A Handy Dandy Butterfly

Hand-traced Butterflies

YAY! YAY!

• Does it offer an educational experience? Yes
• What does it teach? Tracing, nature, colors
• Is it age (i.e., 2 - 3 year old) appropriate? Yes

What You’ll Need:

• Art paper (light colored)
• Washable crayons or markers (you can also use paint)

What Your Child Will Do:

1. Trace your child’s hand to form the wings
2. Help your child draw the body and antenna to finish the butterfly
3. Color the butterfly

Note: You could also use paint and use hand prints to form the wings.

Squeeze. Squeeze. Fizz. Fizz.

Make It Fizz!

YAY! YAY! YAY!

• Does it offer an educational experience? Yes
• What does it teach? Chemistry, cause & effect, colors
• Is it age (i.e., 2 - 3 year old) appropriate? Yes

What You’ll Need:

• Vinegar - mom use only
• Food coloring - mom use only
• 1/2 liter measuring cup
• Baking Soda - mom use only
• Turkey baster
• Large cookie sheet
• Drop cloth or highchair splat mat

Adult Prep Work:

• Mix the vinegar and food coloring in measuring cup

What Your Child Will Do:

1. Lay out the splat mat
2. Place baking soda on one end of large cookie sheet
3. Place measuring cup on other end
4. Have your child sit with you on the splat mat and fill turkey baster with colored vinegar
5. Drop colored vinegar on the baking soda and watch it fizz

Note: You must supervise your child with this entire activity.

Tread On Me

Shoe Tread Art

YAY! YAY! YAY!

• Does it offer an educational experience? Yes
• What does it teach? Patterns, colors
• Is it age (i.e., 2 - 3 year old) appropriate? Yes

What You’ll Need:

• White paper - not too thick
• Crayons (without paper)
• Washable colored markers

Adult Prep Work:

• None

What Your Child Will Do:

1. Place the paper over the bottom of the shoe
2. Rub the marker or crayon over the shoe and watch the pattern appear

We're Full of Beans

Little Beans Cafe

Address: 1809 W. Webster, Chicago

Hours: Monday - Friday: 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m., Saturday: 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.; Sunday: 9:00 - 11:00 a.m.

Admission: $12 for the first child & $7 for siblings; children under one year & adults are free

YAY! YAY! YAY! YAY!

• Offers hands-on learning? Yes
• Engages an active toddler in play? Yes
• Provides interaction with other children? Yes
• Allows children room to play without long waits? Yes
• Is clean? Yes

Bottom-line: Go! I thought I’d just cut to the chase. But if you want to know why you, read on...

Little Beans Cafe is a wonderful imaginative playspace for children. The custom-made play houses are not your usual fare. Next to the fire station is a home that is “on fire” so kids have to ride the fire truck, climb the ladder, put out the fire, and slide down the slide out of the house. The grocery store includes an ATM, mailbox, shopping carts - the works. And the play house has crown moulding, an oriental rug, and a ‘baby’ grand piano. You can see how this isn’t your usual, run-of-the-mill indoor playground. Even the play cars are Audi and BMW.

And crawlers or rollers can play safely in a fenced off area (the fence is white picket) surrounded by benches so you can easily keep your eyes on crawlers and walkers.

I liked the layout and found that there was a lot to occupy the kiddos; even more beyond the general playarea in the two back classrooms. While we were there, these rooms served as an area to take a ride on Thomas the Tank Engine and as a lounge for older kids (the six-year olds shooed my son out, which was pretty humorous).

The class list is pretty impressive, but probably a better fit for city moms. The classes include mom & baby yoga, music & movement, and spanish language. There are also a few weekday offerings, including a manicure and supervised play on Monday afternoons and family dinner night with supervised play on Friday night. I recommend checking the Little Beans Cafe website for more information on classes and other offerings.

The cafe menu is a little more expansive than usual. And you can enjoy food from the cafe in the dining area or inside the playarea, which is a nice change of pace. During our visit, the tables were full of moms catching up, chatting, and drinking lattes. It is probably one of the few places (outside of a home, of course) that affords moms the chance to let their kids play freely while they talk or work. There are staffers on-hand making sure the kids are safe and the area stays clean.

And finally, I know that driving from the ‘burbs to the city can sometimes be a headache, but I found it surprisingly easy to get to - it’s right off 90/94. And there was plenty of parking, which is shocking for the city, I know.

Again, I highly, highly recommend. Check it out with your little beans!

Everybody Arts

Fantasy Kingdom

Address: 1422 N. Kingsbury Street, Chicago

Hours: Monday - Friday: 9:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Admission: $12 per child; children under one year & adults are free

YAY!

• Offers hands-on learning? Yes
• Engages an active toddler in play? Yes
• Provides interaction with other children? Yes
• Allows children room to play without long waits? No
• Is clean? No

Too small. Too dark. I felt like I was in someone’s packed basement.

I was very disappointed in Fantasy Kingdom because the website really oversells it. Plus, it’s in a somewhat sketchy part of the city. I used to live there so I know it’s a place where you have to walk fast & keep up your guard.

The layout was cool in theory, but not so hotso in practice. The place is framed by custom-made playhouses (e.g., fire station, grocery store, castle), but the kids were all congregated in the in-between area playing with the playhouse items. In the end, you lost a lot of your space, and you had kids of all ages (newborns to 6 year olds) running all over each other.

