The kids classes are so well curated and every artist gets a finished piece! My oldest just started…read morethe wheel throwing class after dozens of hand building classes and she loves both so much. What a treat to have such a wonderful studio that provides such a genuine art experience with ceramics. Highly recommended.

Terrific place that does such a great job with kids parties and classes. Owners are super nice and…read moreresponsive.

Talk about igniting my child's desire to learn, explore, and grow in STEM! You absolutely see what…read moreyou are paying for each day when your child comes home full of new ideas and doesn't stop talking about them until you put her to bed. We have been going to KSL on and off for about two years and this summer we enrolled our daughter in a 3 week camp. Each week a new topic was covered: dinosaurs v. animals, engineering, and astronauts/space. I can attest that each day was packed with experiments and builds that made science accessible. 1. Teachers and staff are kind, attentive, and educated. KSL is creative about learning and definitely provides a hands on experience. The teachers & staff show patience with the children and a passion for what they are exploring/teaching each day. This is definitely a differentiator from other camps we've attended/researched. Every person I encountered at KSL knew my child by name and was by my standards professional & helpful. 2. The quality of the subject matter & builds is unlike any other place we've taken our daughter. It feels like the curriculum is designed to allow kids to ask questions and learn through hands on projects, reading, and experiments - (these are the things your child will not stop talking about for days...) 3. The materials used in these projects is so inventive. This year my daughter built a Mars Rover model that is truly better than anything I could have constructed... and she's 5! Each day I was impressed with the magnitude of engineering and creativity used in the projects that came home... yes there's still goo and snake venom but the fact that my daughter could talk about what snake venom does to blood blew me away... she took an understanding away from the cool experiments - it's wasn't just about making something slimy or gooey. 4. Location: KSL has parking in the Whole Foods North Ave. parking garage. This is an awesome thing for anyone toting around a second child (like me.) It's truly an easy in and out and their building is very secure. I never left my daughter feeling concerned or worried about her safety. Honestly, if you child has any spark for creativity (which I think they all do) try out a Saturday drop-in class. I think they sell packs so that you don't have to commit to being there every weekend if your schedule is nuts. It's an experience you won't find anywhere else. Last, but not least, here's the true testament to how great this place is: We commuted from Jefferson Park (Foster Ave.) to KSL on I-90 during rush hour for 3 weeks... yeah, it's that good.

Mr Shegan is AWESOME! His way of handling stressed parent minutes before the big show, his way of…read moreengaging kids VIRTUALLY during the shows, my kid and her friends had a great time celebrating my daughter's birthday virtually. Mr Shegan called the day before to walk me through what would happened, so I appreciated the walk-through and gave me a level of comfort despite the backoffice chaos i experienced the last couple weeks. What's really dampening the supposingly-stress-free experience is the back-office arrangement. Some of the highlights below - So the zoom info was given to me when I booked the party back in May. I called a few times to confirm the zoom info a couple weeks prior to the party to make sure what I had on the invite was still correct. What really caused me a bit anxiety is that when they did "confirm" the zoom info with me over on email, the info sent over contains a couple other kids names and one of their party information. Granted nothing really personal was shared, but this made me wonder how they handles guest information in general. The day of the party, apparently, the guests and I were in a different zoom room from Mr Shegan's, the "registration" page we were sent to had a different party date/time options to pick from, which confused a lot of us. Many parents were texting me just few mins before the party while I was confused myself, and not sure what happened since it was slightly different from what Mr Shegan told me the day before. I think there's a change of personnel post-sales coz I couldn't reach the person who I contacted during the sales to confirm all the logistics. Everytime I contacted KSL, I reached the voicemail, emails were unanswered. Granted they did call you back rather quickly. But that's kinda annoying and added extra layer of stress to a planner like me. And suburb buyers be aware - if you want virtual party, kits pick up time is 9-4 in LP. During sales time, the lady told me that they could arrange weekend pickup given I live in the burbs and DO work regular 9-5. But obviously, this didn't happen. We had to make an arrangement for a quick trip to the city. All in all, the experience was 5+ star DURING the party time, but it was less than desired during the planning phase post-sales. Mr Shegan is def. the saving grace.

