Kohl Children’s Museum

Kohl Children’s Museum of Greater Chicago is a premier children’s museum located in Glenview, Illinois, offering a hands-on learning laboratory specifically designed for children from birth to 8 years old. Named for philanthropist Dolores Kohl, daughter of the founder of Kohl’s department stores, the museum was founded through her education foundation in 1985 and moved to its current location in 2005.

The museum occupies an impressive 8.8-acre site featuring a 46,700-square-foot museum building and a 2-acre outdoor exhibit space. The facility houses 17 interactive, hands-on exhibits aligned to Illinois State Learning Standards, designed to nurture holistic child development and make learning fun and interesting for young children. These exhibits allow children to engage in immersive experiences through pretend play, exploration, and discovery.

Popular permanent exhibits include interactive environments featuring a grocery store, veterinarian’s office, daycare center, house-building activities, musical experiences, car care station, and extensive water play areas. The outdoor adventure space provides year-round learning opportunities about environmental concerns. Special rotating exhibits, such as the current Argentina’s Niños exhibit, introduce families to different cultures, arts, and traditions from around the world.

The museum offers daily programming including Art Adventures (guided art activities that children and caregivers can create together and replicate at home), STEAM Explorers (mobile hands-on experiences designed to spark curiosity and experimentation), and Story Time sessions (interactive storytelling led by museum professionals). These programs run multiple times throughout the day during regular operating hours.

The on-site Bean Sprouts Café provides healthy food options for families. The museum is an environmentally friendly, energy-efficient facility that earned Silver-level LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, incorporating green building practices and sustainability education into exhibits.

The museum operates Member Appreciation Hours daily from 8:30-9:30 AM exclusively for member families. Regular hours are Monday 9:30 AM-1:00 PM, Tuesday through Saturday 9:30 AM-4:00 PM, and Sunday 9:30 AM-1:00 PM. The facility is closed on major holidays including New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Eve.

Venue rental options are available for birthday parties, family reunions, club meetings, and private events, with packages allowing groups to rent out the entire museum. Over 350,000 people visit annually, and the museum maintains over 7,500 member families. The Early Childhood Connections program extends the museum’s reach to underserved communities, partnering primarily with Chicago Public Schools.