Khol Children's Museum, Wilmette, IL

The Khol Children's Museum began with the inspiration of sharing information with children. Their goals are to provide 17 different hands-on exhibits for children of all ages. The museum was founded in 1985 in the Chicago area, which is considered Wilmette. The Khol Teaching Center in Wilmette was created in 1972, but the museum did not come along for many years. It was decided the center was helpful, but a museum would be able to get more attention from the whole community. The Khol's Museum has its own building as does the learning center. One can now enjoy both facilities.

The museum is located on 8.8 acres of land, at 2100 Patriot Boulevard. The facility offers 46,700 square feet with 23,000 square feet for the exhibits and public areas. There is also a 2 acre outdoor exhibit called Habitat Park. The hours of operation will vary depending on the time of year. Regular hours are Monday 9:30am to 12pm in winter, and till 5pm in summer; Tuesday through Saturday 9:30am to 5pm, Sunday 12pm to 5pm. Members are able to attend Monday through Saturday 9am to 9:30am, which offers a half hour earlier admission. Children under 1 are free to enter. Adults and Children are $7.50 for regular admission. Anyone over 55 can attend at $6.50 per person. The memberships vary depending on the amount of people one has in a party.

The Khol Children's Museum has both permanent and temporary exhibits. The permanent exhibits include the Adventures in Art, All About Me, and Car Care. As you may imagine the first exhibit is a place for children to get creative about art. They can make their own pieces, as well as study the great artists. The All About Me exhibit is more about personality. It asks children to explore what they like, do not like, and what makes them unique. The car exhibit is always going to be about cars. It will discuss car care as well as the creation and history of cars.

City on the Move allows one to look at the towering structures that are built in cities, from a smaller perspective. The towers are there to learn about construction, science, math, and even technology. The cooperation station is a place for younger kids to begin to learn basic sharing skills. There are plenty of toys and children are encouraged to interact in this part of the museum.

Doll Day Care is a child sized play area that will tell children about new additions to the family. It shows how a younger sibling may care for a new baby in the house, by playing and caring for dolls. Dominick's is a child sized grocery store where math, baking, stocking shelves, and even being a cashier is very important.

Mentioned before was Habitat Park. Habitat Park allows children to play on a variety of slides and other jungle gym toys. They can even go through a giant tunnel, find their way through a grass maze or hunt down ants, worms and insects found in the park.