Some of the absolute best presents our family has received for the holidays over the past few years haven’t been ‘things’ at all. Our family members have been amazing about gifting us and our kids with things like children’s museum memberships, park district gift cards, indoor swim lessons, restaurant gift cards, and even escape room passes!
Family fun can be expensive. These local experience gifts for kids can help put the priority on time together, or give your kids space to develop an interest or hobby. For parents of young children especially, a membership can be truly transformative, turning a local kid-friendly destination into a haven for your family. When kids are little and unpredictable when it comes to outings, having the freedom to come as often as you’d like — and stay only as long as it’s fun — is really freeing.
We’ve put together this guide to serve as a catalogue of sorts. We hope it helps you find some local destinations for kid-friendly fun that you’d love to give (or receive)! This is one to send to your family with a wink and a nudge for sure. Bonus: you have a great excuse to use the membership and spend time together with the gift givers!
Gift Indoor Play Memberships and Passes
Funflatables (Bolingbrook, Chicago Ridge, Lombard, Norridge, North Riverside, Vernon Hills, and more)
Hyper Kidz (Bolingbrook, Wheaton, Niles)
Winnie’s Playroom (Brookfield)
Marshmallow Play (Elmhurst)
We Rock the Spectrum (Franklin Park and Naperville)
The Playpen (Glen Ellyn)
The Treehouse Play Cafe (Lake Zurich)
Ball Factory (Naperville, Mount Prospect)
Naperville Yard, The Playroom (Naperville)
The Cubhouse (Oak Park)
Funlandia (Palatine)
LEGOLAND Discovery Center (Schaumburg)
Peppa Pig World of Play (Schaumburg)
Gift Children’s Museum Memberships
Dupage Children’s Museum is a popular experience gift for those in the Western Suburbs.
Bronzeville Children’s Museum (Chicago)
- Family memberships start at $40
- See all membership options.
Chicago Children’s Museum (Chicago, Navy Pier)
- Family memberships start at $200
- See all gift ticket and gift membership options.
Kohl Children’s Museum (Glenview)
- Family memberships start at $165.
- See all membership options or read about the museum.
Bellaboo’s Play and Discovery Center (Lake Station, Indiana)
- Bellaboo Bucks Gift Cards can be used for daily admission, annual family passes, and more.
DuPage Children’s Museum (Naperville)
- Family memberships start at $220.
- See all membership options.
KidsWork Children’s Museum (New Lenox)
- Family memberships start at $190.
- See all membership options.
Wonder Works (Oak Park)
- Family memberships start at $220.
- See all membership options.
Children’s Museum in Oak Lawn (Oak Lawn)
- Family memberships start at $175.
- See all membership options.
Did you know that many of these museums are included in Asscoation of Children’s Museums Reciprocal Network, meaning a membership to one may lead to discounted admission at others? Children’s Museum of Oak Lawn, DuPage Children’s Museum in Naperville, Wonder Works Children’s Museum in Oak Park, Kohl Children’s Museum in Glenview, as well as Chicago Children’s Museum at Navy Pier are all a part of this program to extend the fun.
Gift Local Nature Memberships
Brookfield Zoo (Brookfield)
- One-year basic family gift membership starts at $199.
- See all gift membership options.
Chicago Botanic Garden (Glencoe)
- Household memberships start at $163/year.
- See all membership options.
The Morton Arboretum (Lisle)
- One-year Morton 4 membership starts at $250.
- See all membership options.
Cosley Zoo (Wheaton)
- “Wild Bunch” gift membership starts at $75/year.
- See all membership options.
Gift Chicago Museum Memberships
Adler Planetarium
- Family membership starts at $180
- See all ticket options.
Art Institute of Chicago
- Membership starts at $115.
- See all membership options.
Field Museum
- Family membership starts at $215.
- See all membership options.
Griffin Museum of Science and Industry
- Family membership starts at $195.
- See all membership options.
Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
- Family membership starts at $105.
- See all membership options.
Shedd Aquarium
- Family membership starts at $295.
- See all membership options.
Gift Summer Pool Memberships
Your local pool may offer gift cards or the option to gift a membership! Many also have holiday sales to encourage just this type of gift. Check out our list of local pools offering summer memberships to find a swimming spot near you.
