We had our son's 5th birthday party at Fit City Kids, and it was such an amazing experience! From…read morethe moment we arrived, the staff and manager went above and beyond to make everything stress-free. They even helped us unload everything from the car and decorate. They kept the party running smoothly by making announcements over the intercom to let everyone know when it was time to eat and when we were cutting the cake. It made the whole event so organized. My son had the best birthday, and all of our family and friends told us how much fun they had. The facility was very clean, and the staff were incredibly friendly, helpful, and attentive throughout the entire party. I highly recommend Fit City Kids to anyone looking for a fun, organized, and stress-free place to host a birthday party. Thank you for making our son's special day so memorabl

It has been super cold for the last week or so and a friend and I decided we needed to get our kids…read moreout so they could have fun and run wild. I've seen Fit City Kids, having lived fewer than two miles away, but this was our first visit and it was great. The entrance fee wasn't bad, especially since one can stay for the full open play time. They have several different areas for play. There is a basketball court area, a play soccer field, gymnastics space, and an indoor playground. There's also a small area that is specifically designed for children aged three and under, although we were told that kids can play in any section (except for the bounce house, which is for the private parties). Our one year olds mostly played in the soccer area, having fun just running around. There's one half of the place where you can wear shoes or not (the basketball/soccer areas) and then in the other half you may not wear shoes. There are one or more party rooms in the back of the facility. (I'm not sure if they overlap parties or not; there were four happening on the day we were here.) Food is not permitted in the facility except for in the party rooms or in the front "lobby" area. They have a few snacks for sale, and based upon the water I bought for my babe the prices don't seem ridiculous. I really appreciate that they don't appear to have any restrictions on bring your own snacks and water, just asking that you respect the areas in which you can eat them. They don't have a water fountain (unless I just wasn't looking in the right places) so bring your own drinks. One downside is that I found only one changing station in the entire place. Don't look for it in the women's room (or probably the men's room, either, I'd expect) but in the individual gender neutral bathroom. With the number of children who might be here at any time and the age ranges they welcome, I was really surprised to see just the one. On the other hand, it was an actual changing table rather than a station that is bolted into the wall and folds down, which always make me a little nervous. They also don't have much space for parents to sit. There are some tables in the "lobby" and a few benches outside the various play areas, but it might be difficult for someone who needs a chair/seat, or someone who's disabled, especially if they want to be closer to the activity areas and keep an eye on their children. Another thing they need to work on is the parking lot. Their parking lot is really large, especially for Lincoln Square--and it's free!--so that's all to the good. Ideally they'd have straight parking spaces since that allows for the most spots; the lot is a bit narrow, so they've opted for diagonal with a few straight. But they need to paint the lot! Driving through this lot was difficult because people parked like they've never parked before. We will definitely return. There are several indoor playgrounds around and I'd like to try the different ones that offer entrance to kids as young as mine in part so we can figure out which are our favorites. But after my experience here I imagine we may be purchasing a membership in the future.

If you haven't been here yet you should absolutely think about making this your next date night,…read moregirls night, parents night etc. it was so fun. It's BYOB and we did the mug making class. You mold your mug and paint it. They fire it for you and you get to bring home your own mug in the next week. They also offer courses of wheel throwing etc.

My daughter has been here for a days out camp and we have been here together for a family wheel…read morethrowing class. All the instructors are so nice but above everything it really feels like a "neighborhood" spot. Where in Chicago things can, at times, feel impersonal... it really feels like a community here. Recommend.