We've done camps and many birthdays here and it's always for the kids. The staff all truly love…read moreworking with kids and it shows. We did the camp for the first time this year and they did some really fun but educational stuffy son loved. We'll try the other themes for camp next year for sure. Also there's a coffee shop in the same building where you can get your caffeine and a pastry without leaving the building.

Both my children have enjoyed KSL for years. Great interactive programming. This summer, however,…read moreI messed up and registered the wrong kid. KSL went above and beyond to work through the logistics. We could have managed alternate childcare for our 6-year-old, but it would have been difficult to soothe his crushed soul. Thank you, KSL!

CircEsteem was once a wonderful organization and has great potential, but that is unfortunately…read morecompletely wasted now due to terrible mismanagement. The teaching staff is amazing, talented, kind and knowledgable. However, those at the top of the administration have demonstrated a complete disregard for the working conditions of the entire staff, and pay themselves a very generous salary but constantly ask their employees to make sacrifices. As a result, the staff is constantly overworked, underpaid and underappreciated for their dedication. The turn-over rate of employees over the past several years has grown incredibly high and is a clear indication of the lack of professionalism and respect shown by upper management. Directors have frequently disregarded safety standards and repeatedly ignored the very reasonable concerns brought forward by staff and students. They also actively discourage whistleblowers from raising awareness on safety issues. This naturally creates a dangerous environment for students. For an organization who's core mission statement is to build self-Esteem, they do an incredible job of destroying the esteem of staff, and blatantly demand silence and compliance, and aggressively bully employees rather than making any effort to find understanding or compromise. This type of upper management class division, discrimination and subjugation has happened before with other nonprofit organizations, which inevitably resulted in strikes and petitions that were widely reported on the news. It is a shame that they would choose to risk this and strongarm employees into submission and lay off those who try to stand up for their rights, rather than have civil discourse. When more than half of the staff is extremely unhappy, and those that attempt to raise awareness of any concerns are fired or pushed out, that is a problem that requires consideration on how to restructure and they have taken zero steps to do so and have shown no accountability. I strongly encourage CircEsteem teachers to strike and unionize as soon as possible, or this trend of exploitation will only continue to worsen. The Executive Director also needs to resign, as it is blatantly evident that he is not qualified for the position and is clearly not upholding CircEsteem's mission of mutual respect, humility, patience, love and self-reflection. Bottomline - do not work for CircEsteem, and consider other options for circus arts.

I gave my daughter several options for her 10th birthday party venues and luckily she chose…read moreCircEsteem. I have to say that they certainly made a bunch of kids, and especially my daughter / hero, very happy. The CircEsteem staff totally rocked, from Scott's quick and continued communication leading up to the event to the engaged, happy, and involved staff during the event, and kind communication afterwards to ensure our happiness. Everyone was upbeat, fun, helpful, and excellent. We knew it would be good when one of the kids walked in, looked around and said, "I can tell this is going to be a great party!" She was right. I also have to give a shout out to the face painter and balloon guy. They were tremendous! I've never seen a balloon artist that talented. And one of the kids said re the face painter: "she's a professional make-up artist! Well it's all downhill for me from now on." I wish I were more fluent in 10-year-old, but clearly she somehow meant that as an "epic" compliment. It was great getting the kids together to actually learn some new fun skills, be active, and have fun, even while wearing masks. Where else can kids get on a trapeze, aerial silks, walk on stilts, and act like a clown, all while getting their faces painted and having incredible whimsical balloons twisted for them? I could go on and on about how excellent this was, but let's just say that it was certainly a party that my daughter and her friends will remember. Thanks CircEsteem!!

I discovered Stages a few years ago (pre COVID) and my child fell in love with the Preschool Prep…read moreclasses almost immediately. Over the 5 years since we have done numerous camps, day off school sessions, and the spring musicals BUT recently I got to fall back in love with Stages when I attended a Broadway Baby class with a friends toddler. It was so fun, so relaxed and the kids (and me!) had a blast. We went thru an abbreviated telling of a musical (Lion King, but each week is something new) with stories, movement, songs, instruments and BUBBLES! I wish this existed when my kids were this age. Definitely recommend trying a class!

