Families need to know that the Windy City has more to offer than sports, skyscrapers, and a big lake. It also has some of the best museums in the United States.
The Chicago Children’s Museum, and its tinkering lab, are in the middle of all the excitement with a prime location at Navy Pier. The Art Institute of Chicago is a good place to see tons of masterpieces, and the Museum of Science and Industry has an impressive collection of planes, trains, and even a U-boat. But there’s one museum that stands out as the most family-friendly, entertaining place for kids of all ages to have a great day. Here’s why the Field Museum of Natural History is one of the best children’s museums in the world.
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The Location
Right in downtown Chicago, the Field Museum is located on Lake Michigan near Adler Planetarium and the Shedd Aquarium (and its beluga whales!). You can probably fill a whole day with just the museum or just the aquarium, but I love that they are located together in case you want to do a half-day at each attraction. The Field Museum is about a mile-and-a-half walk from Millennium Park and the Art Institute of Chicago. You can take public transportation to shorten the walk, although the path from the Metra station to the museum campus is still half a mile.
The Field Museum is open daily from 9am–5pm, and the last entry is at 4pm; it is closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas.
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The Dinosaurs
The Field Museum’s most famous displays might be its dinosaur bones, which draw kids and adults alike. When you enter the museum’s main hall, you are greeted by the giant bones of Maximo, a titanosaur. Guests can text Maximo questions about his species, his life, and even the discovery of his fossils.
And Maximo isn’t the only giant hanging out in the main hall anymore. Look up! A 46-foot Spinosaurus swims overhead, suspended 12 feet in the air. It’s longer than Sue (sorry, Sue), and it’s the only Spinosaurus cast on permanent display in the Western Hemisphere. Field Museum scientists even helped determine that this dinosaur’s dense bones allowed it to dive underwater to hunt. A swimming dinosaur? My kids lost their minds.
On the second floor, walk through the extensive exhibit detailing the development of life on earth; the red bands denoting mass extinction events are particularly impactful. The star of this section is Sue, one of the world’s most complete T. rex skeletons. You’ll also see fossils of saber-toothed tigers, woolly mammoths, and a giant ground sloth (I know it says “giant,” but I wasn’t prepared for how big that one was!). Don’t miss the fossil preparation lab, where you’ll see scientists carefully examining small pieces of history.
Sue the T-Rex is the Field Museum’s most famous resident. Photo by Christy Nicholson.
Africa and the Halls of the Pacific
Some of my favorite parts of the Field Museum are the maze-like hallways showcasing life in other parts of the world. There are thoughtfully curated exhibits featuring clothing, art, and lifestyles from other cultures — perfect for older students to incorporate into school assignments or to work with an essay service to develop the best story. If that sounds too dry for your little ones, don’t worry. The exhibits are creatively displayed as houses, villages, and towns, with beautiful architecture and fascinating nooks to explore. There’s plenty to touch and investigate at the kid level, from interactive exhibits to hands-on quizzes. Don’t miss the Maori meeting house, where Maori people would meet for celebrations, funerals, and community meetings. It was originally constructed in New Zealand in 1881!
The Africa Hall closed on October 6, 2025, for a full renovation and is expected to reopen in spring 2028.
A tropical vacation? Not quite, but the Halls of the Pacific will make you feel like you’re really there. Photo by Christy Nicholson.
Ancient Egypt
When we entered the Field Museum’s Egypt exhibit, I was shocked. I had no idea that one of the largest collections of mummies in the United States was in the basement of a Chicago museum! Enter the dimly lit hallways, and you’ll see elaborate sarcophagi and mummies displayed next to ancient artifacts. The museum has 23 human mummies and more than 30 animal mummies.
Highlights for our family included the ancient royal boat and the temple with a spell to cure a sick cat.
The Egypt exhibit closes in 2027 for renovation, with a reopening set for spring 2028. If your family wants to see it, do it soon!
The ground floor of the museum features a recreation of an ancient Egyptian market, including a temple dedicated to cats. Photo by Christy Nicholson.
