Chicago Weekend Fun!

Chicago has some of the richest museums and cultural attractions in the country and because of the generosity of some sponsors and the city of Chicago, you can visit and enjoy them for free on these days in 2009.This is a great opportunity for kids and families to enjoy these museums, cultural institutions and artwork the way they were intended: accessible for everyone, not just the privileged people.

If you have kids and don’t want to pay a lot of money for the whole family to go to Chicago Museums, this is the time to go. You still have parking costs and you may also have some costs for food and/or souvenirs but it is a lot cheaper and more affordable to visit Chicago Museums on a free sponsored day. And in this economy free things to do are better than sitting at home one more day with that TV and all those commercials.

The Art Institute of Chicago is Free on Thursday evenings from 5-8 pm after work. This is a great free date night for couples or anyone dating. Remember you can say that a painting or photograph means anything, it is whatever you want to interpret it as.  The Art Institute of Chicago has so many rare pieces of art that people come from all over the world to see our collection here. If you are a Chicago Tourist, you can enjoy the free evenings too. Special exhibits are usually not included in the free admission though.

The Adler Planetarium is Free and open to the public on these days in 2009. The planetarium does not have much parking and the Museum Campus in general has few parking spots available close to the buildings. Be prepared for a long walk and bundle up accordingly in the cold this winter. The y have some cool 3-D movies and space shows running now that the kids will be inspired by. Plus space is such an inspiring curious subject for kids and adults of all ages.

January 5,12-16, 20, & 27th
February 3, 9-13, 17, 24 & 26th
March 3, 10 & 17th
April 21 & 28th
May 5, 12, 19 & 26th
June 7-12th
September 1, 8, 14-18, 22, & 29th
October 6, 13, 20, & 27th
November 3, 10, 17, & 24th
December 1, 8, 15, & 22th 

See the adlerplanetarium.org for more details. 

Chicago Children’s Museum is open for Free every 1st Monday of the month. There is also free admission for children 15 and under every day. And Free Thursdays 5 to 8pm for everyone

Chicago History Museum is open for Free every Monday!

The Chicago Field Museum is open for Free on:  
The 2nd Monday of every month as well as:
January: 14, 15, 21, 22, 28, 29
February: 1 – 6, 11, 12, 18, 19, 25, 26
September: 2, 3, 9, 10, 16, 17, 23, 24, 30
October: 1, 7, 8, 14, 15
November: 11, 12, 18, 19
December: 2, 3, 9, 10 

The Museum of Science and Industry is open for Free on:

Jan. 5 – 31
Apr. 22 (Earth Day)
June 1 – 5
June 19 (MSI birthday)
Oct. 8 – 30 (Weekdays only)
Nov. 11 (Veteran’s Day) 

The Museum of Science and Industry is undergoing a large renovation in addition to the U-Boat Submarine that has already been renovated. This was a badly needed renovation, so you can go once now for free and once again when the revamp is done in a year or two. Feel free to skip the wildly out of date Internet exhibit and the automotive exhibit with all the cars covered. This used to be my favorite museum when I was a kid. I hope they can bring it back to it’s former splendor.