I drove by Itsy Bitsy a couple weeks before they opened, and I'm glad I saw them. I followed them…read moreon Instagram immediately because what they offer is REALLY useful--an indoor play space and co-working space. But they go beyond just the standard indoor playground; they offer care (play care, in their terminology) so your children are well cared for whilst you bring home the bacon. Their "playmakers" (it's whimsical; I love it) engage in fun and meaningful play and I love the idea that I could be nearby when my daughter is here but actually get work done. Because I was following their social media, I saw that Little Giggles Speech Therapy was holding a class called First Signs here, which is what has brought me to Itsy Bitsy for now. Itsy Bitsy's facilities are really nice and very clean. When you enter, you walk into the cafe area. There's a limited menu but for coffee drinkers you'll probably find something here! There are a few tables as well. To the right of the door is the co-working space with several desks ready for you to roll up your sleeves and get to work. On the left side of the building is the children's play space, and I think it's a smart way to design the place--it helps keep the distraction down. I'm not sure what the youngest age limit is for play care here. I met a woman who's purchased a membership here and her son is about seven months old; mine is only about four so she may be too little for the place, still. But I'm going to ask when I'm back next week for the signing class, because this is a great concept and I think it would be incredibly useful to be able to come here on my remote workdays and the rates are very reasonable. This business also offers open play times and you can rent for events, so it will be a place for me to keep in mind for birthday parties--though parking seems to be street only, and though at least some of the side streets around here don't appear to require a permit the parking is still limited. I'm just loving the concept of this business and really hope to use it more fully soon, and to see the community that builds here.

We held our daughter's second birthday party at Itsy Bitsy today and it was fantastic. It's a…read morewonderful space - very clean and organized while at the same time offering so many different activities for a group of kids. It's a bright and cheerful space. It's also very spacious - there's a large play area, a cafe in front where we were able to put food to adults, and a back room for the kids to eat lunch and have cake. The owner was great to work with.

This was terrific! Had our 6 year old's birthday party here. First they went over some rules and…read morestarted the pizza dough. Then they decorated their aprons, mixed cupcake batter, prepped the pizza dough and put on toppings. Finally they made the cupcake icing and decorated them and ate everything! Well run and the kids had a great time.

Chef Laura is great! Both of my kids (9 and 11) love coming here and have been for years. The…read moreweekly class is engaging and fun and the camps are perfect for school closure days and summer break!

I've been eagerly awaiting Bunny Ears' opening since I stumbled upon them at AppleFest in Lincoln…read moreSquare last year. Before they opened, they were doing pop-up events at markets, fairs, and festivals, and they had an activity in the children's area at AppleFest last year. They opened in the last month or so and today I finally was able to visit! On Fridays, they have a session called Fluffle Babies (did you know that a group of bunnies is called a fluffed? I didn't!) for children up to age one and their caregiver(s). My baby is less than a month from turning one so I needed to get in here quickly! It was a fun morning. The owner was our host, and she had selected a topic for us to all share about so that we had a starting place for conversation. We introduced ourselves and our little ones, and shared our perspective on the morning's discussion topic. Then she introduced the art play for the day, which this morning was edible paints where we used rice cereal with food dye to color the cereal. Jinny explained that it's helpful to teach children not to eat paint, even though this is edible, because when they start playing with tempura paints, acrylics, and so on they will not be edible. My little one stirred the "paint" a little, ate some, smashed her hands in it, and crawled around. It was a fun morning for her! There are several different stations and tables for kids to partake in their activities. I'll be this is a fantastic place to have a kids party! When you enter you'll take your shoes off and there's a partial wall with a door to keep children from scampering off once they enter the art space. There's a tinker bar, several sinks, a play area with magnetic tiles, a place for playing with water... there are so many possibilities for children to have fun and be creative. I attended one of the toddler classes and it was good, but perhaps a little advanced for my daughter; it was ages 1-5, and there's a huge difference in one year olds (which is my daughter) to five year olds. Given that, the fact that I live in one of the outer neighborhoods now (instead of five minutes away), and that the class is on a weekday so I can't miss work each week I am not sure I'll be able to continue the class. But we may stop in on an open play day or something. I love the concept of this place and am look forward to visiting again and continuing to learn some fun ways to encourage artistic creativity in my little one! They are good about safety. Once the class starts, they lock the door (ask me how I know--luckily the babe was inside with grandma in the event I was locked out the entire time!). They have some great options for parents with slightly older children, as they have offered drop-in play for Maifest and they have it for Square Roots, too. I love that they offer this for parents to have just a little free time while their kids are having a blast on their own. Parking is street only or the lot across from Old Town School if it's not in use/blocked.

