Mentioned by Family Destinations Guide
28 Best Things to Do in Chicago with Kids for 2021 (Family Fun!)
"Maggie Daley Park is one of the most fun things to do in Chicago. It’s basically a gigantic, all-ages recreation area that resulted from the crazy visions of an architect who never said no to any idea. As a result, the park offers a million different amenities in delightfully clashing ways."
"Maggie Daley Park is also located in the Loop and is home to the city’s only outdoor climbing park. You can also go ice skating during the winter months on the famous ‘skating ribbon’. The park also has spots to picnic in with the family and a tennis court to enjoy a game."
"You don’t have to choose because you can do all three at Maggie Daley Park. It features Chicago’s only outdoor climbing park. There are beginner and advanced places to climb with instruction from the park staff."
"The Burnham Wildlife Corridor is a 100-acre area of urban wilderness running through Burnham Park. There is a bird sanctuary, a bioretention basin, nature paths, and a centennial prairie. Native prairie grasses, savanna, and woodland ecosystems create the largest natural area along the lakefront, according to the park district."
"Burnham Park stretches six miles along the shores of Lake Michigan's Oakland Shoal from 14th Street to 56th Street, covering just shy of 600 acres of waterfront. The large Burnham Harbor takes up the shoreline from the park's northern end to 22nd Street, well-protected by Northerly Island. Burnham Park starts at the southern end of Grant Park, and is home to numerous attractions including Soldier Field, home of The Chicago Bears."
"Burnham Park runs for 6 miles (9.7 km) along Chicago's lakefront from Grant Park in the north to Jackson Park in the south, through the neighborhoods of Near South, Douglas, Oakland, Kenwood and Hyde Park."
"West Loop’s Union Park, located on 13.46 acres in the Near West community area, is the site for two of the city’s biggest music festivals: Pitchfork and North Coast Music Festival. The park has several large fields, often used for various outdoor sports. The history of Union Park is also quite remarkable—it’s the site of several political protests and demonstrations since the early 1900s, most notably the Great American Boycott and the 2006 Immigration Reform protests."
"Union Park is a 13.46-acres park created in 1853 and became well known between the 1920s and 50s for cultural and social events. Today, the park features a field house with a theater room with stage, and a building with a gym, fitness center, and locker rooms. Outside facilities include tennis courts, swimming pool, playgrounds, an athletic field, and more."
"Fat Rice, the popular Macanese restaurant-bakery-bar, serves what the chef-owners, Abraham Conlon and Adrienne Lo, call “Euro-Asian comfort food.” Indeed, their signature arroz gordo, or “fat rice,” fits the bill: Hailing from Macau, this dish is similar to paella (a vestige of Portuguese colonialism heavily influenced by Spain) and features char siu, linguiça sausage, Spanish rice, olives, and sliced hard-boiled eggs. Though Fat Rice made an impression on Chicago when they opened in 2013, the team continues to make exciting changes: 2016 brought a bakery, which offers a Chicago-style hot dog bun that looks like a blooming flower; and a bar, the Ladies’ Room, where Annie Beebe-Tron leads a program of deeply unique cocktails that embrace ingredients like umeboshi vinegar, shiso cumin bitters, and house-made chartreuse and Ginjinha. View this post on Instagram"
"Fat Rice creates dishes with bold flavors from the around the world|© Hugh Galdones. Fat Rice’s unique blend of Chinese, Portuguese, and South Asian flavors has earned it critical acclaim and numerous awards. Among its most popular dishes are the potstickers, which arrive both hot and crispy, and its namesake rice dish layered with Chinese sausage, Portuguese chicken, prawns, clams, tea eggs, and croutons."
"If you haven't heard a Chicagoan talk about Fat Rice's potstickers then you are probably living under a rock. Fat Rice is a culinary one-of-a-kind with food based off the Macau region in China. It is a masterful blend of Asia-meets-Europe and everyone seems to love it."
"With five stars out of 246 reviews on Yelp, the sushi bar, Japanese and Korean spot has proved to be a local favorite."
"The menu is full of Asian flare featuring Filipino, Thai, Korean, and Vietnamese inspired ingredients served in the bahn-mi or taco style, salad, rice or noodle box. Spicy rangoons or cool chicken spring rolls are a good way to start off, or as a decent break time snack. You’ll find this rolling lunchbox at Daley Plaza most days, but also at block parties, fests, and even museum parking lots."
"I almost skipped this tiny storefront because the name sounded so generic. What a mistake that would have been. Chicago Lunchbox serves an aggressively flavored Pan-Asian menu, featuring the likes of Filipino pork sausage and Thai-style ground chicken with basil, which you can get as a sandwich, a taco, a salad, a rice bowl or a noodle bowl."
"The Renaissance Society is a kunsthalle-style museum that presents about 4 exhibits a year from international artists. It focuses on contemporary art and is located at the University of Chicago."
"Ongoing weekend programs at the museum include workshops for kids to learn about identifying rocks and minerals or learning how to make jewelry. Collections include gemstones, fossils and an ornate castle. Online activities include virtual jewelry classes and rock identification classes."