Chicago With Kids: Zoo to Museum Campus

Chicago’s biggest kid draws sit on the free lakefront, which means a family can fill a full day without a car and without a single paid ticket if you plan around the zoo and the parks first.

Lincoln Park Zoo, still free every day

Lincoln Park Zoo at 2001 N Clark St has been free 365 days a year since 1868. Grounds open at 8am and animal buildings run until 4:30pm on weekdays, later on weekends and in summer. The Walter Family Arctic Tundra exhibit is home to three polar bears, Talini, Ash and Lexi, a genuine draw for kids who want to see something big and white up close. There are no sea otters here; those live at Shedd Aquarium on Museum Campus. Details and hours are at lpzoo.org .

Navy Pier itself is free to walk, and the Chicago Children’s Museum inside runs hands-on exhibits for kids roughly 0 to 10, at $19 to $20 general admission. The Centennial Wheel adds a climate-controlled gondola ride for $16 to $21 depending on age. Book Children’s Museum or Centennial Wheel tickets on GetYourGuide to skip the ticket window on busy weekends.

Maggie Daley Park’s free Play Garden

East of Millennium Park across the BP Bridge, Maggie Daley Park has a free climbing and adventure playground built into rolling landscaped terrain, separate from the paid climbing towers nearby. It costs nothing to use and is one of the better free stops for kids under 10 who need to burn energy between museums.

Griffin Museum of Science and Industry

In Hyde Park, the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry (renamed from the Museum of Science and Industry in 2024) runs interactive science exhibits, the captured German U-505 submarine, and an Idea Factory zone built for younger children. General admission is $25.95 for adults and $14.95 for kids 3 to 11; the U-505 and Coal Mine tours need separate timed tickets. Get there by Metra Electric from Millennium Station in about 15 minutes. See msichicago.org for current hours.

Shedd Aquarium and Millennium Park

Shedd Aquarium’s Abbott Oceanarium and touch-tank exhibits are a standard family stop on Museum Campus, but 2026 admission requires an advance timed reservation, not a walk-up ticket, so book ahead at sheddaquarium.org . Millennium Park is free, and Crown Fountain’s spouting video faces run May through October, a reliable hit with younger kids on a hot day.

What to skip planning around

LEGOLAND Discovery Center is not downtown or on the Magnificent Mile; it is in suburban Schaumburg, about 30 miles northwest, so leave it off a downtown-only itinerary unless you have a car and a full extra day. Several of the attractions above, Shedd, the Skydeck, and 360 CHICAGO, now require timed tickets booked in advance rather than casual walk-ups.

The verdict: pair the free zoo with the free Maggie Daley playground for a no-cost morning, then use one paid ticket, Shedd or Griffin MSI, for the afternoon rather than trying to fit both in one day. For family rooms near Museum Campus, compare hotels on Booking.com , and see the activities guide for more of downtown’s free stops.