Fun in Naperville?

The public library downtown has great family story times. Also, the riverwalk is great - I just took my 2 2/4 yr old and 4 yr old down there the other day. We packed a picnic and took it to the park, walked part of the riverwalk and then they played at the playground by the river. The parking lot that you go to is by centenial beach - you just drive to the right until you see the playground. We saw fish jumping in the river, geese, ducks and a lot more. Yesterday we drove up near Wheaton and went to Kline Creek Farm. It's a historical 1890s working farm. I belong to the Naperville Mom's Group and can give you information if you're interested. I met one of the mom's in my daughter's ballet group. We have weekly playgroups, monthly meetings, field trips, mom's game night monthly as well as a monthly mom's night out. It's a lot of fun! Welcome to Naperville!

You're not far from the Morton Arboretum. They have a beautiful Childrens' Garden there that will amaze you, and will keep the kids occupied for hours!

My granddaughters (same ages as your boys) love Cosley petting zoo in Wheaton. There's a nice picnic area there; take some frizbees or balls with you, along with your picnic lunch; there's a sandbox as well.

Carol Stream has numerous parks. Wheaton does as well. St. Charles, Geneva and Batavia are beautiful cities with paths along the Fox River.

There are many county fairs / communities festivals going on in the area throughout the summer. Many communities also have weekly concerts in the park. Carol Stream's in on Thursdays, beginning the Thursday after June 7 (I think that would be the 12th, but I don't have a calendar handy), Aurora's is I think Friday nights.

A little farther away: Lambs Farm; Botanic Gardens; Ravinia; Brookfield Zoo (free on Tuesday I believe); Lincoln Park Zoo (free).

CHildren's Museum in Naperville, right on Washington, near the train station would be perfect for that age. They might love it so much that you might want to get a membership.

Hi we just got back from the Morton Arboretum in Lisle. It is such a great place to take children. They have a fairly new children' garden, which is awesome! I highly recomend going there. You can check it out on their webesite: www.mortonarb.org. Another place is Cosley Zoo in Wheaton. It is free, and the perfect size for your children. You don't need a stroller, because it is so small. Here is the website for that one too: http://www.wheatonparkdistrict.com/pgs/parks/cosley/defau... Hope this helps!!

J.

Welcome to the neighborhood! There are 3 places (2 in Naperville and 1 in Lisle) which are fun.

The first one is the downtown Naperville park. It has the nice rubbery ground instead of woodchips. There's a small sandbox area, vending machines, lots of field space to run around or play soccer or play ball, picnic area and tables as well as an actual bathroom facility (versus a port-o-potty). It's right by the Riverwalk as well. The park is next to Centennial Beach off of Jackson Ave behind the softball field.

The second place is called the DuPage Children's Museum. It's located off of Washington, south of Ogden, by the train station. There is an entrance fee but if you plan on going frequently I would get one of their membership packages. It pays for itself within a few visits. There's 2 floors of activities for the kids (bring extra change of clothes because there is an area where the kids can play with water and bubbles and eventhough they provide waterproof aprons kids still find ways to get their clothes wet. I always make that area the last area we play in before going home). The bottom floor is where you can go if you bring food to eat.

The last place is the Morton Arboretum in Lisle over by 53 and Warrenville Rd by the highway. There's is also an entrance fee but worth it. They have a beautiful children's museum there where the kids can run around and play. Don't forget your camera when you go there.

Good luck!!

There's Cosley Zoo in Wheaton. It's on Gary Rd. And the kids will love it. It is free and small, but it's enuf for younger kids.

I was practically raised at the Brookfield Zoo. Santas Village is a theme park with lots of rides for different age/size related rides. Lambs Farm is a little trip but well worth it for growning children and they have special events during the summer with pony rides, boat show on the water, animals to feed, shops to buy homemade goods (jellys, FUDGE to die for, hot dogs, nachos, etc., restaurant, and best of all, an animal adoption building with lots of small pets to pet. The grounds are not so large that kids are too tired to walk around. There are grassy areas where you can just sit under a tree with a snowcone or tables to picnic. Of course Great America is up north in Illinois. Lake Michican has beaches and of course all the museums along the lakefront. Elk Grove Village has a wonderful waterpark that is not too expensive. Arlington Heights has an indoor waterpark called Koco (koko,coco) Keys on Euclid connected to a hotel so you could spend the night and the kids can have a ball. Don't forget Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. It's an intimate and charming small zoo with red brick rolling paths to follow. You can go online to find anything about all these places.

I agree with all the posts so far. In the summer, the public library has a great lunch storytime along the riverwalk. It's lots of fun for the kids and a good excuse for a picnic... :)

As far as another indoor activity, there is a place called Airtastic that just opened up in March. It's in Aurora a couple miles west of Route 59 north of 83rd/Montgomery Rd. It has all different bounce houses, and my 2 1/2 year old daughter LOVES it! www.airtastic.com.

There are great meet-up groups out there and if you are looking for something for yourself, I would recommend the Naperville Junior Woman's Club (www.napervillejuniors.org).

Good luck and enjoy Naperville!!

The DuPage Children's Museum is fun. Taking a walk on the River Walk.
You can also try going to www.meetup.com. They have all kids of meeting there. I'm sure you can find one for moms/kids in your area.

Good Luck!

We moved to Naperville from Royal Oak, MI and since then we found a few things to do for our daughter who is almost 3 years of age.

-The DuPage Children's museum has lot of fun things to do and your kids will love it.

-Nichol's library offers Family Storytime and the next one starts on May 5. They have it a few times a week and sometimes held outside when the weather is nice.

-Barnes & Noble downtown Naperville has storytime as well and they do coloring or crafts afterwards.

-The Park district offers a lot of toddler classes as well and they are a lot of fun.

-The Morton Arboretum, we just joined this month and they have Children's garden and the kids can spend a lot of time there and it's beautiful and relaxing. They have a restaurant inside if the kids go hungry or you can bring a picnic basket.

Hope this helps a bit...

There is a small magazine called Oaklee's Guide - you can usually get them at the library. It lists all family activities by date for three months at a time, has coupons in back and lists restaurants with free children's dining (ie. Monday kids eat free at . . . etc). I love it because I can read through it and find things I never knew about and so far I can't complain about any of the events I've gone to. Welcome to the burbs!