We've been here twice and both times the show was excellent. My 6 year old loved that she could…read moreparticipate in the show by shouting out ideas when prompted by the actors and she even got to go on stage to dance at one point. She thought the whole show was hilarious and absolutely loved it. Even my husband and I laughed several times during the show. A great show to take kids of all ages to!

Try to think of something that can entertain 25 tween and teen girls who are too cool for school…read more Practically impossible, right? I volunteer with an organization that introduces middle and high school-aged girls with diverse backgrounds to educational, recreational and cultural activities across the city, which means we're always looking for ideas that work. Luckily, Storytown proved to be a smashing success! Founded by a Second City and iO grad, Storytown brings improv to kids, but their approach worked well with teens, too. (I was a little nervous.) At our recent event, a Storytown actor led an improv workshop for the girls, taking them through a series of Whose Line Is It Anyway?-style exercises at Stage 773 in Lakeview. Although some of the girls were skeptical at first, everyone in the group was having a ball by the end of the session. I overheard one girl say she wished her school's theatre program did something similar! The Storytown staff was enthusiastic and responsive over email, which was a big plus. Before I booked Storytown, I reached out to a few other organizations who were hard to track down.

Our 4 y/o daughter started taking classes at Volta a couple of months ago and has been loving it so…read morefar. Ms. Dee and Ms. Jade are extremely professional, dedicated, flexible and wonderful with kids. T heir focus on creating a community and making dance accessible for all children in the area is genuine. For example, they didn't insist on my daughter coming with ballet clothes and shoes, which are costly. I highly recommend this studio!!

Mx Dee is the greatest! My kiddo went there for ballet and hip hop and loved every moment of it…read more We're a Goethe Elementary family and the love for Volta is huge at our school. Their pajama nights are awesome as well - enough time for the parents to grab dinner on their own. So happy to have this in our neighborhood!

My two year old (plus a few months) has been doing classes with Skip & Scoot since she was about 18…read moremonths old and I can't say enough about the classes and about Miss Luci. Skip & Scoot classes are full of fun obstacle courses, activities, music, singing, dancing, stories and more. The bubbles at the end of class are always a favorite for my mini. Oh and the stamp... she loves to have her stamp that all of the kids receive at the end. These classes are great for entertaining and also exhausting my toddler - she always takes a good nap after a Skip & Scoot class. ;-) And if this wasn't reason enough, Miss Luci will often chime in with some tidbits about how this activity or that exercise is not only fun, but is building the brain and helping improve development in our little ones. Note about Covid: We have also taken the new outdoor classes more recently (after months of sheltering in place and doing virtual classes) and would like to point out that Skip & Scoot now has precautionary Covid procedures in place. All adults (including the teacher) are required to wear face masks and the whole set up is in an outdoor park with tons of space for social distancing. Everyone (kids and adults) are asked to use hand sanitizer prior to touching equipment and everyone in the class follows along with these measures and we feel very safe and comfortable. And it's so great for my kid to be back in this type of learning and play environment with other kids!

I hired Luci to teach classes at my playspace and she absolutely knocks it out of the park every…read moretime! Kids and adults love her and she's very knowledgeable about how to engage children's bodies and minds. Highly recommend!

I love this place! Kids, and especially girls, thrive in the arial arts program here. Kids seem to…read moreput their whole selves into this program. There's a lot of joy here. My daughter has grown stronger and more confident in trusting that she can do whatever her kind, caring teachers lead her to do. The work is playful and exhilarating. Students learn at their own pace. She seems to love the exercises that open & close each class, the camaraderie, and the vibe of the school.

MSA Circus Arts hosted my daughters 4th Birthday Party. It was so much fun for all the kiddos;…read morethey got to play various games, jump on the trampoline and play with the silks. We also got a little show by one of their performers. Highly recommend it.

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!!

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.

Terrible program overcharge 3 times teacher barely showed up on time and staff is unorganizedread more

My son has been taking classes since he was less than a year old, and they have been simply…read moremarvelous! Highly recommend

An incredibly happy place. The managers runs the studio so there's never a glitch. The instructors…read moreare not just elite-level sewists, but they are also incredibly kind and patient beyond belief. They meet you were you are. I often feel like a klutz around sewing machines, but they empower me to just go for it and, as long as they're by my side, I get great results. I look forward to the days I have an upcoming class scheduled. Recommendation: Take a class.

Over the past few months I took 3 sewing classes at Sew Crafty and LOVED IT!…read more I started with the Machine Sewing Basics class to brush up on my skills. I had sewn as a teen so it was easy to dive back in, but there were also brand new beginners in my class that seemed to do really well too. After Basics, I felt confident enough to sign up for Hemming and Alterations (a set of 2 classes), where we reviewed measuring and different types of hems/clothing modifications. We even got to bring in some of our own clothes to work on while supervised by the teachers :) Since then, I've been able to hem a bunch of items I've always wanted to wear, so I'll call it a success! The staff was soooo knowledgeable and patient (shout out to Anika who led both of mine!), making the total of 6 hours I spent there really efficient. The studio was tidy, well organized and had all the equipment we needed to thrive. Plus, the classmates were all super kind, so I guess it draws in nice people! 10/10 recommend!