Activities for 2.5 Year Old

we love...

- park districts classes - affordable and at this age great since they are so finicky about liking stuff one day to the next
- play centers - elk grove village has one that's a $3 admission with all you can ride carousel
- park districts indoor pools - again very affordable
- library - free.. our little girl gets upset when it's time to go
- stores - our little girl loves running around stores and it gets out all that energy she has.
- malls playgrounds
- There's a kids expo coming up in Schaumburg in Feb (www.chicagokidsexpo.com - that we may go to
- Garfield Conservatory - Free - allow for all the roaming & running for little ones.
- Cosley Zoo - Free located in Wheaton. has local annimals.
- also check out www.kidswink.com - it's a great site for kid's related stuff... even has restaurant listing where kids eat free.

We belong to the local YMCA. It's a great family friendly environment that's not just a health club. My kids LOVE doing swimming, arts n crafts, Friday Family nights, the special guests/activities like magicians, balloon artists, etc. and above all else the big play maze (at the Palatine YMCA). The memberships are very affordable and the classes are great. Plus, the kids can go to a class while I exercise or just relax. It'd definitely worth checking out. (They have free open to the public events a couple of times a month. If nothing else you can go on Free Family Fridays.) If you don't want a membership, you can sign up for a class as a "program participant"...just for that ONE class with no monthly fees.

Also, if you haven't already, look into preschool for next year. My girls started preschool at 2, just to start giving them some time away from me to do crafts, learn letters and numbers and have some time with new friends. They loved it. And I loved being able to grocery shop alone! Most preschools start registration in Feb/Mar for the fall, so check them out now. They will sometimes let you child visit and "try out" the class a bit while you interview the director and meet the teachers.

Good luck

Have you checked out Little Monkey Bizness? It is in Willow Springs, on 47th and Willow Springs Road. The normal cost is $7.50, Tuesdays after 5 pm it is $5.00 and there are often coupons for $1.00 off in Chicago Parent and Family Time magazines. There is one inflatable bouncer, 3 or 4 Step 2 products to climb/slide/play and one other climber/slide that I can not even begin to describe.

L., A lot of the library's have story times. its free and fun. the mall (fox valley) has a climbing thing at one end of the mall. big climbing area and other fun stuff to do. also free. sci tech in aurora is a childrens museum. hands on everything. not sure of the cost for a yearly pass but it is very worth it. you can go as often as you want. we bought year passes to cosi (not sure what the initials stand for but it cost us $95 for a year family pass. it came with 2 passes which work for my husband and myself and our son sam plus our 3 grandchildren. it is good at over 300+ museums thoughout the US. we more than made up the cost after 3 visits to museums. check it out lots of cool stuff to see and do all over the place.