I've been following Emily & her incredibly talented team on social for awhile now and in awe of all…read moreher themed broadway musical classes. When it was time to plan my son's 4 year old bday bash I reached out to see if we could something work for his chosen theme: superheroes! It turned out they did have an interactive performance party with superheroes and so we booked it right away! All I needed was to find an empty room to host it and I booked the JCC for just that. Emily was super responsive throughout the party planning process and followed up closer to the party for a final count so she knew how many performers to line up. We ended up having 2 performers (Batman and Wonder Woman) for 25ish kids, which was perfect. I've hired many characters for many parties and these two were by far the most talented. Batman (Colin) and Wonder Woman (blanking on her name, which is too bad since she was incredible) had the kids totally engaged, which is not easy when it comes to a large group of 3 and 4 year olds. They had them dancing, singing, jumping and even gave them each a chance to pose for a pic with them. They also weren't completely masked like many other characters so the kids didn't find them scary. Superheroes is just one of the many themed parties Stages offers. Others I"ve considered in the past were a lion king party (perfect for toddlers/pre-schoolers). They even offer a pop star party where performers come and pretend to be the team behind a specific pop star (Taylor Swift, Jojo Siwa, etc) - and teach the kids how to become the next pop star. So fun! I highly recommend using Stages for an upcoming party and I hope to sign up my kiddos for one of their classes one day.

When you want a vendor who makes party planning painless and festive, Chicago Balloon Twister…read moredelivers! From first contact through the big day, the entire experience was seamless and stress-free: * Communication & Planning - Michelle was terrific from start to finish: quick responses, clear menu of options, and thoughtful suggestions to match our vision and budget. * Booking Process - Straightforward online deposit, contract, and details--everything handled smoothly without back-and-forth hassle. * Set-Up & Design - Walking into the venue as she finished was a "wow" moment. The balloon décor looked exactly as pictured--actually better. * Professionalism - Friendly, efficient, and clearly experienced. Arrived on time, worked quickly, and left the space picture-perfect. * Value - décor isn't the cheapest category, but for the quality, customization, and zero stress, pricing felt very reasonable. All in all, Chicago Balloon Twister exceeded expectations and helped make our kid's first birthday look festive without me stressing over decorations or dragging baloons across town. Highly recommended for anyone who wants professional, polished, and fun balloon décor for a special occasion.

awesome balloon creations!…read more we used michelle's services for our kids paw patrol party and it was a big hit with her! she still talks about her awesome balloons! communication was super easy and i never had a problem getting in touch with michelle. i just sent her a couple examples of the colors and what i liked and she was able to deliver spot on! on the day of the party, she came early to set up. i have absolutely no complaints, just all compliments for such a great product and smooth, easy set up.

Gina does excellent work! She went above and beyond for my wife's balloon arrangement by creating a…read moretheme and including extra items that played into theme. She also installed the balloons on our front fence during heavy winds and when a balloon or 2 flew away she had back ups ready. Well organized and executed at a good price. Thanks again!

Unbelievably easy to work with, prompt, professional, you name it. I didn't even know what I…read morewanted, but Gina just let me talk. She asked me about the person we're celebrating and knew exactly what to do. Everything is up and neighbors are already asking about Mini Me Jubilee! Update: The indoor balloons are still inflated after over a month!

For my son's 5th birthday party, Liga and Melissa did a tremendous job with their magic show. They…read morewere extremely professional, timely, and very responsive via email when I booked them. My son and his classmates (20+ kids) were absolutely delighted with the magic show! I would highly recommend hiring them.

I was looking for face painters and balloon artists for our block party and found Gonzo Group. I…read morewas particularly drawn by Melissa's bio and how she was afraid of clowns when she was younger but nowadays, she performs as a comedy clown. I had a great experience with Liga and Melissa. Great communication, very professional. The kids had a blast with their painted arms/faces and the balloons -- you should have seen the epic balloon sword fights. They were nothing but accommodating and would definitely book them again. Highly recommended!