I found I had to stay right on top of my son because the layout made it a little difficult to keep track of him. There is a gate to get in and out, but kids kept opening it themselves and there is a working garage ten paces from the front door so I was afraid he’d run right out into the garage.

I’m sure it looked amazing when it opened in 2004. But the toys and playhouses have not weather the wear and tear inflicted by kids. Perhaps it’s time to freshen things up!

They did have a musician playing, which was fun. And they have a gated crawler area; although the crawlers all seemed to be in the main area, leaving this section unused at the time of our visit.

We only stayed about an hour, and he didn’t really pitch a fit about having to leave. So I doubt we will be returning anytime soon.

The Winter Aahs

DuPage Children's Museum

Address: 301 N. Washington Street, Naperville

Hours: Monday 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.; Tuesday - Thursday: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.; Friday: 9:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.; Saturday: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.; Sunday: Noon - 5:00 p.m.

Admission: $8.50 for ages 1+; children under the age of 1 are free

YAY! YAY! YAY!

• Offers hands-on learning? Yes
• Engages an active toddler in play? Yes
• Provides interaction with other children? Yes
• Allows children room to play without long waits? Yes
• Is clean? Yes

Such a wonderful children's museum. There was so much to do without overwhelming. We actually made it through the entire museum in a couple of hours although I think my son could have stayed in the "Make It Move" area all day.

The staff was really friendly as were the other families, giving it positive vibe. And we were able to take the stroller everywhere, which helped me manage both kids. I found it really easy to feed the baby while watching my two year old.

I would say the Chicago Children's Museum probably has more and better exhibits. But the DuPage Children's Museum is far superior to Kohl's & Wonder Works. It even has better hours.

Sunny Days, Chasing the Snow Away

Kiki's Play List Heads West

We escaped the arctic freeze and headed west to the sunny warmth of Arizona. It was a series of adventures and misadventures. And I'm fairly certain Clark Griswold has nothing on us; although no dogs or maiden aunts were injured along the way.

But I'll just stick to our adventures as we had a great time checking out some local places.

Children's Museum of Phoenix

YAY! YAY! YAY! YAY!

The museum was much larger than I expected, and we actually only made it through the 3rd floor in our two hours. We raced cars, cooked in the restaurant/ kitchen, road motorcycles, ran through a car wash, played in the supermarket, and enjoyed the toddler/crawler section. I was so happy to find the toddler/crawler area because it had a lot to hold my toddler's interest while allowing me to sit and feed the baby. Plus, it was completely fenced in so I could rest assured my son wouldn't dart off at any moment.

It was very clean & the staff was extremely helpful and friendly. I just wish we had budgeted our time better so that we could have seen the entire museum.

Fashion Square Mall

YAY!

This mall has every store under the sun, and every high-end store you can imagine. I assume they have to compete with Las Vegas for tourist dollars and so have created the ultimate mall. It was actually a little overwhelming, but certainly a great workout. We were all exhausted by lunchtime!

While some of the stores are on the pricey side, I was able to find cold weather clothes at a discount. Surprisingly enough, heavy wool sweaters are not in high demand when it's 74 degrees outside!

But if you go, dress well. I did not, and I got some nasty looks from older patrons. I wanted to say, "hey, you're lucky I showered!" But that's probably not modeling very good behavior.

Hall of Flame Firefighters Museum

YAY! YAY! YAY!

A treat for parents and kids. This museum has original firetrucks from the 19th - 21st centuries. It was really quite interesting to learn about the evolution of the fire truck and firefighting, not something I had really thought about before having two boys.

The building itself was so unassuming that I was afraid we were in for a dud. But the museum is really quite amazing, featuring hundreds of perfectly preserved and restored firetrucks. I was blown away by the elaborate and beautifully hand painted early 19th century firetrucks. And surprised to learn that some were actually pulled by men instead of horses.

It's also interactive. They have a fire truck kids can board and drive. And then a good sized play area where they can dress up, play in a fire station, drive a firetruck (one motorized and one pulled by horses), & slide down a fire pole.

And at the end of the tour is a moving tribute to the firefighters who died on 9/11.

McCormick Stillman Railroad Park

YAY! YAY! YAY! YAY!

We actually spent two days at this park because it was too much fun & had to much to see and do. The park features the original Paradise Valley train station as well as the original train and train cars. They have did a phenomenal job mixing the history with playtime fun.

Kids can take a tour through the original train cars which carried four presidents. They can see model trains whiz past them and watch them being constructed. They can take their own tour of the park on a kiddie train complete with a conductor and crossing guards. Or hop on a vintage carousel. And if that's not enough there are three jungle gyms and a wild wild west playground. You can see why it took us two days!

The carousel and kiddie train ride cost $2 for kids over 3 years of age and adults.

Sugar Bowl

I don't usually recommend restaurants, but hey we're on vacation! This is an institution so if you're in old town don't miss it. It's been around since 1958, and I swear they haven't changed a thing in 53 years. It's fun, family friendly, and the ice cream is amazing!

Overall, Phoenix was a very family-friendly town, including all the restaurants we visited. There was almost too much to do.

We couldn't see everything. So here's a list of what we missed this trip, but hope to see next:

• Arizona Science Center (across the street from the Children's Museum)
• Phoenix Zoo (near the Hall of Flame Museum)
• Tempe Center for the Arts (I was very disappointed to have missed the theatrical production of "Go! Dogs! Go!")