We had a 4 year old birthday, everything went smoothly and was so much fun for the kids! They made…read morebracelets, painted the walls, built a fort, and celebrated! We brought snacks, cupcakes, and some table decorations, bunny ears did everything else. Thank you for a great time! Staff was friendly, helpful, and everything was efficient!

A true 10/10 experience! My two year old had a BLAST at the one hour tots class. He was able to…read morechop veggies, mix Rangoon filling, wash dishes and... EAT! It was a fast paced class to keep kids' interest, but everything was clear and perfectly tailored to toddlers. As a former early childhood teacher myself, I was highly impressed! I'm sad to know their brick and mortar is closing at the beginning of next month because I want to sign my son up for a thousand more classes! If you can squeeze in a class while they're still open, it's absolutely worth the money!

My brother and sister in law sweetly got me a gift certificate for classes here for my birthday…read more Their thought was I could use it for virtual cooking classes with my 10 year old son. I reached out initially to them via email and Kallie replied since they hadn't posted their fall schedule mid summer but she promised to email me as soon as they released. A month later she sweetly sent me an email notifying me (I was impressed she remembered!). Unfortunately being west coast based, the live class times were too early for us on weekends and my son wasn't keen on an on demand class. I wasn't too sure what to do with the gift certificate and Kallie explained that although their focus isn't on retail sales there were some items they stock and she sweetly took pictures and my gift certificate was able to cover some lovely items (including recipe cards for my son's gluten free diet). I was so impressed how Kallie went so above and beyond that if we were living in Chicago would be frequenting this spot often given their exemplary level of customer service.

I hired Lyfe of the Party to help plan and coordinate my twins first birthday party and it is hands…read moredown the best money I've ever spent! I was determined to actually be able to enjoy the day and the party and that absolutely would not have been possible without Zenobia. The couple of weeks leading up to the party she was all over the coordination of vendors, food, decorations and in my opinion the bang for the buck is definitely on the day of. She arrived to decorate and coordinated with the couple other vendors we had hired. An hour leading up to the party I was sitting on the couch taking a rest while all the kids napped all thanks to Zenobia! She is amazing and we had an amazing party in large part because of her.

Zenobia is amazing! So detail oriented which is exacty what you want in a wedding planner! She made…read morethe day much more enjoyable and took on all the stress that comes with a wedding. Highly recommend!

I have heard of Filament--a small storefront, black box theater in Irving Park--from my days as an…read moreusher for the Saints, but hadn't ever visited. It's only in the last couple of weeks that I learned they're a children's theatre. Their mission is somewhat radical, to be honest--adultism as a form of oppression and the need to eradicate it. I totally dig it, and what a thought-provoking place from which to produce programming and events. We went for Forts!, which seems to be a perennial experience here at Filament. Although it seems like just a time for kids to play, it is structured. There's a portion of the event where the kid just get to knock down the boxes. Then they bring down some sheets and blankets for the kids to drape over their forts and make them more fort-like. There are couches littered about the place for children and adults alike. Throughout the rest of the performance they add other elements like flashlights, music, and so on. My babe had fun and I'd bring her again when she's older, as I assume this will return. I'm keeping an eye on Filament for future plays and events so that I can enjoy some time at the theatre with my girl.

Filament Theatre is a cool little place for kids to catch a play. It has a cycling schedule of…read moreshows and seems to cater to you a younger audience. It is intimate and the 30 or so seats are arranged in a circle around the interactive stage. The theatre is located on Milwaukee Avenue in Portage Park and there is plenty of meter parking. We saw "The Uncorker of Ocean Bottles" which was a very unique performance. In the middle of the room is a large sandbox and the kids all sit on pillows and get to play with the sand during the show. The actors were all very talented and they story was interesting. It lasted about 1.5 hours and was the perfect length for youngsters. There was lots of audience interaction to keep the kids engaged. They also do acting lessons here and a variety of camps. There are many options on their website so check that out. Pricing was pretty affordable and they have many options. I highly recommend checking out a play here if you have little kids who show an interest in theatre.