Winter has arrived in Chicagoland, and our family has already caught cabin fever. When temperatures drop low or the forecast calls for a “wintry mix” we go to the children’s museums around Chicago to cure our contagious wiggles. Each year, we sign-up for the CLIMB Network membership that includes six museums in the greater Chicago area. We have gotten this children’s museums membership year after year, because we think it is the best deal for families with young kids around Chicago.
Children’s Museums in the CLIMB Network Membership
CLIMB is an acronym for Chicago-area Local Increased Membership Benefits. That’s a mouthful (or keyboard-full?), so let’s stick with CLIMB moving forward. There are six children’s museums around Illinois that participate in the CLIMB Network. They are:
- Children’s Museum in Oak Lawn
5100 Museum Drive, Oak Lawn, IL 60453 - Discovery Center Museum
711 N Main St, Rockford, IL 61103 - DuPage Children’s Museum
301 N Washington St, Naperville, IL 60540 - KidsWork Children’s Museum
375 Veterans Pkwy, New Lenox, IL 60451 - Kohl Children’s Museum
2100 Patriot Blvd, Glenview, IL 60026 - Wonder Works Children’s Museum
6445 W North Ave, Oak Park, IL 60302
Each of these six museums offers daily admission or a membership to their individual museum, and those are wonderful options. However, we think the best deal is a CLIMB Network membership to all six of these children’s museums. CLIMB Network members can visit any of these six museums during their regular operating hours and gain admission for up to six guests! The membership comes at a higher rate, but we think that extra cost brings amazing extra value.
Why CLIMB Chicago Children’s Museum Network Membership is a Great Deal
With a CLIMB membership, you get admission to any of the six children’s museums for up to six people. At the beginning of 2025, the membership policy does not state that these six people must be family members or even live in your household. As long as one card holder is present, you can bring any six people! That is a great deal for visiting any of these children’s museums with friends or family.
Plus, you can get a 50% discount off of other children’s museums in the ACM Reciprocal Network. At the time of writing, that children’s museum discount includes the Chicago Children’s Museum on Navy Pier and other museums in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and beyond. Check the website for an up-to-date list.
This Chicago Area Children’s Museum Deal Keeps Things Fresh
All parents and caregivers have places that we have visited again and again with our kids: places that have lost their fresh appeal over time.
Our kids can get burnt-out on visiting one museum repeatedly (we do too), and a year-long membership loses its shine over time. But with a half dozen different museums to visit, we rotate through all six in the CLIMB Network without getting tired of any of them.
Yes, a membership to an individual member museum costs less than a CLIMB Network membership, but we think that we get great value for the added cost.
Chicago Area Children’s Museums Make The Most Exciting Rest Stops!
We frequently make dedicated visits to these six CLIMB museums, but we have also used them as an exciting stop during an otherwise boring day of errands.
The six museums are spread-out around the Chicago area (and beyond). Whether we are visiting a medical specialist in a far-flung suburb or stopping at a (boring) furniture store, we can usually find a children’s museum nearby to make the trip worthwhile for our kids. With a membership, we feel comfortable stopping for an hour or four without worrying about value for the money we spent. We can always come back!
The Discovery Center Museum in Rockford is a bit further out than the other five, but we find that we even make good use of this part of our membership! On several family road trips, we have taken a “rest stop” at Discovery Center Museum. This amazing children’s museum beats a gas station by miles, and our kids fondly remember it as the best rest stop ever. Plus, the Discovery Center Museum is direct neighbors with some other attractions like the Burpee Museum of Natural History or the Rockford Riverwalk, so you can make a busy day trip to Rockford.
It was on one of these trips that we first encountered Thomas & Friends: Explore the Rails.
Things We Love at Chicago Area Children’s Museums
Our family loves the exhibits and programming we have found at each CLIMB Network museum we have visited. Here are just three or our favorites among many:
Grocery Shopping at Kohl Children’s Museum
The large and detailed grocery store at Kohl Children’s Museum in Glenview takes the prize for our kids’ favorite play exhibit. Kids can select items from the around the grocery store and pile them into their child-size grocery carts. Once they have purchased their goods (using beeping scanners!) little shoppers become workers and restock the displays.
