gymnastics equipment is clean. The huge gym is safe and cool - padded floors, lots of equipment, and a big foam-filled pit for the kids to jump into! All the kids had a lot of fun and my daughter loved it!

Fun place with accommodating staff. Great place for a kids party. Rooms are large enough for a…read moreparty of sixty or more.

The grand-darlings have attended gymnastics classes here for years and have always thoroughly…read moreenjoyed them. About 4 years ago, they also attended a dance class, but I noticed on my recent last visit to watch them, that the dance studios have all been removed, some remodeling done, and the whole facility is now oriented to gymnastics only. Attached are some recent photos of the remodeled sections. I don't really know anything about the administration of their programs, but the daughter is pretty happy about their program, the cost, and the girls' progress and enjoyment. Most sessions are filled months in advance, and there are waitlists for every level as their whole program is very popular. One complaint I have heard though is that when a kiddo gets promoted to the next level, they may still have to wait a few weeks or months to move up as there are no openings at the next level. They have a ton of staffers and if you want to be a junior gymnastics instructor, this place sure seems to draw a lot of them for what that's worth.

We love Viking! Such a great gymnastics school. My daughter has grown and gained confidence.read more

Went here for a birthday party and had a great time! My kids had fun and I became my younger self…read moretoo lol and enjoyed it!

I'm so glad we found The Gymnastics Shop. After wanting to take our three-year-old daughter to an…read moreopen gym for ages, we finally went a few months ago, and it was fantastic! The open gym hours from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM- which is unbeatable--most places don't offer this extended time. The facility is nice, and the staff is wonderful! A special shout-out to the friendly front desk member- she made us feel right at home. Our daughter had a blast running around on the equipment, including two tumble tracks, five trampolines, and a giant 40x40 area. They have a bunch of high beams and low beams, they have 4 sets of uneven parallel bars. Plus, the two vaulting runways and the rope to swing into the pit were a huge hit. In another room attached to big gym there is a baby gym. It's a smaller space with equipment designed just for little ones. It was perfect for our daughter to explore safely while still being part of the larger gym environment. We're excited to keep coming back to The Gym Shop for more fun and playtime! If you're looking for a great place for kids, this is it!

I jumped on the bar class bandwagon about 7-8 years ago when they were popping up all over the…read morecountry. I've seen them work a body wonders if you go consistently (3-5 times/week). I prefer a lot of cardio when it comes to my workouts and whenever I try Dailey Method my mind starts to wander and then I realize I'm not even doing the move correctly...and there goes my workout. When my nanny called in sick today I found myself wondering what I would do with my 2 year old for 5 hours until his sister was ready to be picked up at school. Friends mentioned they were taking their 2 year olds to the Dailey Method while they did a class so I figured I'd give it another shot. If the workout wasn't any good at least my son would have fun for an hour playing with the other kids. I haven't left him on his own very often so admittedly I was a bit nervous about it, but figured this would be good prep for camp this summer. I was so impressed with the kids club. It's a small room, but had everything my son would want to keep him entertained for an hour: trains, a kitchen & (yes) a TV. Elizabeth was the caretaker in the room and she was very warm and the kids took to her instantly. In fact, when I went to pick up my son an hour later he didn't want to go home and was giving Elizabeth hugs. Sooo if you're looking for somewhere to workout with good children THIS is it. The class itself was fine. It was a Dailey Basics class so easier than most. Debbie, the instructor, played great music, had complete control of the class and did her best to make sure we were all doing the moves correctly. I did find my mind wandering a lot during the class & feel like I didn't actually get a workout today, but that's based on my own preferences & not the class itself. If you like bar classes you would likely be a fan of Debbie's class. I was excited to see that they offer spinning here. That's one class I'd definitely be interested in trying since it combines cardio with body sculpting. So perhaps I"ll be back for that...and for my little one to visit his new friend & toys in the kids room.

They dont respond to their facebook questions. decent facilities, but Its a bit priceyread more

My daughter has special needs - high functioning autism but she is mainstreamed and works each and…read moreevery day on meeting social expectations. She's been playing tennis for years but can't do tennis camp at our club this summer because they're still closed. She joined a tennis camp at Racquet Club of Lake Bluff but got kicked out after one day. I've known the pro there for years and I reached out to give him a heads' up about my daughter. Anyone who knows her knows how amazing she's doing, how much she tries to please people and act typically. I watched her in her tennis camp the other day and was so proud and impressed with her play and behavior - nonstop tennis for 90 minutes and she completely went with the flow. The pro called me the next day telling me she was no longer welcome at the camp. I called the manager who confirmed that she "talks too much" and needs directions repeated (ex. don't touch the ball now because of Covid, push the balls towards the net, not the fence). He was inconvenienced by her being different and, rather than call me to ask for tips on how to address to chattiness, he kicked her out. The club manager supported this decision. I pulled my son out of the camp there even though he was really enjoying it because I can't support a business that discriminates and that teaches kids that it's ok to be intolerant of people who are different and that there is no room for them in our society..

The club has eight climate controlled indoor courts. There are wonderful programs for youth and…read moreadults. The staff are nice and helpful. The coaches are wonderfully talented and are a great help to develop your game. They also have a pro shop selling rackets, shoes, etc. I will only get my gear and restring rackets there. They are wonderful.

My son has been on the boys hip hop dance team going on his 7th year this year. This has been the…read moremost amazing experience. We have an incredible leadership team in our choreography and studio director. The communication for the team is amazing and we the team of boys has grown together over the past few years so much that it has led us to compete and win First Place of World of Dance and we have traveled to CA for the past 2 years. It has been an incredible experience and moving into our last year is very emotional to think we have to leave the studio when he graduates.

My granddaughter has danced at Soul2Sole since she was 11/2. She finally moved into the preschool…read moreprogram and has had a wonderful experience with the preschool team! They are warm and friendly, they have an amazing energy and work very hard for each child to have a positive experience. I couldn't be more pleased with them and Soul2Sole.

Noggin Buiders Summer Camp is absolutely terrible! First of all, the rooms are very tiny, messy,…read moredirty, and cramped, which is unexpected given how expensive the price for the summer camp is ($600 for a week! There are cheaper and better summer camps). Not only that, there camp is boring, unuseful, and they follow the material that another university provided for them, and all they did was supply the parts. The instructors are unprofessional (high schoolers at a STEM academy? what?), and it was the worst summer camp ever. The stuff is unengaging and the experience from both the parent and the kid is terrible. Don't come here!

LOVED The Escape Room created just for kids! Ever since I went to an Escape Room with my husband,…read morethe kids have been begging to go to one. I could never find one that was appropriate for my kids (ages 4,6 and 8). This one in Northbrook Court was absolutely brilliant because it's designed for kids and involves math and science. We had a blast, did it with one other family (ages 3,5,6) and were down to the wire in solving the mystery for Professor Quarkenstein. The kids loved it so much they can't wait to come back and do another one!