Indoor Swim Lessons Gifts
Indoor swim lessons make for a great Christmas gift! They help kids maintain swim skills over the winter and provide a great large muscle activity for a season when it can be hard to get outside. Many businesses offer special packages just for gifting, complete with special extras that can be wrapped and put under the tree. This is also one of my family’s favorite gifts from grandparents.
Bear Paddle Swim School
- Locations in Aurora, Bloomingdale, Kildeer, Lake in the Hills, Niles, Orland Park, Wheaton, and Woodridge
- Digital gift card options available.
Big Blue Swim School
- Locations in Buffalo Grove, Chicago, Geneva, Glendale Heights, Hoffman Estates, Naperville, Niles, and Wilmette
- Digital gift card options available.
British Swim School
- Locations in Carol Stream, Glendale Heights, Naperville, , Oswego, South Elgin, and Villa Park
- Contact British Swim School Office directly to purchase gift cards.
Goldfish Swim School
- Locations in Algonquin, Arlington Heights, Burr Ridge, Elmhurst, Evanston, Glen Ellyn, Mundelein, Naperville, Northbrook, Park Ridge, Plainfield, St. Charles, and Chicago
- Contact your local branch for gift card options.
Foss Swim School
- Locations serving Bolingbrook, Elmwood Park, Glenview, Highland Park, Libertyville, Niles, South Barrington, Western Springs, and Chicago.
- Purchase a gift card online and have it shipped.
FMC Natatorium
- Located in Westmont
- Purchase an email gift card online after logging in.
Park District Gift Cards
Many local park districts offer gift cards that can be used for classes, passes (including pool passes), and even party rentals. Check with your park district for details.
Active Fun, Games, and Adventure Gift Ideas
- Many active adventure locations such as Altitude Trampoline Park (Oswego, Schaumburg, Lombard, Skokie), Get Air (Downers Grove), Ultimate Ninja Academy (Elmhurst and Naperville)and Sky Zone (Aurora, Elmhurst, Joliet, Schaumburg, Westmont and more) offer monthly and annual memberships.
- If your kids love puzzles, look for a local escape room! Many offer online gift card options.
- Top Golf, which has locations in Naperville and Schaumburg, offers memberships.
- The Forge: Lemont Quarries offers gift cards for a wide range of outdoor adventure activities, events, camps, classes, and more.
- Go Ape Chicago in Western Springs offers gift cards that can be used for ziplining, net climbing, escape experiences, axe throwing, and more.
Give the Gift of an Immersive Experience
- Activate Games (Oak Brook and Naperville): Gift cards are available for purchase.
- Sloomoo Institute in Chicago: Tickets start at $23/person; children under 24 months are free. Gift cards available. Check out Rita’s review of Sloomoo Institute.
- Color Factory Chicago: Tickets start at $29 for adults and $28 for kids 3-12. Gift cards available. Check out Rachel’s review of Color Factory Chicago.
- Museum of Ice Cream Chicago: Ticket prices vary between about $30-$50, depending on day and time. Kids ages 2 and under are free. Gift cards available. Check out Rachel’s review of Chicago’s Museum of Ice Cream.
Gift a Hands-On Class Session
Does your child have a new skill they might want to learn, or perhaps an area you think they might really enjoy exploring? Classes make some of the greatest experience gifts for kids. They can be tailored specifically to your child’s interests. Here are just a few:
- Cooking, art, drama and music classes are sure to bring big smiles to creative kiddos. If you can’t shake the feeling that you need something to gift-wrap, print out a description of the class and tie it onto a fun, colorful spatula, set of paints and brushes, and so on.
- Have a budding athlete at home? We recently updated our kids sports classes list – there are so many to enjoy!
- How about a class experience that you can do together? Yoga classes are ideal for this!
Tickets as Gifts for Kids
And last, but not least, consider tickets to a live event with the kids this holiday season! Seeing live productions has jump-started my kids’ imaginations with lots of questions about actors, productions, props, singing, costuming – the works! There are plenty of options to choose from here:
- Family-friendly winter theater options, from local community shows to big Broadway productions, theater performances are a wonderful way to make lasting memories together.
- Holiday theater performances like the Nutcracker, are a great way to start a family tradition and a memorable gift to the kids as well.
Looking for more fun things to do with the family this winter season? Check out Kidlist’s Winter Activities page for the very best inspiration.