An Old-School Museum
The Field Museum was established in 1894, with many of its first displays coming from the 1893 World’s Fair. The organization doesn’t shy away from its roots, and there are still several older exhibits, like the hall of taxidermied animals, which were there in the museum’s early years. These days, the displays are augmented with helpful signs explaining the history of the collection and how curation techniques have changed to become more sustainable over the years. I found one of the older exhibits particularly delightful: the meteor area displays several space rocks that landed in the U.S. and tells the stories of the families who discovered them (the photos that show how the meteors burned holes through cars and houses are fascinating but not at all scary).
I did not care for the hall filled with taxidermied animals. Fortunately, there was a comfortable seating area with a movie I could watch while my kids explored the exhibit. Photo by Christy Nicholson.
Labs and Hands-On Experiences
In addition to the fossil lab, the museum also features a DNA lab and an artifact conservation laboratory. Throughout the day, you’ll see scientists and curators working in the labs, preserving and learning about new parts of the museum’s collection. Young children should check out the Crown Family Playlab, which features imaginative activities, especially for kids ages 2 to 6 (bonus: there’s also a private nursing room).
Open 10am–3pm daily and included with general admission.
Scientific research is conducted each day in the museum’s labs. At times, you can even chat with the scientists about their work. Photo by Christy Nicholson.
Special Exhibits
The Field Museum always has something new going on, and right now there are two special exhibitions that are worth the add-on ticket for families.
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After the Age of Dinosaurs (through January 3, 2027)
Every kid knows an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs. But what happened next? This exhibition answers that question, and it’s a wild ride. You’ll come face to face with Titanoboa, the largest snake that ever lived, and penguins that stood six feet tall. (Yes, taller than me.) Animated videos recreate the asteroid impact, and you can see a real fossil fish that died on that very day. Little hands can touch fossil casts of ancient snakes, crocodiles, bats, and frogs, and kids can compare their own size to animals that went extinct long ago.
Here’s the best part for parents: kids ages 3–11 get in free, up to four per paid adult ticket.
Pokémon Fossil Museum (through April 11, 2027)
If you have a Pokémon fan at home, stop reading and book your tickets now. This exhibition started in Japan, and Chicago is its first stop outside that country. It puts Fossil Pokémon like Tyrantrum and Archeops side by side with real fossils, including SUE herself, so kids can see how the Pokémon designs line up with actual ancient creatures. Excavator Pikachu and Field Museum scientists guide you through it. It’s such a clever way to sneak in a paleontology lesson!
Tickets are timed and sold separately from general admission, and they go fast, so plan ahead.
3D movies
Need a break from walking? The museum has two 3D films. T.REX: The Story of SUE 3D is a Field Museum exclusive about its most famous resident. Penguin Island 3D is about 20 minutes long and follows a king penguin on a remote sub-Antarctic island as he finds a mate and protects his egg (while dodging orcas!). It’s a sweet one for little ones.
Both need an add-on ticket.
The Amenities
As a mom, I loved the thoughtful touches the Field Museum has added to make visits easy. There are benches throughout the exhibits, and several of the maze-like hallways have maps to show where you are. At lunchtime, we enjoyed eating at the Field Bistro, which has a variety of options for fresh-cooked food and grab-and-go meals. Later in the day, we discovered the Explorer Cafe on the museum’s lower level; the casual atmosphere and outdoor dining area make it a perfect stop for families with kids. There’s also a bring your own snacks room with plenty of tables (a great place for snack time!).
Admission
Basic admission to the Field Museum starts at $23 for ages 3-11 and $30 for ages 12 and up. Exhibits require additional tickets.
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You’ll find an amazing number of wonderful places for kids in the Chicago area, and I recommend you hit as many as you can (don’t miss the African American Inventors exhibit at the Bronzeville Children’s Museum or the Butterfly Haven at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum). But out of all the places we visited in Chicago, the Field Museum did the best job of having exhibits that interested everyone, including young kids, older kids, and adults. Thanks to the museum’s impressive collection, thoughtful layout, variety of exhibits, and extensive food options, we all had a great day learning about natural history.
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