Our kids particularly love the deli and bakery counter with its display case. There is even a corner of the store where kids can pick play apples from nooks on an “apple tree orchard” and send them down a truck’s conveyor belt.
Our kids could spend hours in this play grocery store, and they are not alone. This is frequently the busiest exhibit in all of Kohl Children’s Museum, but it handles the crowds well, and staff members are on hand to actively facilitate the shopping and stocking.
Real Tools at DuPage Children’s Museum
The Build It “Moser Construction House” workshop at DuPage Children’s Museum is equipped with real tools and building supplies. Our kids like hammering together their own creations, and we like that the space is equipped with safety goggles and staff to monitor the workshop. This ensures lots of elbow room and added safety for little builders.
DuPage Children’s Museum is full of options for creative play like this. Our kids love writing with lights, sending balls through the water play area and creating art in the The Studio. When each of them was a toddler, they were mesmerized by scarves and puff balls they could send flying through air tubes at DuPage Children’s Museum.
Awesome Programming at Wonder Works Children’s Museum
Perched on the edge of densely populated Oak Park, Wonder Works Children’s Museum has less space to work with than other museums in the CLIMB Network. They make up for their limited space with inventive programming that has kept us coming back for new and exciting experiences.
In the month of January, 2025 alone, Wonder Works Children’s Museum is hosting a dance series, Buildapalooza and “Blast Off to Outer Space.” The last one features story times themed to outer space, astronaut costumes, a “lunar exploration pit” and rocket tents among other special offerings.
Check-out the museum’s packed calendar for events that might interest your little ones.
How to Get a CLIMB Membership to Children’s Museums Around Chicagoland
Each of the six participating children’s museums runs its own membership roster. They have options for membership to just that host museum and options for CLIMB network membership.
CLIMB Network Membership Goes By Different Names in Different Places
The CLIMB Network memberships go by different names depending on the host museum. Here is the list of names for the CLIMB membership at each of the six participating museums:
- Children’s Museum in Oak Lawn: CLIMB (and Legacy*)
- Discovery Center Museum (Rockford): CLIMB Superpass
- DuPage Children’s Museum (Naperville): Family Play Plus (or Impact*)
- KidsWork Children’s Museum (New Lenox): CLIMB
- Kohl Children’s Museum (Glenview): PlayKCM Plus
- Wonder Works Children’s Museum (Oak Park): Wonder Works CLIMB Membership (and Play For All Membership*)
At the beginning of 2025, the price for a base CLIMB membership is $225. Regardless of the name, the base benefits are the same: admission for up to six people at any of the participating children’s museums during regular operating hours.
Three of the participating museums also offer a higher membership level which includes CLIMB as well as additional benefits. Those levels are marked with an *asterick in the list above. Visit the individual websites for that pricing.
Where to Purchase a CLIMB Membership for the Best Deal in Children’s Museums
The base benefits and base price for a CLIMB Network membership is the same great deal at any of the six participating childen’s museums. You can buy your membership anywhere and get admission for up to six people at all six museums. However, each museum may offer additional benefits for members who sign-up with them directly.
For example, a museum may offer members-only hours or member discount pricing for special events. It is up to the discretion of the individual museums as to whether they will extend these benefits to CLIMB members who signed-up directly with other museums.
For this reason, we recommend signing-up with the museum that you think you will visit the most often. This might be the museum closest to you or the one that has programming that appeals to you.
Alternatively, you could start your membership with one museum and cycle through the other five year by year. In our experience, there has been no financial incentive offered to renew our membership before its expiration or to renew with the same museum where we previously held a membership. So, cycling your membership should not cost you more, but your experience might be different.
Get your CLIMB Children’s Museum Membership Today
In the list above, we have included links to the membership page for each of the participating CLIMB museums. Go ahead and browse the list and participating museums. We are not getting a commission or any benefit from you joining. We just think this membership is a great deal for children’s museums, and we want to share it with you!
Thank you for reading about the best deal in children’s museums: Chicago area’s CLIMB Network membership.
We hope you have found this article helpful. For advice on another one of our favorite Chicago area attractions, check-out New Shedd Aquarium Exhibit Dazzles: Wonder of Water and Top 5 Tips for Visiting Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium.
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